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Catnip Could Be The Cause Of Litter Box “Accidents”

Updated: 8:24 pm By Lorena Ávila 8 Comments

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My cat Sophie

I would have never imagined that catnip could be making my cat to pee outside the litter box. Through all the years I have been cat owner I thought I knew most of the reasons why cats urinate outside the litter box, such as the cat not being happy with the hygiene of the litter box, location, type of litter, a new pet in the house, another cat spotted through the window, urinary tract disease issues, etc.

I was so happy that my cat never had these issues, she always enjoys a clean litter box thanks to the Litter Robot 3 and she is the only cat at home.

Sophie is very confident about her territory inside the house and she doesn’t feel threatened by other animals she can see outside the window. Actually, when a visitor comes over or even strangers (e.g. the cable guy or others) Sophie is like a little queen walking with confidence and coming close to the person, sniffing it a little and then like saying: welcome! This is my home! :-)

So I never thought my cat could ever urinate outside the litter box, but that day happened. One day I was sitting on my couch and could smell cat urine, I thought it was weird and mentioned this to my husband. We determined that my cat urinated close to the couch and I started paying attention to her after that. However, I never smelled cat pee again anywhere in the house so I assumed she never did it again and that event was just like one-time-deal.

When I Found Out That Catnip Causes Litter Box Accidents

About 3 months after this event I saw my cat playing with her catnip toy and decided to give her a little catnip herb so I did. She started rubbing her face onto it and eating a little bit. Then she got a little crazy playing and running so I thought this was the catnip effect (I almost don’t give Sophie any catnip, I did it just a couple of times when she was a kitten and that’s it). After seeing my kitty going crazy over the catnip I went to my bedroom to finish some work so I stayed there for about 30 minutes and after that, I decided to get a glass of water so I went back to the kitchen. Oh, boy, did I get surprised; Sophie had used the carpet as a litter box and did a big pee, I couldn’t believe it. My Sophie doing this? Urinating on the carpet? Really? The only connection to this behavior was the catnip so I started researching and I found several cat owners commenting on forums that their cats pee right in front of them after having catnip!

Why Does Catnip Make Some Cats Urinate Outside The Litter Box?

It seems like the catnip somehow releases some hormonal response making cats male or female spray. Catnip has a strong effect on the cat’s body and this is some of the responses to that stimulus. Some cats don’t even experience any effect with catnip, while others experience like being “high” similar to the influence of marijuana or LSD in people. This is due to the stimulant called nepetalactone that catnip contains.

Nature’s Miracle cat urine destroyer

I learned that kittens don’t get very affected with catnip but as they get adult some cats react like this, they simply urinate right after the catnip use.

Some cats even urinate right on top of the catnip, others do huge urine next to where they eat the catnip. I read stories of some cat owners describing how the kitchen floor looked like a lagoon with pee right after they gave their cats some catnip. That’s was it! It was the catnip that made my cat do this unusual behavior.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to record my cat when this happened, but I share with you this video of a cat peeing after consuming Catnip. This behavior is not so uncommon in cats.

You Sill Need To Discard Urinary Issues

Even when I suspected the catnip being the one to blame, I still took my cat to the Vet because I didn’t want to take chances of an underlying condition, such as a urinary disease. Just relying on my suspicious wasn’t enough.

After the Vet run some tests she concluded that my cat didn’t have any urinary issue, no urinary tract disease nor kidney problems and told me that some cats react like that with catnip. Then I remembered giving my cat catnip like 3 months previously to this event and it was probably the urine I smelled by the couch about that time.

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A Good Urine Destroyer Will Help You

To clean the areas where she urinated I bought a good cat urine destroyer that kills the enzymes from cat urine that nothing else can kill which is what makes cats smell and keep them urinating again on the same spot. I also bought a black light urine detector to check the spot close to the couch and I found it and cleaned it as well.

Bye Bye Catnip!

After this event, I threw what I had left of catnip away and never used it again and I won’t. If your cat is reacting like this to catnip I recommend you to avoid using stuffed toys with catnip as well. All adds up to the point that your cat may end up spraying where you don’t want him to.

All cats may not react the same to this herb, but some cats do, so if your cat has occasional litter box accidents and you have given it catnip maybe that’s a thread to get to the root of the problem.

Since I stopped giving my pet catnip she hasn’t had any litter box accident again, which confirms my suspicions.

When you think you have learned it all about cats, you find out that catnip can be the cause for cats to urinate outside the litter box. I hope my experience helps you and finally gives you the answer you have been looking for.

Filed Under: Blog

Avatar for Lorena Ávila

About Lorena Ávila

Lorena Avila is a Marketing Engineer, Writer, cat figures collector, cat lover and cat owner, but above all a very passionate investigator of felines. She started investigating cat products 7 years ago when she couldn't find reliable reviews on the internet to buy an automatic feeder for her own cat and since then she has been helping others providing honest information online.
Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for ADDISONADDISON says

    May 2, 2018 at 2:41 am

    Every since my cat ate catnip sees urinate all over the house
    Where catnip might have been see pres there or if see are it see goes and hides and pews there

    Reply
    • Avatar for Lorena ÁvilaLorena Ávila says

      May 2, 2018 at 6:33 pm

      It’s true Addison, I would have never thought catnip was causing my cat to pee outside the litter box but thank goodness now I am well aware of it.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for MakaylaMakayla says

    June 10, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    OH MY GOSH!!! THATS CRAZY!! My 2 year old cat Simba just started peeing in the house about a week ago ( has NEVER had an accident) so we rushed him to the vet, fearing the start of urinary tract problems like we had with our previous cat and he was fine! I was so scared that this would just keep happening forever and my house would smell like cat pee. Until today. Today I noticed the catnip plant I had was completely demolished. Like he ate the shit out of it. Then I thought…. Weird…. He only started peeing around the same time I got the plant…. Well, time to see if this is our problem. Bye bye catnip!!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Lorena ÁvilaLorena Ávila says

      June 10, 2018 at 8:20 pm

      Hello Makayla! I am so glad I could help you with my article. When this happened to my Sophie I couldn’t find any article about it, just some random comments in forums. That’s why I created this article and I am happy I can help people going through the same problem with their cats. So from now on, by bye catnip for Simba :-)

      Reply
    • Avatar for ValerieValerie says

      August 13, 2019 at 10:36 pm

      Thank you so much for this article. My cat just peed on my bathroom floor shortly after I put some catnip on his new scratcher toy. It was way too coincidental because he was acting a bit crazy from it and then peed. No more catnip in my house!

      Reply
      • Avatar for Lorena ÁvilaLorena Ávila says

        August 14, 2019 at 12:19 am

        You’re welcome Valerie, no catnip in my house either :)

        Reply
  3. Avatar for Pam E.Pam E. says

    May 9, 2019 at 4:29 am

    Many herbs *do* have *definite* diuretic properties, and that includes Catnip! So, it shouldn’t be surprising for cats that have eaten it to have ‘urination issues’! LOL! . . . “[Catnip] can act as a diuretic, increasing urination . . .” https://www.healthline.com/health/catnip-tea#how-to-make-catnip-tea

    Reply
    • Avatar for Lorena ÁvilaLorena Ávila says

      May 9, 2019 at 4:51 am

      That’s good to know Pam. I thought it could be a response to hormone stimulation but it could also be the diuretic properties of the catnip lol. Thanks for your comment Pam!

      Reply

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