Male neutered cat using bathroom outside of litter box....

[jadedea jade]

I can't seem to figure out why hes doing it. Hes ok health-wise, no crystals, constipation etc. He does number 2 in the litter box but wont do number 1. i have noticed when my female cat uses the bathroom he comes down with her, and i think maybe he can't use the bathroom by himself or thinks he has to use the bathroom with someone else around. but we have 5 clean litter boxes and he doesnt use either. i have even gone as far as cleaning the litter right after its used to no avail. ive changed litter thousands of times, from pine to sand like texture and he doesnt use it. i think hes soiled up the basement floor so badly, and have peed outside the litter box that he thinks its abnormal to pee in the litter box. i have also changed out different sizes, used storage bins high and low, wide and narrow, and nothing. about the only thing he will pee on is those pee pads for dogs. the litter boxes were originally in the basement and i thought the sound was too loud but he pees outside the litter box anyways. at one point he would pee next to the litter box which is why i changed litter and boxes for a while, but still nothing. how can i fix this?

Thanks!

 

[red top rescue]

We are not ignoring you.  At last count, 18 people had read your post and evidently no one has an answer for you.  It's kind of backwards from the general problem, which is that the cat poops outside the box and pees inside it.  The only case I know of that was like yours was a female Ragdoll, super sweet cat, who was very stressed in her home environment.  Without going into details, the owner's vet suggested that she rehome the cat, because the cat was getting worse, had no urinary findings at all after many trips to the vet, and it was obvious that the owner was losing tolerance, which just made it worse.  I took the cat into my rescue, gave her her own room with litter that was more attractive to her (i.e. very soft litter, sWheatScoop, which is what I found out her breeder used to use)and she used the box faithfully.  She was obviously love-starved and craved a lot of attention and love.  After a couple of months with no litter box problems at all, I adopted her out to a loving home where she was QUEEN, and they provided her with the same soft litter and everyone including the cat was happy.

This probably won't help you at all, since most of my suggestions are things you have already done, like having multiple litter boxes and keeping them very clean, and having different kinds of litter.  I would suggest TWO things at this point.  For one thing, I would suggest you use Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter in one or two of the boxes.  They give you a 100% money back guarantee  if the cat won't use it, so you really have nothing to lose.  Yes, the bag is super heavy and looks small, and it's not inexpensive, but it lasts a really long time, is virtually dust free, and it is treated with something very attractive to cats.  I have not yet met a cat who wouldn't use it, although at first they may pee outside another box in addition to peeing in the box with the Cat Attract litter.  I have a friend who was having that problem and she started using the Cat Attract as her ONLY litter, and she gets it delivered free from Amazon because she's nowhere near a store that carries it and besides, she's an Amazon Prime member so can get everything delivered free.  She has used it for about four years now, ever since we met and I told her about it.

The other thing I will suggest is to try human incontinence pads (cheap at Dollar General) which are like the puppy pee pads only much less expensive and bigger (you have to fold them to use in a cat box) and keep at least one box with nothing but the pads in it.  If that's what he wants, give it to him.  If he gets into the habit of using that box to pee, at least it's a BOX and not the floor.  If you wat to start adding a little litter on top of the pad once he's trained to use that box, you may be able to change him over to litter that way eventually.  I have one cat who likes using the pad, and another that likes using an EMPTY litter box.  If I don't leave an empty box down for her, she will pee on the floor.  She is also happy with the pad in a box.  Find something you can live with and all will be peaceful again.  And if by chance you are holding a resentment towards this cat for peeing on the floor all the time, let it go.  Give the cat MORE love, and take this on as a challenge, a puzzle you need to solve, in order for the cat to get what he wants and you to get what you want too. 

In this case, WHY he does it is not a useful question.  What can you DO about it is the useful question.  Please let us know how this comes out!  Everyone's experience here helps someone else later!- if you share it with everyone.

dr_elseys_cat_attract.jpg

• red top rescue
• Apr 23, 2016

 

[talkingpeanut]

Sorry if I missed this, but how many litter boxes do you have?

 

[jadedea jade]

red top i will try the litterbox with the pee pads on it.  i do right now have a storage bin (about 3 inches deep, really wide and long) that has cat attract in it now. he peed in it once and went back to peeing on the floor.

talking peanut i have 5 litter boxes, and i have 3 cats total. two brothers and a female.