Inappropriate Elimination: Urination

The aim of urination is simply to empty the bladder.

There are several components to the normal process of urination

• The cat will sniff carefully before passing urine
• The cast squats to urinate
• He passes a large volume (a full adult bladder holds 30mls of urine)
• There process is not painful
• The cat sniff the urine afterwards
• The cat will engage in an active attempt to bury it afterwards by scratching over and around it.

Each of these are visible in this video i.e. this cat is urinating normally.

The only abnormality is the location that he has chosen.

Assuming that a litter tray is provided to this cat, he has made a decision not to use this litter tray, 

• it could be that he doesn't like the tray itself, 
• its location, 
• the litter, 
• it may be dirty, 
• or it may smell of deodoriser
• he may be too stressed to use the tray due to another animals presence. 
• He may also have a medical problem, so a veterinary check is advisable.

Using a uv lamp you will see a round puddle like shape on a flat surface on an absorbent material or somewhere like a sink/bath where the urine will drain away.

In cases where they don't like the tray that may simply pee next to box or in another location where they can get rid of the urine, absorbent areas e.g. carpets or sinks/baths with a drain.

This cat has found an alternative location, he will generally stick to this one location and not return to the box until the underlying issue is sorted out.

Click HERE to learn about urine marking or spraying.

Click HERE to read about how to solve a problem of inappropriate elimination.