someone help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are having an ongoing problem with our cat. She keeps urinating outside her box. She has been to 3 different vets and they all say there is nothing wrong with her. No medical conditions at all. This last vet has been giving her rounds of antibiotics to see if there is any UTI that he hasn't been able to detect.... but still nothing!!!! She was good for about 3 days and then she wet all over my daughter's bed. It's getting very frustrating. We clean her box out twice a day.... use cat attract with her litter... and she sometimes goes in there.... but last nite she was up on the bed most of the day and peed on the bed and moved over to lay in another spot!!!!! I don't know what else to do. Now she is in a cage where she has her box and food and water.... but refuses to eat or drink in there so I take her out and hand feed her. But she has to go back in there because I don't know what else to try!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated.... Cher

I hope you get some answers soon - I've requested that this be moved over to the Health forum so that one of the experts in that Forum can get back to you when they are online.

Good luck!

Our girl did that for a while and it was because she was upset with us and trying to get our attention. Specifically, she didn't like her litter. We tried four or five different kinds before we managed to find one she liked and then we had no more problems. Even though I hate it, she just won't use anything but the clumping clay litter. I prefer Swheat Scoop or Feline Pine, but I prefer not having urine on my bed even more . . . LOL.

So, if health issues have been ruled out (including simple incontinence, right?), it's probably a behavior issue and you'll just have to figure out what it is that's upseting her. She may also just be really picky about her litter boxes, and refuses to use it if there are any traces of her last elimination in there. She may not like the box location. She may not like the litter or the box itself. I'm sorry, because I KNOW it's frustrating, but you'll just have to do some detective work. Just so you know, we ended up placing plastic sheeting over the bed and sofa until we'd solved the problem.

have you tried using feliway? if shes stressed then that may calm her a little.

Its good that you have taken her to the vets already, so many people dont

Have you tried adding extra litter boxes or changing the type of box you use?

I hope you get it sorted soon.

Is she your only cat?

Have you seen the links that are at the top of this forum about peeing problems?

Perhaps she is ill, but it isn't a UTI but something else. Did they do bloodwork?

www.planeturine.com and www.maxshouse.com are good places to go to learn about why this occurs.

we have tried the feliway.... she doesn't like it.... she keeps sneezing when we spray it. We bought 3 different types of litter boxes.... she prefers the one without the lid.... and yes .... we have tried alot of different litters and she was using the current one for awhile without any problems. I clean her box twice a day... and change the litter once a week.... maybe that's not enough for her???????????????????? I give up!!!!!! We have already replaced carpets because of this and now she wet on the bed!!!!! I don't know what else to try!!!!!! any more suggestions? What could she be mad about? She gets alot of attention.... treats and brushed every day....

Some things you could try:
-A Feliway diffuser, rather than the spray kind

-A complete blood panel, rather than just a simple urinalysis, if this hasn't been done already

-Have you tried non-clay litters like World's Best Cat Litter, Feline Pine or Shweat Scoop?

-Have you tried giving her several litter pans in the kind she prefers?

-Have you tried moving the litter pan around your home to find a place she prefers it?

-Do you have other pets or family members that she may feel threatened by or spooked by when she is in the litter box?

The Feliway plug-in might keep her from sneezing if you wanted to try that version.

I wonder if maybe she was an outside kitty and has now been moved inside? Have you tried just different kinds of clay litter? There's also pellet, paper, pine and corn litter. Where the litter box is might be important (I bet this is why she won't eat or drink in her cage because cats usually refuse to mix the two areas).

I wish I could help you out more. Good luck.

Roxxie doesn't like the pellet litter. We tried that and she refused to go in there. She doesn't like the hard stuff.... she likes more sandy kind. We got her when she was 6 weeks old and she has been an inside cat ever since she was brought home. We have dogs but they never seemed to bother her before. Up until this incident her litterbox was in the same place it has been for awhile ..... we didn't make any changes in the room she stays in.... oh and the vet did do blood work on her the last time she was in and he said everything looked great....

so I got this picture of her on photobucket but I don't know how to get the actual picture on there instead of the link.... any suggestions....

Maybe a longshot, but have you tried Cat-Attract litter? Its supposed to help with cats who have been going outside the box...

The cage was a good idea, but since she doesn't like it, what about confining her to a bathroom or another room with an easy to clean floor? Best of luck with your baby, thank you for trying so hard! I know you'll find a solution!

By any chance is your Roxxie declawed?

yes Roxxie is declawed..... why do you ask? And we have tried cat attract. It worked for a little while but then it was just like anything else we had tried.... just stopped working.....

Some declawed cats have trouble with clay litters or hard litters - you might want to look specifically for a litter with a soft texture.

There are different varieties of paper-based scoopable litters available at the pet supply store or online that are soft in texture. Nature's Miracle and One Earth are natural soft-textured scoopable litters available at the pet store or health food store. Feline Pine scoopable (not the regular version) is a natural litter that is supposed to be very soft. Citra-Max fresh is another natural (non-scoopable) litter that is pretty soft too. Perhaps you could try offering her an extra box or two with some of those selections to see if she'll use them.

This page (click here) has some good info about the litterbox from your cat's point of view that might help too.

It's also possible that she might just be one of those cats who will not tolerate a box that is the least bit dirty (I have one of those), who needs to be provided with multiple boxes that are cleaned very frequently, very thoroughly.

*edit* Sorry, I missed the part where you said she prefers sandy litters. It still might be helpful to switch to a different kind of soft litter though.

It's also possible for a cat to associate discomfort in the box with the box and litter itself - for example, a cat who's experienced the pain of a UTI, or one who has had pain from using newly declawed paws to dig in the litter. In those cases, it can be helpful to throw out the old boxes and replace them with new ones, and to switch to a different kind of soft litter.

I would agree with the declawing problem. It is not at all unusual for declawed cats to associated the severe pain of declawing with their litter so hence they never want to use it again. I would follow the steps outlines above - one of the main reasons declawed cats are brought into rescue is because of the litter avoidance (and biting and behaviour propbs - it is unfortunate your vet encouraged this awful practice which was oulawed when I lived in England). I never heard of it until recently to be honest and was rather shocked.

Hi Ladie7,
I responded to your PM. I do sincerely think that the litterbox problems are a direct effect of the declawing. We experienced the same thing when we adopted a declawed ragdoll. You have been given some good advice here and there is hope that Roxxie can be retrained.
Good Luck

Thanks for all the advise. I have tried all of these things. Believe me.... I am a freak when it comes to things like this!!!!! I want her to be happy and comfortable. She just still seems so scared of everything. She loves the cage now. I can't get her out of it!!!! Which bothers me because I don't want her to live in a cage the rest of her life. When should I take her out of it? I take her out throughout the day and brush her and try and play with her but she keeps going back in there. I leave the door open all the time in case she wants out.... but she seems "safe" in there. Is this normal? Should I let her in there?

If she feels happy and "safe" in there, then I would say just leave her in there. She should grow out of itsooner or later. If not take the cage way when she going to the litter tray or something.

I can start off by saying the following, that I would certainly second all what was said above. Peeing on bedsheets and all of the rest was actually directly warned by our previous vet when we used to be in Cairo and the declawing subject came up. The cat ends up straight off pissed and scared from the agony and later turns depressed. There was another message here on this board with details about declawing and how it's actually amputation of the last toe bone joint. A cat feels violated and mutilated and although different cats take it at different sensitivities, all of them have a bad reaction in some way.

However you don't seem to associate your problem with the TIMING of the declawing, otherwise you would have already picked it up. Did the declawing happen a long time ago or did the current behaviour start shortly afterwards? If the declawing is not connecting in terms of timeline, there is another theory I have about personal experience with similar behaviour.

Sam

I am not to sure if i am replying correctly I hope i am. My sister adopted a cat that was declawed, and she had the same problem with this cat. She tried the automatic litter box with the cat attract in the litter box and that seemed to of help her fix the problem. She now only uses a little of the cat attract mixed with fresh step scoopable litter. The cat like this litter box because it is always clean, i also noticed at christmas she had the feliway plugin nexts to the litter box. I know my cats dont have this problem but they really like the automatic litter box and prefer that one to any other litter box. i dont know if this helps or not.

PS i have the littermaid litter box and i love it and if something goes wrong with it i call them and they replace it so that is always nice