Still avoiding the litterbox

As yall know my Sweetie had bladder stone surgery a week ago today. He came home on tuesday. Well hes been set up in my moms room,as hes supposed to be away from our other cat. Anyways,before the surgery he was peeing at our front door rather than the litter box. Now that hes upstairs,he keeps peeing on the rug not the litter box. The one vet said maybe he associates litterboxes with pain and wont use it. I dunno if thats true or not. Another one said he will probably be peeing alot this week after his surgery and might not be able to make it to the litter box in time. Im not really sure what it is,but he is gonna have to learn to use the litterbox again somehow. Cause peeing on the rugs just doesnt not work! We rent so definetly doesnt work for us. Peeing at the door wasnt that bad cause its tile but still. Any ideas? Do we have to retrain him or something? Or maybe its cause his peepee is still irritated from it all?
Help lol.

I'd be interested in the answer to this too, as I suspect that my Buster (who had the same surgery) will be doing this too.

Midnight did that.
After he had the surgery he stopped.
They do not use the pan because they think it causes the pain.
Give him time.
Midnights surgery was right before thanksgiving.

How long did it take you think for Midnight to get back to using the litter box? Its only been a week so far,so we are hoping soon he will go back to it. We dont mind cleaning up after him or anything,but it would be nice if he would use it lol. Thanks Mewsmuch.

Let me ask my sister tonight or tomorrow.
She is at work right now.
I gave Midnight to her when he was a kitten.

oh ok. ty.

Midnight was peeing on the floor in my bedroom and that was when I noticed something was weird. I took him in and they tried to break down his stones with s/d and he still kept on peeing. He had the surgery and used the litter box that same day that I brought him home.

I think that you should just give him some time. Midnight is also picky about having his litter box very clean so make sure and try a fresh litter box and see if that makes a difference. If he doesn't start using the litter box soon, I would just ask your vet again and see what they say.

there are a lot of threads about litter box retraining, but my personal experience was a lot of cleaning with enzyme cleaners, new litter boxes, maybe even shaped a little differently (sometimes the old ones can retain odor) and Cat Attract litter (love that stuff!). Also, worst case, just put a box where they have been peeing on the rug - you can move the box bit by bit to a different area.

I wouldn't be surprised if he is associating pain with the old box and litter...think of how we feel if we get sick after eating a particular food...most of us will avoid that food for a long time, even if it turns out there was no relationship. Good luck - it is frustrating.

Originally Posted by Lovemypets81

The one vet said maybe he associates litterboxes with pain and wont use it.

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That's exactly what happened when Hemmy had his sever UTI's. He had to have corrective surgery for them. He'll still go elsewhere if he isn't feeling well which you'd think would be bad and I guess it is but it lets us know when he needs extra attention. Anyway, as long as he's well, he uses his box now but I had to retrain him to it. Here's what you can do:

Put the litter box in a corner and block a third side so your cat must enter from only one end. At the back of the box put a small dish with the most wonderful treat in the world. (Treats determined by your cat. I'd avoid fish as that can aggravate kidney trouble. Maybe chicken or a favorite here is whipped cream.) Show the treat to your cat and give him time to climb in the box. Repeat several times over a few days so he'll associate the box with happy treats and not pain!