Feral cat and litter box. HELP!!

Bear with me as I share the story that gets to my problem.

A few weeks ago, a male stray showed up on my property. I have already had several cats TNR'd and I knew right away that was what I should do with this guy. When I picked him up from the clinic, they informed me that they noticed blood in his urine. I knew I had to keep a watchful eye on him after release (they had given him penicillin at the clinic). As soon as I opened the trap to let him out, he acted quite strange and was picking fight with my other ferals.  I decided to see if there was anyone else that could take him. Luckily, I have a friend that is a sucker for short orange hair kitties and her and her family were ready to adopt a pet, their first one.

I informed her of the bloody urine. I had some amoxicillin left over from a previous cat and decided to have her give it to him in the same dosage for a week. The first night he was great. Extremely loving, used the litter box with no issues. The third morning my friend awoke to a huge bloody mess on her floor. I immediately took him to the vet. They gave him an urinalysis, Clavamox, a steroid, and pain meds. A call the next day assured us it was only a severe UTI and he should heal fine.

Here is the problem, he stopped using the litter box. He is pooping all over her basement (she doesn't want to let him upstairs until this is under control) and has also started peeing outside of the box as well. He will use the box sometimes but not always. I assume he is attributing the litter box with pain. How do we get him back to using it? 

More litter boxes?  Different litter? 

I have never had this issue. The strays I have adopted adapted to using the box with no issues but they also didn't have an extremely painful UTI either. I am hoping he will go back to using it. Any advice or similar stories with happy results?

I am assuming that this kitty is a friendly stray then and not a feral cat? Asking because it does make a difference in their stress levels as well having to deal with confinement, humans and now this painful condition. AWWWWW - my heart goes out to him and I want to thank you for saving him because that is what you literally did. He may not have done well being outdoors trying to fend for himself and having such a serious UTI. for what you do for the cats.

Is there anyway to confine him to a room - a smaller room other than the basement? I understand that the family is concerned about him not using the box though but confining him to a smaller area will be two-fold. You will be able to monitor him more closely and possibly get him to trust the litter box again. I think he is afraid of the box and associating it with great pain. Of course, we don't know if this is wholeheartedly true but does make sense. I think he needs close monitoring too because he could possibly block and that is a definite emergency as you probably already well know.

Adding a few more very large open litter boxes and using Dr. Elsey's Great Outdoors litter may really make the difference. That litter already has the Dr. Elsley's herbal litter attractant added in. Most cats love the texture, the smell and it literally draws then to the box. They do sell the Herbal litter attractant separately and you can mix it with other clumping litters but I think Dr. Elsey's litter's really work for these litter box issues. Even so, this kitty may be still very uncomfortable and I am sooooooo sorry for him.

Stress can trigger blood in urine too and UTI's. Cats are so prone to stress especially one that is stray or feral. Is he highly stressed or extremely frightened? Can they pet him? He may need something from the vet to help calm him such as Elavil (Amitriptyline) which helps calm the bladder in cats with high stress urinary issues.

I would just keep a very close watch on the little guy. I am hoping that the meds will kick in and he will begin to feel better and go back to using the box. AND YES - have been through this before with newly captured rescued strays and they do successfully recover! There is always hope when there is love. :nod:

I have very little to add to feralvr 's excellent advice. All I'd say is, in addition to her suggestions, change the type of box you're using. You're absolutely right that he's connected the box with the pain. Now you need to make the whole experience as different as poss for him so he can 'unlearn' the negative association. That means different size, shape, depth, position, type of litter - everything. It takes patience to re train a traumatised animal, but it can be done. The good news is that the closer you are to the trauma the quicker it can be forgotten. Sounds odd, but it's because the negative association isn't yet fully ingrained in their mind. Good luck. I hope your boy feels better soon. He's lucky to have found you

Thank you both for chiming in.

Unfortunately the way their basement is set up, there is no single room to confine him to. There house is pretty small upstairs and all the rooms are carpeted and occupied, so that isn't an option either. I am very grateful that his new owners are very patient and expect this but I don't want it to last longer than necessary.

He is urinating fine and a good amount, so I do not think he has a blockage. He has to go back to the vet in 2 weeks to make sure his UTI is healed and he doesn't need another antibiotic.

At first, I thought he was very feral. I am not sure now if it is the same cat I first thought it was. I have been trying to trap an orange kitty for a few weeks.

This cat is extremely friendly. Very loving. Cuddles and purrs. The vet informed me that he has been outside for a while though because his skin is very tough, he has been in several fights (missing two teeth and has another fractured), missing fur, and scars. He is a tough little cookie.

He just took his last pain medicine dose last night and doesn't seem to be suffering anymore. He eats (I have him on UTI preventative wet and dry food) and drinks great and there appears to be no more blood in his urine. The litter box is the only issue we are facing now.

Thanks so much for the recommendation of the outdoor litter. I have never heard of it and will certainly have her try that out along with another type of box or two to put it in. Hopefully that works.

He is a sweet guy and I know he will make them a great little pet once we get this sorted out.

Lochness350 said:

He is a sweet guy and I know he will make them a great little pet once we get this sorted out.

Click to expand...

I think this is very true too and thank goodness you had a family willing to take him in which is SOOOOO much better than the other option. SO - yes, the basement if just fine if no other room is available. Sounds to me like this kitty is very lucky and believe me, he knows this, that he has a few people looking out for him including you. I think your friend is and will do whatever they can for the little orange darling. Do keep us posted and mega vibes that the meds will get him feeling healthy and normal once again so he will begin to use and trust the litter box.

OH an article to help with urine clean-up as it is so important to rid of the accident spots correctly. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-remove-cat-urine

little orange kitty. :cat:

Here we are a little while later and still no success in the little guy using the box for poo.  Urinating in the box no problem. Poop is still on the outside. He no longer has any UTI issues. We tried the special outdoor litter and that didn't work. We bought a bigger box, nope. He has a total of 3 different boxes to choose from. Any other ideas?

Did you check our Ultimate Guide to Litterbox Problems?   There may be something to help.