strange litterbox issues

[betsygee]

Well, I got our boy to the vet, and he was fine.  Very healthy, actually, for a 17 year old cat!  So I started looking at behavioral issues.  Things I read here and on other sites suggested it might be the litter itself, and that cats, especially older ones, just don't like to change the type of litter they have!   When we took in Travis, we also got a couple of boxes of the litter his former owner had been using, it was some kind of scented clay stuff.  We use a wheat litter for our resident cats.  To me, the scent of the clay stuff REEKED so I slowly changed him over to the litter our cats were using.  But I guess Travis had other ideas about changing!  So I switched his box back to a clay litter, unscented.  For two days now, there's been no urinating outside the box!  

  I hope that's the end of that problem, it was really getting bad!  I don't like that it's not biodegradable, but it is half the cost of the wheat litter, I'm not cleaning up urine puddles every day AND our boy seems happy--and that's what counts, right? 

Well, that did the trick!  Since I switched back to the cheap, store brand litter, there's been NO urinating outside the box.  He just didn't like the new litter I was trying to get him to use.  Yay! 

 

[dejolane]

Bella does something strange after she pees & poops in the box. She will cover it up but then continues to scratch thinking its not covered. I tell her it is covered but she continues. How can I convince her its done  and I will scoop it out ?  The poop is cleaned out everytime they go.

 

[katluver4life]

Bella does something strange after she pees & poops in the box. She will cover it up but then continues to scratch thinking its not covered. I tell her it is covered but she continues. How can I convince her its done  and I will scoop it out ?  The poop is cleaned out everytime they go.

I don't think there is a way. Some cats just do this. Maybe they can still smell it and therefore think it' not buried enough.

 

[otto]

Jennie scratches for a good five minutes. Dig dig dig, makes a huge pile of litter which is usually no where near the pee or poop :lol3:

Whether she manages to bury or not, she continues to scratch the sides of the box, or the paper outside of the box if she is in one of the low sided boxes, for a long time.

Ootay also did this, and for much longer than Jennie. I timed her once, she scratched and dug for 8 1/2 minutes after finishing her business.

 

[betsygee]

Jennie scratches for a good five minutes. Dig dig dig, makes a huge pile of litter which is usually no where near the pee or poop

Whether she manages to bury or not, she continues to scratch the sides of the box, or the paper outside of the box if she is in one of the low sided boxes, for a long time.

Ootay

also did this, and for much longer than Jennie. I timed her once, she scratched and dug for 8 1/2 minutes after finishing her business.

8-1/2 minutes, wow!  I have a cat who does this, too.  Sometimes the sound annoys me (especially if it's in the middle of the night!) and I'll finally go in there and tell her "Zoe, STOP, you've done a good enough job!"  LOL  But mostly I just let her do it for as long as it makes her happy.  

 

[magicat]

I don't know if this issue is too old for a reply to be of benefit but here goes:

I will paraphrase a vet and feline specialist because I agree with her 100%:

Without exception, she states, there are only a very few reasons for what is called "litter box non compliance " and they are:

1. De-clawed cats will often take to going right beside the box due to pain, even years after being de-clawed.

2. Dislike of the litterbox - generally this has to do with something that offends their very sensitive noses (sense of smell),


3. Incontinence due to infection but the infection has to be pretty significant for them to not make it to the litter box and the odds favor a man made problem with the box.

On the subject of the box being offensive:
1. Fragrance can offend
2. Waste - visible on top is a deterrent
3. Waste that , though buried, is there in sufficient quantities or close enough to the surface that the cat can smell it even though a person cannot or that the cat cannot scratch without hitting clumps and releasing odor.

4. Covered boxes that concentrate smell and/or make it difficult for the cat to see what it is jumping or stepping into.

NOTE- MYTH-

Non compliance is NEVER a manifestation of an upset, oppositional, vindictive, grumpy cat; that would require higher level thinking and processing skills that they don't possess.

CLEAN PROPERLY

There is an excellent article on this site about how to make sure you have cleaned the area properly. You should read it to make sure the area does not become a habit even when the box is clean. Why bother taking a walk if there is a chance the box is dirty ?

Suggestions -

See Vet to rule out UTI
Clean area spoiled per article- no home made concoctions -

Put more litter boxes out- one on on top of the place that was being soiled in particular. The cat may associate the old litter box with something offensive.

Evaluate your choice of box and litter

Test different litters

Never delegate litter box maintenance to a child; it is too important.

Are odors embedded in plastic box?

Is litter perfumed ?

I use only one kind of litter but I don't know if I can mention it here.


Myths-
Cats don't need privacy- they need accessibility

Advice- this is no time to take a laid back, wait and see approach. The cat may be sick for one and you need to nip the problem before it gets out of hand. This is no time to cut corners either. Replace litter box if necessary and don't buy or make cheap cleaner.

Knowing that cats do not do this on purpose and that reasons are very limited makes it much easier to attack; don't get distracted from either medical attention and or litter box changes.

 

[dejolane]

How often do you scoop ? I feel like I should stand there and wait for the accident to happen then scoop away. My cats poop about 7 times a day.

 

[otto]

I scoop many times a day. Three cats, four litter boxes. Dejolane how many cats do you have, with that much poop?

A healthy cat normally poops every 24-36 hours.

My cats each pee three times a day (Queen Eva sometimes pees 4 times, she has a smaller bladder) and they each poop every 24-36 hours.

If I am home and someone uses the box I go down and scoop right away. I also scoop (or at least check the boxes, they are sometimes clean) when I get up, before I leave the house, when I get home (both for lunch and at night) and before I go to bed.

 

[mani]

How often do you scoop ? I feel like I should stand there and wait for the accident to happen then scoop away. My cats poop about 7 times a day.

If you mean 7 times combined, then each cat is pooing 3.5 times a day.  This is a lot and probably means there are a lot of fillers in the cats' diet.

My cats poo once a day.. virtually never changes.

 

[dejolane]

How often do you scoop ? I feel like I should stand there and wait for the accident to happen then scoop away. My cats poop about 7 times a day.

I do have a stick-up on the wall beside the litter box.and after each poop session I do spray the air freshener. for extra protection.

 

[spiderplant]

I do have a stick-up on the wall beside the litter box.and after each poop session I do spray the air freshener. for extra protection.

Cats have a very sensitive sense of smell/delicate respiratory systems. Those air fresheners aren't great for humans, either. This could be one of the many possible reasons why they're peeing outside the litter boxes. And yes, pooping 7 times a day(or even 3.5 each) is NOT okay. Fillers in low quality food(lots of great advice on the Nutrition forum for finding low cost/higher quality food) could be a factor there but both of these cats need to see a vet. The peeing outside the box, the yowling, the lack of activity(my cats around their respective ages play with each other, myself/my partner, and by themselves..endless energy), and the amount of pooping they're doing are all cause for concern. There are vets who will let you make payments on a bill, if needed. Once any health problems are ruled out or treated, other causes for the inappropriate elimination/crying can be better addressed.

 

[dejolane]

Well, Sephreniak, I identified the mystery pee-er!  But only because he "helpfully" just happened to squat to urinate on the pad under the litter box as I was cleaning it out.  LOL  Now I can get the correct kitty to the vet.  

I did try the food coloring for two days--actually, I assigned each of the four kitties a different color, mixed it in their food, and watched to make sure they didn't lick out of each other's bowls to mix up the colors!  I didn't see any results, though.  Just out of curiosity, has anyone tried this before?   Anybody know how long it would have taken for the urine to turn color?  

you would have had a rainbow in your water lol  

 

[pricklypaw]

Well, I have solved Momo's problem by making her an outside cat. She so dearly desired freedom and I couldn't give it to her (my street has proven several times that it is not a nice place for cats), so my mum adopted her. Momo now lives in the countryside of Tasmania, amongst the milking cows and sheep in the surrounding fields, within view of beautiful mountains, nestled amongst the bumble bees and flowers and far from any nasty cars. She has absolutely no litter box troubles; She happily does her business outside every time. No spraying or complainy-yowls. She loves my mummy and follows her wherever there aren't any dogs.

I miss her but she has left behind some very powerful reminders of why she needed a different environment (if you know what I mean. Yeah, I need a blacklight). It's nice to know that everyone is happy now