urinating over edge of box

[coffee grinder]

Hi, any advice on training an older feral to turnaround in the litter box so she urinates against one of the high walls? I bought the NVR Miss litterbox with a small opening and high sides elsewhere. Rosie walks in the small opening, doesn't turn around & urinates right against the opening area with a low wall. Most of the time she gets all the urine inside the box but every couple days she ends up with most of the urine on a puppy pad that I keep under the opening. The box is supposed to force the cat to turn toward one of the high walls but Rosie didn't get the message. Rosie's an older feral who is going to live out the rest of her life in our spare bedroom. She's in pretty good health for a cat that lived outside for many years, just a little compromised kidney function and a small mammary mass that the vet doesn't think has spread.

I saw recommendations to use a storage bin but she's probably not going to jump in & out of a high sided storage bin. We may need to live with her behavior but wondering if anyone has any advice. Thx.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! I don't know how big of a box you have, but it might not be big enough for her to feel comfortable to turn around in. Where does she poop? Same place in the box?

Feeby goes in her box the same way as Rosie, but hers is 8" high on all sides, so even though she stands up to pee, it is all caught in the box. I think it might be because her box is really too small, but she's done this for so long now that I doubt a bigger box would break the habit at this point. (Took me too long to figure out that might be the issue.)

But, I will say that if Feeby goes both ways in the same litter box trip, she still pees in that same location but does turn around to poop in another corner of the box. Of course, sometimes that means she steps in the peed litter!

If you already have a very large litter box, you can get storage bins that are generally bigger than the largest litter boxes on the market. Then, you cut the storage bin lower for the entry point, but make it on the long side of the bin (not the short side like most litter boxes are designed.) If the bin is large enough, there is a possibility that Rosie would turn around in order to go on one of the shorter sides of the bin.

 

[coffee grinder]

Hi! I don't know how big of a box you have, but it might not be big enough for her to feel comfortable to turn around in. Where does she poop? Same place in the box?

Feeby goes in her box the same way as Rosie, but hers is 8" high on all sides, so even though she stands up to pee, it is all caught in the box. I think it might be because her box is really too small, but she's done this for so long now that I doubt a bigger box would break the habit at this point. (Took me too long to figure out that might be the issue.)

But, I will say that if Feeby goes both ways in the same litter box trip, she still pees in that same location but does turn around to poop in another corner of the box. Of course, sometimes that means she steps in the peed litter!

If you already have a very large litter box, you can get storage bins that are generally bigger than the largest litter boxes on the market. Then, you cut the storage bin lower for the entry point, but make it on the long side of the bin (not the short side like most litter boxes are designed.) If the bin is large enough, there is a possibility that Rosie would turn around in order to go on one of the shorter sides of the bin.

Thanks so much for your advice. The box is 21.5 X 15.5. She poops in the middle so she must be turning around for that. We had a bigger box with lower sides but she just went in the corners anyway. The storage bin without a cutout will be my next attempt. We're pretty lucky that she took to the box at her age so I can't complain too much. Thanks again.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

There are high-sided boxes available with a side entrance, rather than an end entrance. Those often do the trick because when the cat enters the box, its nose is against the far side, and they automatically turn to get away from that.

 

[Koshka56]

We have that exact same box. My (now deceased 21 year old) cat would do the same thing. She wasn’t all together there at the end. We eventually started putting Disposable piddle pads in front of the box. Every 4 or 5 days she would miss and we would switch it out.

 

[rubysmama]

Maybe one of the litter boxes in this TCS article could work:
What’s The Largest Cat Litter Box (and Why Your Cat Needs It) – TheCatSite Articles

This sounds like the litter box Mamanyt1953 referred to.

NVR Miss Litterbox (currently shipping inside Canada only, but refers to below site for US orders)
NVR Miss Litterbox (for US orders)

 

[danteshuman]

We found storage tubs this size or bigger works for Nickwho is an olympic litter kicker!!! Plus it blocks Cami from pooping right on the litter mat as she hangs out of the litter box.

 

[danteshuman]

& yes Nick really does stand up like this to poop!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

rubysmama , YES THAT'S THE ONE! YAY!

danteshuman Um...is Nick seeing someone about this? A good therapist?