One of the cats is defecating outside the box...

[dkperez]

As near as I can tell, Skyy hasn't heckled Brownie in or around the boxes... It's certainly possible since Skyy is goofy and periodically gets full of energy and chases Brownie around. Of course, I've also seen Brownie chase Skyy around or even give her a thump on the head (which I personally think is poetic justice and well deserved, and no cause for concern since Brownie was declawed when we rescued her).

At this point, we're baffled. We had a urination Wednesday afternoon, then NO problems until Saturday. Everybody used a litterbox. Saturday afternoon, one of the cats urinated next to the box in the laundry room again. She always goes on the big piece of plastic, but why?

We've continued confining them at night, and Brownie definitely used the litter box since there was both urine and feces in the box this morning.

We now have FIVE litter boxes. Laundry room, kitchen, downstairs bath, my office, and one of the upstairs baths. All but the downstairs bath are Littermaids, but they are all big ones except the one in the laundry room. That one's a small one. The bathroom where we've been confining Brownie at night is just a regular box...

Do y'all really think there's a problem between Brownie and the Littermaids? At this point I wouldn't rule anything out, but what would cause her to suddenly not like them after 4 years of using the one in the kitchen faithfully? I can say I have not seen her use the Littermaid anywhere there is one, even though a couple of them are very new.

The one in my office is an LM Elite, which is very large. I've seen Skyy use it, but so far I haven't seen Brownie use it. At this point, everyone is in here with me, including food, water, toys, giant cat tree, two cat beds, and two cats!

It's my hope that I'll be able to see and catch Brownie if she starts to go outside the box, and/or see her using the box. If it's some kind of fear thing, or she associates the Littermaid with some kind of problem, hopefully this'll get her past it... I'm also thinking about replacing the non-Littermaid in the downstairs bath the one of the big Littermaids so at night when she's confined she'll hopefully use it and stop being afraid if that's the problem.

If it becomes ABSOLUTELY necessary, we can replace ALL the Littermaids with regular boxes, but that's going to be a really tough sell with my wife. All our units are on platforms with catch pans underneath so they're always clean, and very easy to remove the droppings from.

BUT, if all else fails, I'll substitute regular boxes and put the Littermaids in the basement and see if THAT fixes the problem... If we get to that point, I'll need a recommendation 'cause Skyy, who's about at big as a minute, LOVES TO DIG....... And BOY, can she move some litter! All the Littermaids have a "digger guard" on the front to minimize the amount of litter she throws all over, and the non-littermaid in the bathroom regularly has to be moved and all the litter put back in the box from where it's been thrown onto the plastic sheet underneath! I've seen regular boxes with high sides on 3 sides, but they seem REALLY small, and Skyy will undoubtedly make a huge mess throwing the litter out the remaining hole... So, just in case we HAVE to go that way, anyone have a recommendation for a box that'll hopefully keep the litter in?

OR, OF COURSE, any OTHER recommendations... We're trying everything we can think of so keep any ideas coming.

 

[pami]

It very well could be the littermaids. I do know of someone who had a littermaid that her cat refused to use, unfortunately.

I would just switch over to other boxes. Something like this that is long and wide.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-...-of-6/10401057

You could always try to reintroduce the littermaid down the road by adding one at a time, perhaps. It may not work, though.

Cats can be very particular about their boxes and sometimes you just have to use trial and error as what they are content with.

 

[howtoholdacat]

Since you have so many boxes available, I'm thinking this may very well be a medical issue. Theoretically, if Brownie were afraid of one box, she'd just use another one of a different type. Also, since she's peeing on plastic, it makes me think UTI as they often look for hard cool surfaces when they've got a UTI. Sometimes, these can be hard to confirm medically and it may take a couple of tests to get a good reading. Not really sure why that is but I've experienced it personally and have heard many others say the same. I'd make a pest of myself to my vet and get them to dig deeper. Having chatted with you about this from the beginning, I can't really think of anything else you can do on the home front to try to resolve this. You guys have been incredibly committed and thorough. I would think that if this was behavioral only, you'd have seen some changes by now.

 

[dkperez]

Thanks for the replies.... At this point I'm completely flummoxed!

We went to the vet and had them checked. Everything was fine. Tried to determine WHICH cat was not using the box. When that failed (we confined them in separate rooms, and of course, both used the litter boxes faithfully),
we took BOTH back for urine tests.

The tests came out fine - good pH, everything great, no crystals that they could see. They DID find a "small" amount of bacteria, but the vet believed it was not indicative of a problem and probably came from the testing. BUT, to be on the safe side, we gave them both the injection that does the UTI fix and all that...

We've continued to confine both at night, Brownie in the bathroom with a regular box, Skyy in the laundry area with a Littermaid.....

LAST NIGHT, we replaced the regular box in the bathroom with one of the new, huge Littermaids (if my wife ever adopts a puma it'll have a place to go), and confined Brownie with it. She used the Littermaid fine.

Today, again (started this yesterday), I have both cats here in the office with me, their food, water, a fountain, huge cat tree in front of the window, toys, and a plushy cat bed for each... And another of the big new Littermaids... This morning, Brownie used it twice once to defecate and once to urinate. No reluctance or fear or stress that I could see. Just jumped in and did her thing......

So, do y'all think it's not Littermaid's in GENERAL, but perhaps specifically the one in the laundry room? It's a small, older one, and that's where she's defecated and urinated on the plastic in front of it... Do I try replacing that one with a regular box to see if it's specific?

BTW: I like the Walmart box. Now that I see what you're talking about, we have a bunch of those - use them for storing prints for Art Fairs. I have at least one extra...... The only problem I can see with trying that is

THE EXCAVATOR!!!!!!!!!!

What she lacks in size and weight, she makes up for in vigor and enthusiasm! Skyy is a litter flinger! She looks like a dog after a bone digging and throwing litter all over the place. But, if y'all think it's worth a try, I'll put the big thing in the laundry room and just figure we're going to have to vacuum up a ton of litter every day!

 

[pami]

Oh you can get one of the ones that has very high sides.... and if necessary you can cut an opening......... similar to this....

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...&highlight=tub


It certainly sounds like you have ruled out any health issues, so it really sounds like its just a matter of finding the boxes they are comfortable with.

Dont you just love finicky cats.

I have 5 myself

 

[dkperez]

Unfortunately, just when you get frustrated with them, one shows up at 3 a.m., when you're awake reading in bed because you're stressed or whatever, and she gives a little squeak and curls up under your chin and starts purring...

Or (from my standpoint even better), one catches a mouse... And because they both dearly love my wife, the cat carries the mouse from downstairs where it was caught, upstairs to the bedroom where my wife is, and PRESENTS it to her like a great prize! Unfortunately, the cat doesn't KILL the mouse first, so when she presents it to my wife, it's generally uninjured, and the mouse immediately runs away! Which leads to a certain amount of excitement among the entire troop as both cats give chase while my wife yells for me to "come and catch this mouse"... I must admit that I find the entire process FAR more hilarious than my wife does! Fortunately, she's VERY smart and knows it's imperative that she praise the cat profusely when presented with these gifts, and proclaim her (the cat) to be a great and mighty hunter...

And and on... Now we just need to get them to consistently use the litter box - JUST LIKE THEY'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS!!!!

Anyhow, I'm going to pick up a fer-real, regular box this afternoon since my wife doesn't want to use the gigantic print storage box - I have to admit, with that thing in the laundry area, it'll BE the laundry area... We'll see how it goes.

 

[pami]

Your stories sound great

and so typical of our cats

You know, I just thought of another thing, I have read where a cat was scared to go in a litterbox in a laundry room after being scared when the washer or dryer was running. I have actually where a cat had used the litterbox with no issues, until one day, out of the blue, the washer or dryer scared the cat, when it had not scared the cat previously and suddenly the cat stopped using the box appropriately. The only solution was to move the box out of the laundry room. I'm not sure if that is an option for you, but just thought I would throw that out there.

 

[dkperez]

>Your stories sound great and so typical of our cats

Spoken like a person who's been presented with a tremendous gift of a small animal by a proud cat!

As far as the laundry room - we never had a litter box in there before. Our original litter box is in the kitchen, and when we remodeled the kitchen we actually BUILT-IN a space under the end of the island for their litter box. It's on a raised platform so we can use a plastic pan to catch everything, which makes it very easy to clean every morning (no more trying to remove the littler plastic thing in the Littermaid). The whole thing rides on a sliding platform so the entire Littermaid can be slid out from under the island for cleaning. It's a really nice setup, and both cats used this box for FOUR YEARS... Never had a single problem. Then Brownie (I believe) started defecating right next to the box, and things got to where we are now...

We have a non-Littermaid in the laundry area, but it's not too close to the washer or dryer. We have a big, new Littermaid in the downstairs bath, which is where Brownie is confined at night. We have another big, new Littermaid in my office, which is where both cats spend the day. Last night I switched just THAT box to a different, UNSCENTED Arm & Hammer litter because "I" didn't like the smell. The cats used it fine.

SO FAR, with the setup we've got, and watching the cats (I feel like some kind voyeur following the cats around surreptitiously as they go into different rooms, they've faithfully been using the litter boxes.

I'm FERVENTLY hoping if it WAS a constipation problem, or something happened in one of the old boxes that scared the cat (again, I believe it was Brownie), that she's doing better. They've both been using the boxes in the office and the bathroom consistently. Someone went in the non-Littermaid in the laundry area but that could be Skyy. She seems to think it's her job to inaugurate ANY box that gets new litter - throw some litter, urinate, dig some more, be REALLY proud of yourself!

BUT, other than one time when someone used the old Littermaid in the kitchen, NOBODY has used it in over a month... So, I'm now thinking there may be something to do with the old boxes... The possibility of a smell being a problem was mentioned in here - I can think of three:

I think Tidy Cat changed their fragrance sometime recently. My wife recalls something about a new fragrance. Cats not liking that?

My wife cleaned the kitchen Littermaid with bleach, leaving it sitting in the pan for a while. I'm wondering if that could have left a smell the cats don't like.

The Littermaid in the laundry area is an older one. It may not have been used since we had Gracie. I wonder if there could be some residual smell in there that Brownie didn't like?

Anyhow, at the moment, everybody's behaving, and I'm hoping it continues. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions... Please keep them coming 'cause we're continuing to work on things here.

 

[dkperez]

Well, at the moment, I'm cautiously optimistic. It's been more than 10 days since I was last in here with an update, and we haven't had a problem in that period.

We've been confining both cats in my office (with, of course, food, water, a fountain, plushy cat beds for both, a 7-foot cat tree in front of the window, a nice, warm computer to lay behind, a comfortable office chair (which Brownie sleeps in every time I get up), and toys with which to play - it's not exactly purgatory) when we're not going to be around to keep an eye on them.

They're both faithfully using the Littermaid in the office. No hesitation, no problem other than Skyy LOVES to fling litter wildly, seemingly just for the fun of it! I've watched Brownie, who I believe has been the cat not using the litter box, and she not only seems to jump in and use the box without hesitation, she's quick and doesn't appear to be straining at all with her movements. She also frequently runs out, as does Skyy, to watch the box clean itself - apparently it hasn't lost it's interest even after 4 years.

When we're home, we generally leave the office doors open so the cats can wander freely, and either my wife or I tries to keep an eye on them in case someone starts to squat outside the box. So far, there hasn't been a problem in the last 11 days......

The last time we DID have a problem, I let the cats out for an hour while I was gone, and when I returned there were droppings right in the middle between the Littermaid in the kitchen, and the regular (non-Littermaid) box in the laundry area. So, even though there was a litter box 5-feet away (that wasn't a Littermaid), someone went elsewhere...

Since that time, we've had no problem with either cat that we know of.

We'll be continuing keeping them in the office with me during the day, feeding the wet i/d with chicken broth, and having multiple litter boxes for a while and hope we continue not having any problems.

Thanks for all your ideas and thoughts. Hopefully, we're on a workable path.