Bitsy: seconds away from peeing IN dry food bowl!

the_food_lady

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Okay, so I think it's confirmed (??)....Bitsy's 2 episodes of inappropriate peeing (on freshly washed bath mat, then on pile of CLEAN unfolded laundry)....and then this weekend inside an empty shoe box..............I think what just happened now confirmed it; she's a little bit confused about litterboxes. Oy.

I have a pie plate that's filled with dry food in my kitchen nook. With 5 cats I try to keep a variety of dry food around. I don't think anyone really eats from this bowl, well it's definitely gone now.

I've never seen Bitsy eat from it. I can hear her rustling around in the bowl. I then see her front PAWS smack dab in the MIDDLE of the bowl (okay, more like a plate)......I think to myself, "huh?"....then I see it.....she's sitting in the position a female cat sits in when they're about to pee. MY GOD! She was going to p*ss in a bowl of food LOL

I instinctively hollered "NO!" and all cats in the vicinity, including her, went running. That bowl is gone for good. The other dry food bowls are smaller so not worried about those.

She was obviously making the 'digging' motion with her front paws in the kibble, the same way she'd do it in the litterbox when preparing to pee.

I then took her downstairs and over to the litterboxes and of course she peed.

Whew.

Some had suggested that the recent shoe-box incident was likely because she was so used to such a small litterbox at the Humane Society that it confused her.

Wow. This is a new one for me. I've had cats all my life, many were skittish strays who'd been on the street for some time but NO cat I've ever owned has been confused about the litterbox.

What is next? The top of my bed? (she sleeps on the foot of it every night, as do 2 of my others)

So I can't leave ANY clean laundry on the floor (to be folded), terrified to leave any clothes piled on my bedroom or closet floor, no shoe boxes or similar, nothing that could be construed as a litterbox........any other things to consider? Now I'm afraid she'll start peeing in the cat beds. I have several of them, very nice ones....but boy, that could be confused with a litterbox maybe? DO I take them all away?

How do I help get her over this?

She's a good 1 yr old.

Will she ever get over this?

Is this a sign that I should put a litterbox upstairs somewhere? (I hate to do that because I feel that once I do, I'll have to leave it here forever and not crazy about that in the least)

Would appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Is there any hope for her? LOL

Thanks
Lisa
 

blueyedgirl5946

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I believe you need to take the cat to the vet. Usually there is a problem when they start urinating outside the litter box.
 

taryn

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She needs to be checked out by your vet. There is usually a problem when they start going out of their litter boxes.

Taryn
 

otto

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Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946

I believe you need to take the cat to the vet. Usually there is a problem when they start urinating outside the litter box.
Originally Posted by Taryn

She needs to be checked out by your vet. There is usually a problem when they start going out of their litter boxes.

Taryn
In another thread, the OP states that Bitsy has had both a urinalysis and a culture done, both negative for any problems:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=210923

in that thread I did offer some ideas. Yes, you will have to keep things off the floor, and I think invest in some feliway diffusers.

I think you are dealing with a kitty that isn't very bright, for whatever reason. Normally I would recommend retraining, but I think that would backfire in this case, because she obviously thinks anything near by is fair game as a litter box, so you don't want her once again closed up with a litter box.

I don't blame you for not wanting a box upstairs...but it may be your only answer, as she learns.

When I brought a litter box upstairs for Ootay (rb 5/09) when she started having too much trouble going downstairs, the other cats knew it was hers, and never used it, ever! I hated having a litter box in my bathroom, but Ootay needed it there. Anyway, what I'm saying is, maybe the other cats won't even use it, if you put (a new)one upstairs, and gradually move it back downstairs. A new one, so it doesn't smell like the ones downstairs.

I wonder if picking her up and bringing her down to the litter boxes every hour for a few days might help her get the idea.
 

violet

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I'm thinking.....A litter box upstairs might solve the problem. If it does, it should be allowed to stay there, it should not be removed.

In this situation, however, marking would be another possibility to consider. Urine marking, also called nonspraying marking. Since Bitsy is the newest member of the family, this would be something very much worth thinking about.
 

violet

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PS:

Worth thinking about because this problem comes from issues between cats. Owners may not be aware that anything is wrong. Also, the items involved here are not typical for situations involving litter box avoidance. In fact, most often nonspraying marking is mistaken for location or substrate preference.
 

littleraven7726

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I've read pretty much all of Pam Johnson-Bennett's books and she says you should have a box on each level of your home. I do that because Nabu has arthritis pretty bad and Stimpy is beginning his senior years. We have 1 upstairs and I keep 3-4 in the basement. Our youngest(Lola) likes to harass our oldest cat(Nabu) around litter boxes, so we have to have at least 2 locations for the boxes to deal with territorial issues. When the cats weren't allowed in the basement I felt like I had to have boxes everywhere upstairs, which is one reason we opened up the basement. When I had all the boxes in 1 location we had an inappropriate urination incident in the bathtub. I moved them to at least 2 locations that day and we haven't had a repeat incident.
 

otto

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You guys make a very good point. If other cats are preventing Bitsy from using the litter boxes down stairs she may have no choice but to find places upstairs.
 

threecatowner

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I do know they will pee in their food. Years ago Orfie (yes, fixed) developed a spraying problem in our new home (the lady had had cats, and his problem areas were where said cats litter boxes had been, in our sunroom).

I had read cats WILL NOT ELIMINATE WHERE THEY EAT. Ha Ha. We cleaned the room (or so we thought, I'd never even heard of enzyme cleaners) and put bowls of dry cat food in his trouble spots. Yep, he peed right in it.

I 'm not so sure your problem may not be marking, as was mentioned above. I hope you get it solved soon. Please don't give up on her...
 
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the_food_lady

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Thanks everyone.

I really don't think the issue is that she's feeling ganged up on by the other cats and is therefore afraid to use the one of 8 litterboxes in the basement. She's very bold and seems to really like all of my other cats; always rubbing up against them for some love, they groom her in return. The way the litterboxes are situated in the basement, they're in different groupings so for the "more private type", there's a boxes that provide just that, more privacy.

I don't think it's "marking" behavior, either. I really just think she's kind of a knucklehead (but a sweet one, of course) that thinks surfaces that she can "dig in" (long shag mat, large flat bowl of food) or that resemble a litterbox (a shoe box) are neat-o places to take a whiz. Funny though (and thank God), she hasn't pooped anywhere she shouldn't, funny it's only been peeing.

I've considered putting a box on all levels and I still will if it's the last resort but I really don't want to put one on my main level. People think I'm crazy enough to have 5 cats, if they were to see a litterbox or have the privilege of watching one of my 5 cats using it, that would be too much. Plus I feel that if I put one here on my main level, it will have to stay here forever. Due to the layout and furniture, there's just no 'discreet' place to even put it. And I know that the others would use it because when I had her in a room by herself for a few days, after I got her, the very day I felt comfortable letting her out to be with the other cats, they couldn't begin using her box quick enough.

She hasn't peed inappropriately anywhere for a week now. I've even checked the remaining bath mats (they're white so it would be very obvious) and they're fine. Caught her cozied up on my bath robe this morning while I was in the shower (that would have been a perfect place for a wizz, I'm sure)...no problems.

When I get up in the morning and when I get home from work, I go down in the basement and scoop the boxes and her and Hobee immediately follow me and I'll put her in one of the boxes and take my finger and make digging motions and she'll immediately use the box (she's a good girl). Have been doing this every day for a week so maybe this is helping her to 'catch on' that if she needs to pee, that's where to go.

Maybe the Feliway diffuser is helping, too? I don't know.

She's definitely made herself right at home here; I wake up each morning with 5 cats cuddled up on my bed (there's no room for me! LOL) and she's right in the midst of them all.

Now if only I could get her to stay off the kitchen counter. I woke up this morning to find she'd knocked over a large plastic container of shortbread cookies; AND she dug out of my purse, a ziploc bag of cookies I was planning to take to work; she'd chewed the bag open and there were cookies all over. Little fart. LOL
 
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