Getting frustrated

Ok... our kitties were using their litter box just fine. We had a littermaid mega deluxe. Very expensive.. and not worth it. The clean up is supposed to be easier and its not.. to empty the litter and put fresh in you have to take it apart.. and you have to use a good clumping litter.. Litter was being tracked everywhere.

So.. we got a new litterbox and new litter. We switched to felinepine. Well now we are having problems. They are using the litterbox.. we've seen all three go in the litterbox... but one of them keeps urinating and pooping in the bathtub. We don't know which one it is because we haven't caught them doin it.

We clean it up as soon as we find it... using Mr. Clean or Softscrub to scrub the tub after picking up the mess. Any suggestions on how to get them to use the litterbox and stop using the shower. It's getting really frustrating.

Please help!


-Cassie

Is the litter box in the bathroom? If not, I would close the door so the cats can't get in there, just as a deterrant. Also, maybe they need a check up at the vet to rule out any health problems. Sorry I'm not much help. (Knock on wood) I haven't had litter box problems. Hopefully more experienced owners will have some suggestions.

Yes the litterbox is in the bathroom.. the only real place we have room for in this tiny 2 bedroom apartment with 4 people living here. We are moving in a few weeks to our own place though.. and then I'm gonna find a new place for it.

I figured a way to keep em out. I filled the tub up with water.. so that they wouldn't go in there.. Gee.. how simple was that? I'm such a flake sometimes!


I do have a vet appointment for them this Saturday and I'm having a fecal exam taken too! So.. I'm praying everything is ok. *crosses her fingers*

Cassie

Many cats are very particular about their litter...if you change litter they may refuse to use it! Try going back to the old litter and see what happens. I almost guarantee it will take care of the problem!

I tried changing litter with my 7 cats. Because cats don't like change, it has to be done gradually. I have 6 boxes. I put the regular old stuff in 3 and the new stuff in the other 3. All of my cats liked the new stuff except for my oldest male Casey. But at least he had the option of using his faithful old litter. That's could be why your cat was pooping in the tub. I used Feline Pine and it seemed that my cats would pee in it but would poop in the scoopable because they liked covering their poo. How about leaving one box with the old stuff for whoever is going in the shower. That may solve your problem.

Also, I've been told to put the litterbox where there isn't alot of traffic so they have their privacy.

BTW, I had the very first Littermaid. It was noisy, my cats were afraid (I only had 2 cats at the time) of it, the waste compartment was too small, and you can only put a certain amount of litter (quality scoopable litter I might add) in it, or the rake won't work. I finally gave it to my father for his cat. I was not impressed with it at all considering it was so expensive.

In a way your cat may be responding to the fact that the bathtub always gets cleaned -- that means no tell-tale remains to alert the cat's enemies that it is living "nearby." some cats are more instictual than others.

I find that younger cats prefer the bathroom sick or tub. Mama comes and cleans, and presto, the kitten feels safe. The other problem may be that some cats won't use a communal litter box. In this case, put out 2 of them and let the cats figure out how they are going to manage things. Be glad it is a temporary problem (they usually stop using the tub and opt for any litter box after a while) and not under the blankets on your bed, in inaccessible places like the crawl-space under your biggest and most immovable pieces of furniture, in that tiny crawl space behind the refrigerator or washing machine....etc.

Finally, if the cat really prefers the pristine cleanliness of the tub, try toilet training him. I may have an article on that from some internet place or other...a CNN article, perhaps of last year. I will try to find it in my data files, if it would be of interest. The training program, as I recall, is a very tedious affair, but some cats think it's really great to use the toilet like the human folks do.