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@littlejoy: oh no...we almost re-homed ours because of that, cat pee is potent and gross. Luckily she was a kitten and we were able to fix the issue by adding an extra litter box to our main level. I think there are some sprays to deter cats from areas...vinegar maybe? Maybe lock off some rooms? I'm sorry

@littlejoy: how often do you clean the boxes?

@littlejoy: How often are his litter boxes scooped? My cats get really angry if they aren't scooped enough. Have you had him checked recently by the vet? Maybe an issue has come up recently.

When we were having this issue with our cats after a move our vet said to use unscented litter or the unscented non-litter types. Multiple boxes are key, one more than the number of cats (which you already do, so that's good). And clean the litter every day, even those you have extra boxes. Also, you may want to replace the boxes if they are plastic. Over time the smell seeps in. This is tough. We didn't have LO when we were having issues. I can't imagine.

Ours went through a phase of this. I googled stuff after washing pillows in our bath tub and huge couch cushions which stayed wet for weeks and I thought I would have to throw out. This is what I ended up buying because spraying vinegar did nothing. http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-32-oz-Pet-Stain-and-Odor-Remover-ZUPETODR32/203207634

When I was searching for information online it said you need to buy an enzyme cleaner because it needs to interact with the bacteria/smell that has been left there in order to remove it. So you're supposed to spray this stuff, let it dry, and then vacuum it out of the item if you can. I didn't do the vacuum part, but our two couches no longer smell!

When our cat did it, it was totally out of the blue. He had had an urinary tract infection the year prior and we had put him on special urinary tract food just to ensure it might not happen again because male cats are more prone to them. He peed on so much stuff (couches, carpet, pillows, a sleeping bag) and we were so frustrated. We took him to the vet and paid for tests, but it was also behavioural. We bought one of these: http://www.petsmart.com/cat/stress-anxiety-relief/comfort-zone-feliway-cat-diffuser-kit-zid36-13534/cat-36-catid-200050 because my friend who is a vet tech suggested it. For us it did nothing, but for some it works.

Has anything in your house changed at all? We had moved his litter box to a different location and it was dark and we think that ended up being the problem because once we moved it back out into a better lit location it never happened again. We also had a second litter box that we put out in the open, hoping he would use it. We had also moved some furniture around and he may not have liked it. Cats are weird creatures.

Years ago our dog had a problem peeing in the house and we used this carpet cleaner called Folex that they sell at Bed Bath and Beyond. It's great for carpet and upholstery stains.

In addition to the great ideas above, I recommend double sided tape. When we moved and our cat started peeing on the carpet, after using enzyme cleaner and everything, we put the tape all along the area he peed on. Next time he walked there, he got tape all over him, and he was too scared of that area to go back and pee. Cheap masking tape laid sticky side up also works. Be careful of a toddler getting stuck with the tape though!

@littlejoy: I have multiple experiences with this with several cats in my family. Mainly my moms cats

One cat was a neutered tom. He started spraying when other cats were introduced to the household Eventually we had to start rubbing a Valium cream in his ears. It worked amazingly well. Like.... New cat. Calm gentle, happy. This persisted from about 8-13 years old when he passed. Zero peeing.

Second cat peed outside the box a lot. Eventually it was found that she had recurrent Uti's.

Boxes were always cleaned. Natures miracle worked great. Get a blacklight to see if they have peed anywhere else

But seriously. Valium.

@littlejoy: yep try the Valium. Getting rid of the cats just wasn't an option. It actually worked well because he became a much more mellow cat with the Valium and got along with the other cats so well! And it also resulted in a lot of amazing family jokes "ok dad go rub some Valium in your ears".
I think single cats can go nuts just as much as multiple cat households can. They just have their own brand of crazy

I hope it works out for you. My biggest fear when we had our LO was how our cats would react. They were fine and thank goodness. I couldn't imagine rehoming

Give us an update later on!!

We use resolve carpet cleaner when mine throw up on carpets. No big deal

@mrbee: they make metal ones? I didn't know this!

We've been through this. It sucks. In terms of the rug, I'd probably get rid of it. Cats tend to mark the same place over and over again.

I think most of the previous posters have good advice regarding the cat. We've tried the Feliway and it didn't really work for us but I know it does work for some cats so it's worth a try. My friend's cat uses valium and it has worked wonders. We definitely need multiple litter boxes, plus one of my cats likes to pee in an empty litter box, so we have some boxes with litter and some without.

One other thing that we discovered after going through something similar a few years back was that one of my cats is apparently really sensitive to MY stress levels. She went through a time when she was peeing everywhere when I was really stressed out (which of course didn't help my stress levels). Now that life is calmer, she is fine. So not sure if that's relevant to you guys, but maybe the cat is picking up on something you or your DH is doing (perhaps the threat of re-homing).