my cats have aiming problems

[bernyxso]

Dio & Napoleon (one is an american shorthair the other one is a Hemingway both rescue) have some sort of problem:  They get on the litter box, but they pee standing up so the pee ends up outside of the litterbox.  At first it was only Dio but now it seems that Napoleon for some reason is copying him.

I tried switching them to a climb in litter box (whole on the top) but they hate it. Napoleon is fine with it but dio gets on top of the box and still pees outside (doesn't like to get in). 

a little background on Dio: He has been having what it seemed to lots of UTI's problems... even after surgery (they removed his penis and opened up his urethra) they still couldn't find what was wrong with him. I think his problem is stress related and not so much an infection problem. I live in a 1,000 sq ft apartment and they never go out except to the balcony.  I recently (less than a month ago) tried switching them to wet food and loaded my house with those stress pheromone plugs so I hope that helps with his stress.

Any ideas of what I could do regarding his peeing outside the box? It is a pain to have to be cleaning the floor absolutely every time they go hah. and to make things worse, I recently discover I am anosmic (inability to perceive odor) so I am a bit scared of having people over because I don't know how good or bad my apt smells.

Thanks! 

 

[donutte]

It doesn't sound like they are going outside the box in the classic sense (ie, they are not peeing on your bed, pillows, etc). It just sounds like their aim is off. My Penelopy sometimes has her butt sticking out over the edge and pees over the edge. I have pee pads on the floor now since I'm not sure how to make her understand that her butt isn't all the way in. She doesn't do it all the time, just sometimes. My guess is your cats probably don't realize that they are not peeing inside the box either if they keep going into it.

Do you have a covered box, or uncovered? If it's uncovered, perhaps covered might help?

 

[bernyxso]

Thanks for the reply! Yes I recently started using the pee pads, because I can't seem to find an explanation for their lack of aim. They do get on the litter box they just aim out.

I tried a top entry litter box before but they hated it (maybe it was too small?) but instead of getting in they would try to pee from the border so it was even worse.  This is the one I tried: https://www.modko.com/products/modkat-litter-box

 

[catlitterguru]

Consider putting the litter box in another container. Depending on how big your current box is, you can contain it in a bigger litter box, baking pan, little plastic kiddie pool, etc. So even when they mis-aimed, it is still contained and easy to clean. Lining the outside container with the pee pad should simplify clean ups. 

An alternative is to use a big rubbermaid box and with a cut out for entry point. That way if they mis-aimed, the high wall will catch them. 

On a side note, please consider going back to your previous box. Top-entry boxes are not great for many reasons. They are forced to jump in and out of the box, which is hard on the joints. They also don't have a choice on what they land on. How do you feel about jumping into your own waste? If you are using clumping litter, most of the brand does not form a solid clump. Jumping into it would break the clump which means you will have to remove more to separate the spent litter. It is also gives the feeling of being cornered as there is only one way in and out. 

I don't have any suggestion on what is causing him to pee standing, but thought its rather cute that one started copying the other.