Cat has been using carpet instead of litter box...any suggestions??

Hi,

I thought everything was going fine with the new cat we adopted a month ago. She and the resident dog have gotten along fairly well, and the cat has been acclimating herself to the house - seems happy and contented. This morning, however, we discovered that she has been using one of the bedroom carpets (in a room that is not used much right now) to urinate. She has been using her downstairs (and only) litterbox for stools, but apparently most if not all of her urination has been upstairs on the carpet. What a job to remove the carpet, pad, and clean everything up. Any suggestions? This is a very nice cat, and at least I thought she was fitting in very well in our home. If this problem is not correctable, though, I don't feel I can keep her. My other cat only ever had one isolated incident where she did not use a litter box, until of course she got very sick near the end.

Obviously the cat knows where the box is - being that she uses it for her stool elimination - and so why won't she use it for urinating? I was so distressed to see that this was taking place. We had no idea. But from the size of the stained area I suspect she's been doing it for the last few weeks - and we only have her a month.

I've read all about UTI as a possible cause for urinating outside the box, but I really doubt if this is the case being that the cat has been on antibiotics for the past few weeks to treat other medical conditions that she brought home from the shelter.

Any help much appreciated. I'm really hoping I can curb this bad habit somehow. I don't think I could live with any pet who has this sort of constant problem in the house. The cat was housebroken and came from a home - she was not a stray. I can't help but wonder if this is why she was taken to the shelter? The story the shelter got was that the person's landlord would not let them keep her anymore.

Thanks,
Keith

Hi,

I don't think there is a UTI - being that she has been on antibiotics for the past few weeks for other medical issues. But, she goes to the vet again tomorrow night and so I'll certainly mention it. I really don't like the idea of having a litter box in a carpeted bedroom. I don't see any reason why this cat can't learn to use the litterbox to both urinate and pass stools. She was using the box 100% when we first got her, being that she was only in the basement until we introduced her to the resident dog. Then, we started giving her free access to the upstairs part of the house. That's when the trouble started. I like this cat very much, but I'm not going to supply her with her choice of litter boxes. Upstairs is: kitchen / dining area, living room, and then the bedrooms. I really don't want a box in any of those places.

The other issue with having several litter boxes is that the dog will get into them. The cat's box is in her crate downstairs - an area that the dog knows is pretty much off-limits.

OK...just read the sticky thread as well as many others. I think that, once a UTI is ruled out - as I think it probably will be but then again you never know until the vet checks her over again tomorrow night - I will definitely get a new box, probably try the 'attract' litter and also the 'feliway' diffuser - since these last 2 items seem to be high on everyone's list of things to try for inappropriate elimination.