Many Animals respond to stress, anxiety and depression with peeing in inappropriate places. Here I will focus on cats; why they may be experiencing anxiety and what steps to take to resolve the situation. (I will focus on dogs in a future article.)
Causes:
Stress and depression are fairly common in pets (as well as animals in captivity, such as at zoos). It can be caused by a variety of circumstances or events. One of the most noted events that disturb cats is the expansion of your family. When a new spouse moves in (or out), a new baby comes home, making a move home to the parents, or parents moving in with your family: these events cause your animal stress just like it does to people. Many people's response to stress is depression. And that seems to hold for cats - many react to stress with a bout of depression.
This stress, depression, and/or anxiety can lead to a physical problem in the urinary tract (this may also affect people but it is still being investigated).
In cats this disorder is called Feline Idiopathic Cystitis or Feline lower urinary tract disease (in people it is called interstitial cystitis and, like in cats seems to be triggered by psychological stress or some sort of stressful event). The symptoms of this disorder are: peeing outside of the litter box, crying while urinating, excessive licking of their private parts, blood in the urine, and difficulty going pee (such as straining, frequent &/or prolonged urination). Note that not all the symptoms need to be present, just one or more.
There are many possible causes of stress and anxiety for your cat that can lead to anxiety and/or a depressive episode that causes or contributes to a pee problem. The list below is not exhaustive:
- to get the owner's attention (perhaps the cat is sick, unhappy, or just feeling neglected)
- the owner or friends/siblings are away
- pet is lonely/bored
- litter box isn't clean enough or cleaned often enough
- new pets in the household (being territorial)
- outdoor cats are taunting and teasing them, possibly through the window
- any big change such as moving, new spouse, child or roommate
- something as simple as moving the furniture can upset some animals
- kittenhood trauma like being one of 3 alive in a gunnysack of 10 kittens - sad and hopefully rare, but true
In addition to these environmental factors veterinarians and researchers have identified a correlation between depression in cats and a hormonal imbalance in the brain of the particular animal. This hormonal imbalance makes the animal more sensitive to stressful situations or environmental factors. Likewise, many people have a genetic or inherited component to their depression that may be as a result of an imbalance of hormones or neuroreceptors (such as serotonin and dopamine), synaptic gap issues, or perhaps an insufficient number of receptor sites to obtain the optimal brain chemical balance.
Treatment:
Research on people has shown that most often there are both biological and social or environmental conditions that trigger a bout of depression. The treatment for this kind of effect ideally entails both medical (anti-depressant or other medications) and social treatments (such as counselling, lifestyle and environment change). The treatment for your pet will likely be quite similar. Short-term medication is not unusual while environmental changes or enrichment is a must.
First see the vet to rule out any medical problems such as urethral obstruction (which has similar symptoms to Feline Idiopathic Cystitis but where the animal does not pass urine, or not much urine - this is a medical emergency for your pet and a vet should be sought immediately), and eliminate other factors like diabetes or other medical problems that may be causing the behaviour.
Once your vet has eliminated all other medical possibilities and has identified stress, anxiety, depression or Feline Idiopathic Cystitis as the issue then two challenges need to be met. First the current episode of illness needs to be addressed, then prevention of future episodes. Again the treatment is quite like in people.
First there may be medications, anti-depressants, anxiety, and/or pain medications, for example, then the lifestyle and environmental changes.
Cats need stimulation like people. They may sleep most of the time but when cats are awake they need security, love, exercise, proper and consistent food, toys, and some simulation of their historical environment in the forest (i.e. a post to climb or to allow the animal to stretch out vertically). When the painful physical symptoms have been treated, and environmental adjustments made, your cat will be happy again they will stop the bad peeing behaviour.
And, as with any other pee problem, make sure to thoroughly clean up the urine spot with a black light and enzymatic cleaners to ensure your cat does not smell it and use the spot again not out of distress but simply because their urine odor is already there. Good Luck!
Causes:
Stress and depression are fairly common in pets (as well as animals in captivity, such as at zoos). It can be caused by a variety of circumstances or events. One of the most noted events that disturb cats is the expansion of your family. When a new spouse moves in (or out), a new baby comes home, making a move home to the parents, or parents moving in with your family: these events cause your animal stress just like it does to people. Many people's response to stress is depression. And that seems to hold for cats - many react to stress with a bout of depression.
This stress, depression, and/or anxiety can lead to a physical problem in the urinary tract (this may also affect people but it is still being investigated).
In cats this disorder is called Feline Idiopathic Cystitis or Feline lower urinary tract disease (in people it is called interstitial cystitis and, like in cats seems to be triggered by psychological stress or some sort of stressful event). The symptoms of this disorder are: peeing outside of the litter box, crying while urinating, excessive licking of their private parts, blood in the urine, and difficulty going pee (such as straining, frequent &/or prolonged urination). Note that not all the symptoms need to be present, just one or more.
There are many possible causes of stress and anxiety for your cat that can lead to anxiety and/or a depressive episode that causes or contributes to a pee problem. The list below is not exhaustive:
- to get the owner's attention (perhaps the cat is sick, unhappy, or just feeling neglected)
- the owner or friends/siblings are away
- pet is lonely/bored
- litter box isn't clean enough or cleaned often enough
- new pets in the household (being territorial)
- outdoor cats are taunting and teasing them, possibly through the window
- any big change such as moving, new spouse, child or roommate
- something as simple as moving the furniture can upset some animals
- kittenhood trauma like being one of 3 alive in a gunnysack of 10 kittens - sad and hopefully rare, but true
In addition to these environmental factors veterinarians and researchers have identified a correlation between depression in cats and a hormonal imbalance in the brain of the particular animal. This hormonal imbalance makes the animal more sensitive to stressful situations or environmental factors. Likewise, many people have a genetic or inherited component to their depression that may be as a result of an imbalance of hormones or neuroreceptors (such as serotonin and dopamine), synaptic gap issues, or perhaps an insufficient number of receptor sites to obtain the optimal brain chemical balance.
Treatment:
Research on people has shown that most often there are both biological and social or environmental conditions that trigger a bout of depression. The treatment for this kind of effect ideally entails both medical (anti-depressant or other medications) and social treatments (such as counselling, lifestyle and environment change). The treatment for your pet will likely be quite similar. Short-term medication is not unusual while environmental changes or enrichment is a must.
First see the vet to rule out any medical problems such as urethral obstruction (which has similar symptoms to Feline Idiopathic Cystitis but where the animal does not pass urine, or not much urine - this is a medical emergency for your pet and a vet should be sought immediately), and eliminate other factors like diabetes or other medical problems that may be causing the behaviour.
Once your vet has eliminated all other medical possibilities and has identified stress, anxiety, depression or Feline Idiopathic Cystitis as the issue then two challenges need to be met. First the current episode of illness needs to be addressed, then prevention of future episodes. Again the treatment is quite like in people.
First there may be medications, anti-depressants, anxiety, and/or pain medications, for example, then the lifestyle and environmental changes.
Cats need stimulation like people. They may sleep most of the time but when cats are awake they need security, love, exercise, proper and consistent food, toys, and some simulation of their historical environment in the forest (i.e. a post to climb or to allow the animal to stretch out vertically). When the painful physical symptoms have been treated, and environmental adjustments made, your cat will be happy again they will stop the bad peeing behaviour.
And, as with any other pee problem, make sure to thoroughly clean up the urine spot with a black light and enzymatic cleaners to ensure your cat does not smell it and use the spot again not out of distress but simply because their urine odor is already there. Good Luck!
Sonya Dann is notoriously clean and admittedly likes things very clean... and tidy is nice too. Sonya has been a friend and companion to several animals over the years and currently lives with a 3 year old ginger cat.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sonya_A_Dann 
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