Bella randomly not going in litter box

Okay...

My baby has NEVER EVER gone outside her litter box. She's a little over one year old, and she's been the best cat ever.

For some reason, last week, she peed on a comforter I had been using to exercise on; at least, I think it was her, after recent events transpired.

Sunday night, I smelled cat poo, and searched everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found... until my parents went to their room for bed, and found poo and pee on their comforter. We were all convinced it couldn't have been Bella, because she doesn't do that, but I smelled the cat pee on it.

Last night, Monday night, I was watching a movie, and she squatted on the new rug and began peeing.

Now... before you ask, she IS using the litter box, too. I checked to make sure; she's definitely using it. So why would she be randomly going in the house?

The thing is, she doesn't do it in my room. She goes in her litter box. When I take her downstairs with me, the room stays open so she can go back to it.

So why is this happening? Could she be sick, do you think? It worries me. Last night when she did it right in front of my face, I jumped up and said NO! And she moved away, like she knew she was wrong. When I told her to get upstairs and started that way, she zoomed up there. I put her in her litter box to make the point that that's where she's supposed to go, but of course she hopped right out. But, she KNEW she wasn't supposed to do that.

Is my baby sick? Or trying to get attention, or what? She's never done this, I'm just bewildered....

If it were me, I'd make an appointment with the vet to make sure she doesn't have an UTI - she may be trying to tell you she's not feeling well in the only way she can. I'd also try to make a list of anything that may have changed in the last couple of weeks: any visitors, change in food, change in hours the family is around the house, just anything you can think of which might have triggered a reaction, such as the new rug. Also, clean clean clean with an enzyme cleaner - otherwise she might try to return to the spots.

I might also add a new litter box filled with Cat Attract and see if that works.

The most important thing is for you and the family to have patience with her and don't yell at her if you catch her 'in the act' - she'll pick up on your stress, and she won't understand that you're mad at the spot, not the act of elimination. I know it's hard - my boy had litter box issues - but she sounds like a wonderful cat.

Yes, definitely make a vet appointment. She could have a UTI or something to do with that area that's stressing her out or making her uncomfortable. Have you changed cat litter? That could be a key issue as well. My Spock has litter box issues. He poops beside the box on the floor whenever the box isn't clean enough. I scoop it every day, but if I skip a day, it's automatic poop on the floor. So make sure you're keeping the box clean too. Cats change preferences sometimes, so when you might have cleaned the box every other day, you might have to start doing it every day. Just a thought. Hope it helped.

I definitely was worried about the UTI

(And by the way I am SO sorry for asking this question before reading the fine things collected in the stickies!)

Anyway, that was my number one priority. I read all about it, and it seemed to be different than what Bella was going through. She didn't have blood in her urine, she wasn't crying while she was pottying, she's not just laying around (well she does, but not more than a normal cat), and she wasn't licking herself down there a lot.

And I watched her closely. This is my child, as most of you know, how worried you get over your baby.

My parents decided we should try the litterbox first.

So, I bought new fine-grained litter (I had known it wasn't a litter change because she NEVER reacts bad if I change litter brands), since I read cats prefer it, and I scrubbed the whole box as if it were brand new.

Now, I had ruled out that it was the litter box before; it's been MUCH dirtier before. I NEVER let it get like that unless I'm out of litter and we were just going to run to the store the next day... but she needed it right away. See, I put a pan liner on her pan, and she had torn it all over the place and it was sticking out from the litter. So as I was saying, I gave her a perfect litter box....

....She went right into it, pooed, then a little later came back and peed. I watched her intently and she didn't seem to have trouble going, and then I went and checked for blood in the urine, and there was none.

SO, I'm thinking it might have been a litter box thing. The only test I can think of is letting her out downstairs for a while, but I'm afraid she'll go and I won't see her doing it or something, so I won't know.

My step-dad, the vet professor at UGA, thinks she went where she did downstairs because the dogs have been going randomly in places and she smells it and goes, too. But I don't believe that of her, plus, she did it RIGHT on my parents' bed, where no dog has gone, so I don't think it was that.


I still am worried about the UTI... I'm about to go away for a little while and I want her to be okay before I leave. She'd been a little more cuddly than usual, and it seems more calm, but she still jumps around and things so I'm just confused.

I'm going to take her downstairs for a little while, see how she reacts, but regardless, I'll still be taking her in. I won't let my baby suffer and I have to be sure, for my own peace of mind, but moreover for her safety.