litter box woes.

Just wondering if any one else has experienced this or has any ideas on what i can do.

I have three cats. The newest of the three Felix has a big problem with using the litter box.

He is a ex outdoor stray that we have taken with us from our old apartment.

The first day we had him in the house was great. My other two cats gladly use the smae litter tray ...always have done...so i decided that before i bought another one for Felix i would see what happened. First few times was great he happily used the litter box perfectly. Great I thought!!!! But no. So I bought him a new box..but now they all use both boxes????? AGGGHHHHH!!!

Felix seems to think that if he has one foot in the box then it is ok and just goes. I wonder if it is because he is used to outside and doesn´t know it is a smaller container??? He will always pee or poo near the box but rarely in it?????

Any ideas what i can do????? I am stuck for ideas now

Some cats are really funny with the litter box and like it really clean or they will not use it . Did you make sure that when he go to use it , that it was scooped and nothing in there ? The reason I say that is , I have one cat and if there is anything in the box she will not use it . So I have to make sure it is always scooped and very clean for her . Also you can try setting him insite the box when he is atemting to use the litter box , he may have to be remindet that he has to go insite and stand on all 4 paws in there .

Hi Thanks for your reply.

I thought it may be that he wants the box clean but i have even found him using the floor straight away after i have put a fully cleaned box down..so i dont think it can be that.

I have tried putting him in the box but he is very timid sometimes and has a habbit of running off if you try it which leads to a nice trail of kitty pee or poo.

Was he checked lately by a vet ? If not I would get him to a vet to see if he has no health problem . I went with my Jezabel the one I talked in my first post about to rule health problems out . The vet could not fing any health problems with her and gave me some kind of meds to change her hormones a little around , to help her to stay more calm I guess . So far she is doing good . I would go to the vet with him and talk it over with him/her after a health problem was ruled out .

First thing is to take him to the vet to see if he is okay health wise. If he checks out to be okay health-wise, try adding yet another box in another location, private but with a good escape route open for him. Put in the box a mixture of organic potting soil and clay litter and see if he will use it that way.Once he starts using it, gradually make it an all clay litter fill- but do this gradually. There is also a sticky thread in the Behavior Forum that is pretty extensive on this subject. I am moving this thread there now for you-

Your cats will use all the boxes, you should have one box per cat when you are multi-cat household.