I just had an incident with Sparky.
Sparky was scratching in the bathtub and I knew he wanted to go potty there. It's annoying so I picked him up and scooted him out of the bathroom, assuming he'd use the litterbox. He often uses the tub when he isn't happy with the state of the box, either dirty or not enough litter or whatever. But this time Sparky went into my bedroom closet and just started to pee. He didn't scratch and it wasn't noisy, but I noticed a distinctive wiggle and an unusual stance. So I picked him up and shut him into the laundry room with the box and I assume he used it. At least he peed on an old bookbag of mine, so I can toss it into the washer.
I am planning a vet's appointment for him, but in the meantime, should I keep carrying him to the box or just let him use the tub? I mean, it's darn bothersome to be cleaning it all the time, but it's easier to clean the tub than the carpet. I also can't tell if he chose the closet as an alternative or if he was mad at me for moving him and peed on my bookbag as a personal insult.
Background: We have 2 males, 4-year-old Blackie who is neutered, and 8 month old Sparky who isn't yet. We also have a cat who visits us pretty regularly who we call Ditto (his real name is TJ, but he looks just like Sparky) and we have recently had an unexpected guest that we called Marmalaide. Both of these "part time" cats were intact males, they both come in the house to eat and nap, but one cries to go out and the other we know is not ours so they don't actually live here. Ditto hasn't been around in a few weeks, and Marmalaide hasn't visited us in 3 days. So I'm not sure if this is territorial or perhaps one of them didn't use the box and got Sparky started.
Sparky was scratching in the bathtub and I knew he wanted to go potty there. It's annoying so I picked him up and scooted him out of the bathroom, assuming he'd use the litterbox. He often uses the tub when he isn't happy with the state of the box, either dirty or not enough litter or whatever. But this time Sparky went into my bedroom closet and just started to pee. He didn't scratch and it wasn't noisy, but I noticed a distinctive wiggle and an unusual stance. So I picked him up and shut him into the laundry room with the box and I assume he used it. At least he peed on an old bookbag of mine, so I can toss it into the washer.
I am planning a vet's appointment for him, but in the meantime, should I keep carrying him to the box or just let him use the tub? I mean, it's darn bothersome to be cleaning it all the time, but it's easier to clean the tub than the carpet. I also can't tell if he chose the closet as an alternative or if he was mad at me for moving him and peed on my bookbag as a personal insult.
Background: We have 2 males, 4-year-old Blackie who is neutered, and 8 month old Sparky who isn't yet. We also have a cat who visits us pretty regularly who we call Ditto (his real name is TJ, but he looks just like Sparky) and we have recently had an unexpected guest that we called Marmalaide. Both of these "part time" cats were intact males, they both come in the house to eat and nap, but one cries to go out and the other we know is not ours so they don't actually live here. Ditto hasn't been around in a few weeks, and Marmalaide hasn't visited us in 3 days. So I'm not sure if this is territorial or perhaps one of them didn't use the box and got Sparky started.