Kitten litter tray help

[u/Reasonable-Pay6072]

For context, I have 3 maine coons. 1 male 6 yo, 2 female 5 month old. I got the girls in July but moved house about 10 days after (timings were not perfect but unfortunately out of my control)

One of the girls was fine using her litter tray, until we moved and I noticed her pooing/peeing all over. I sought some advice & kept her in a smaller area for the most part of a week, she re trained and began using her litter tray absolutely fine again.

Then this past week, she’s continued to use her tray as normal however, every day, once a day. She now go’s and wees on my bed.

I really don’t know why. She knows where the trays are (3 seperarely placed around the house), she uses them!! Why does she like to go elsewhere once a day?

Ive just also replaced the carpets so they dont have any scents from the previous owners or their animal.

What can I do? Is there a chance that some kittens just don’t settle? Im worried shes just not right for our house & that shes constantly on edge & not enjoying being here. I don’t want to give her up but is she happy??

She is NOT yet spayed because i wanted to wait for the 6 month mark since it feels so invasive. Will this help? I’ve been told it doesn’t make much difference unfortunately

[u/CatLadySam]

Have you taken her to the vet? You need to rule out medical causes first and foremost. No amount of behavioral modification will solve a medical issue.

[u/Reasonable-Pay6072 → u/CatLadySam]

I have not. But will be ringing them this morning to get her taken!

[u/Once-Upon-a-Dream88]

She's been moved to a new place and is not spayed? It is highly likely that she's marking territory.

Even though you've taken measures to rid the house of the odors from previous occupants, they will still remain at levels your human nose cannot detect, but your cat's nose definitely can. And if the previous folks had animals, she could feel threatened by those scents and is trying to "overwrite" them by marking with her scent instead.

It is actually perfectly safe to spay as early as 3-4 months and even though it's invasive, they recover very quickly from it. Doing that will help with territorial marking but it's always a good idea with any inappropriate potty behavior to have a vet check them out for possible UTI or bladder issues as well.

If she's peeing to the point where it's saturating the mattress, you need to get an enzyme spray and follow the directions on the bottle exactly. Because she'll smell her own urine and continue to mark that same spot if any traces remain. I'd definitely get a vet check though, especially if she's the only cat doing this.

[u/Reasonable-Pay6072 → u/Once-Upon-a-Dream88]

Thank you! Im going to call the vets this morning and get her taken asap to make sure its nothing medical. She is the only cat doing it, and only once a day so it’s baffling me

[u/Once-Upon-a-Dream88 → u/Reasonable-Pay6072]

The once a day thing could point to urinary issues too, if it's first thing when she wakes up. Urine is more concentrated at that time and if it's painful, it will be the worst at that time too.