Why do cats & dogs forget to use the bathroom?

The 5 most common reasons

Urination need not lead to house ruination! With urineFREE, it is possible to eliminate all urine odours and stains from your home-permanently. By removing urine odours and stains, urineFREE can also help to train pets to understand that it is better for everyone in the household if they go outside or to a litter box to do their business.

But first, it is important to understand why pets sometimes have mishaps. If urination in the house becomes a habit, changing the animal's behaviour will require identifying the triggers and either removing the triggers or changing the pet's reaction.

First remember to distinguish between marking and accidental urination. Marking is a natural inclination to identify the pet's own territory, while accidental urination results from an inability or disinclination to go outside.

So let's look at some of the main reasons why Puss or Pooch sometimes forgets to go outside.

1. Medical. This is not the main reason, but we put it first because if a grown toilet - trained dog or cat starts urinating in the house, the first thing you must do is to see your vet and eliminate a medical condition. This may include a urinary tract infection, kidney disease, incontinence or other conditions. It may even include changes in diet, flea treatment or other medications. Once you have eliminated medical causes, you can work on retraining your pet.

    

2. Entrapment. An obvious answer but one that needs a solution. If you are not at home a dog or cat flap will enable them to easily get in and out to relieve themselves.

    

3. A new and unfamiliar environment. Going on Holidays, moving house or visiting friends may cause Spot or Smokey to have an accident. Sometimes cats and dogs really don't know whether they are inside or out. Anything unfamiliar may cause them to re-mark territory. It's a bit like humans building fences. It's a security thing.

    

4. A new family member - human, canine or feline. Dogs and cats regard a new family member as a change in the pecking order ( to use a avian metaphor! ) and in this they are perfectly right. The balances always change when someone else enters the fray. So your pet might deal with this by marking again. Just think of it as rearranging the accommodation!

    

5. Shyness. Cats in particular may seek secluded places in which to urinate. Try moving the litter tray to a darker more confined space such as beneath a table in the laundry.