Kitten raises her bottom when she goes pee which leads to urine outside the litter box

I have a 6 month old kitten and as cute as she is, I have only had problems since getting her and this just happens to be one of them.  She was taken away from her mother at 7 weeks old surrendered to a shelter until I adopted her at 11 weeks old.  To add to her training or lack there of, the shelter did not take good care of her during these crucial learning periods.  One of the bad behaviours she has had and continues to do so is raising her bottom when she goes pee thus getting urine over the edge of the litter box and on the wall/floor.  I asked my vet about this when I first got Maia but the vet did not seem worried and said that Maia would soon learn the right way from my 9 year old resident cat Cleo.  It's been just over 3 months and she has watched Cleo in the litter box many times each day and has not yet learned from her.  I can deal with bad behavioural problems as I have had many cats over the years and have not been concerned as they were all trainable.  I am not a fan of any urine outside a litter box at all and I am not certain how to teach her the right way.  I have read on other forums about different things to do to catch any urine outside the box like using the puppy training pads and such but I have absolutely no desire to have to do this for the rest of her life and I definitely do not see this as a long term solution.  I have bought a litter box with high sides (about 12 inches high) which I thought would do the trick but she still manages to get urine outside the box.  Its also been suggested to me to get a covered litter box which sounds great but it won't stop her from peeing out the front of the box as she pees on all sides of the box.  I know some covered litter boxes come with swinging doors on them but one of the other issues is Cleo and Maia getting along and Maia always jumping on her so I have a pretty good assumption on Maia trying to jump in the litter box to try and play with Cleo as she tries this now all the time.  Cleo does not care for Maia in the very least and I am not comfortable putting Cleo in a position where she cannot get away from Maia.  

If anyone has any behaviour training suggestions that I can try, I would much appreciate it.  As I mentioned earlier, I have had many problems since getting her and I have never been certain if she was the right fit and I want to try everything possible before looking to re-home her.  I take this as a very serious and lifetime commitment when adopting an animal and I don't take it lightly when I say I am considering all my options which may include a new home for Maia.  I want to do what is best for Maia which is why I have yet to take that option as I want to know 100% that I've tried all I can to make this work.  There are many other factors that are a part of this as having bad litter box behaviours are not the sole reason for considering this decision.  Please I would love to hear everyones thoughts on this as I would love to make this all work out.  

Thank you all for your suggestions and ideas in advance.

I suspect this is not something that can be trained away.  She may just need more space.  We have a boy who did that but it was really because he felt cramped in the standard sized litter boxes.  We solved it by getting a large tote to use for a litter box - in fact we have four for six cats.  It also allows us to use a deeper layer of litter, which helps the cats cover their waste better.

If a larger box isn't feasible, cut pieces of Plexiglas to fit on the sides of your box.  This will block the pee but the cat won't feel blocked in.  You could also try a covered box, although some cats do not like being enclosed while they use the box.  (I imagine it would be like using a child's toilet or having a box over your head when at the potty)

I've thought about getting a large tote or adding plexiglass on the sides but it won't work for my resident cat.  Since Maia is great at peeing over Every edge of the litter box i would need to have plexiglass on all sides or a large tote.  My resident cat has arthritis so I don't want to add any extra stress of unnecessary jumping where possible.  These solutions seem to be the only ones I can find on this issue which is unfortunate as I would like to try and help her learn the right way and I don't have any desire to be clueing up urine outside the litter box each day.  My vet also suggested to change the litter in case the dust was irritating her which could lead to her actions. I tried two types of litter with very little to no dust but unfortunately it did not change anything.  I really hope to find a permanent solution.

Perhaps one tote for the new kitty and a regular box for your resident cat? Of course, it won't help if the new kitty uses the regular box but just a thought. Not sure what else to suggest (except a lot of patience, which you will definitely need!)

I bought a dog house at the pet store & put a plastic container in there from walmart & that's what my kitties use. If they make an accident, it goes onto the plastic dog house floor. If I ever move it out of the closet, I can put the top on & then it will be enclosed.

I have another box that they have to jump in but see you don't want to go that route. It worked for my boy who kept getting so tall his butt was over the dog house box. Again I went to walmart & bought about a 2.5 ft deep box & then put about 6" of litter in it. When my cats were kittens, I put an empty litter box on the floor so they could get on that & then get into the box. Your elder kitty needs some kitty stairs!

But I don't know why kitties raise their butt. My 3 mo old kitten girl has done it only a couple times & she never did it before so I don't understand. My makeshift box out of cardboard will be too small soon. I guess it's just part of kitty life. 

I put a large pan litter box in the corner next to the toilet in our seldom-used half bath.  I tried pasting/taping plastic around the box, but the tape did not hold.  My husband suggested a trimmed-off shower curtain liner with Command hooks on the wall and toilet.  When the curtain gets too soiled, a new one is easy to install.  I also noticed if I pile the litter higher in the center of the box, she pees inside more often.

Brilliant!  Love the idea of the Command hooks - no permanent damage.  And you can wash the curtain as it get soiled.  Hopefully, she learns as she gets older to keep it in the box but this was a great idea!  Thanks for sharing.

Hi,

I'm wondering how this played out for you.   Does Maia have "elevator butt" (a term I learned from Jackson Galaxy on Animal Planet) where the cat's hind feet actually come up off the floor?  I saw a box online that was enclosed except for a hole in the top (called a "top entry" box).  I, too suspect that this behavior is  idiosyncratic to some cats, not learned.  Eventually Maia may stop jumping on Cleo and you'll be able to get an enclosed box.