Another Kitty/Litter Box Woe Thread

[Eden]

I think declawing should be outlawed. Poor babies. Yes my kitties occasionally claw at my leather couch and they are slowly destroying the woven seats on our dining room chairs, which we wove ourselves. The kitties respond appropriately when yelled at for clawing at the couch. The chairs are a lost cause. But those can be replaced. My kitties are priceless.

Good luck on finding litter that works.


Veronica

interesting.... my two little darlings followed the same pattern. When we first got it they showed some interest in the leather couch, but responded quite appropriately and leave it alone now. The dining room chairs otoh (woven, but not by me) are irresistible...

Fortunately they also like cardboard flat scratchers and my girl likes tearing up a cat tree. (oh and they are diligently attempting to knock down the house by using a support post in the basement as a scratching post, but I think the post will win)

[Melalvai]

Aggie, I just wanted to let you know that we did have success by isolating a cat. In our case the problem was the "new" kitten (a year later). It sounds like you only have the one cat, so it's unlikely to be issues with other pets.

I found a lot of good advice on http://www.catforum.com. I didn't log on or sign up, I just read some of the relevant threads. They also said that a LOT of cats end up at pounds because of litter box problems. I easily found our cat's story over and over.

Good luck, hope your kitty's behavior improves. It can be so frustrating.

[NadiaMac]

hi there-
litter box issues suck, but can often be worked out with some patience as you sort through the possible factors that are making kitty go outside the box. Good luck sorting out the problem!!

this handout is really useful (warning, it took a LONGGGGG time to load):
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals..._problems.html

It explores a variety of factors (size/configuration of box, location, litter type, cleanliness, multipet situations, etc.) that can impact kitty behavior and has a series of suggestions based on common possibilities.

My co-worker recently troubleshot a kitty peeing problem using the suggestions in this handout (her kitty was going on her bed, so she switched to softer finer claylitter litter from pine pellets and the problem was solved!)

I also echo the suggestions above to experiments with litter and box location/size by getting an extra box where you can field test different litters. I did this last year (after a pooping problem developed w/ one of my cats) and we tried all sorts of litters, box positions, open/covered, etc. and let the animals vote with their paws. We ended up switching litter types as a result of the experiments, and for quite a while had an extra box in operation in a different room.

One further comment- it sounds like you've addressed possibly health problems, but I wanted to mention that my mom's kitty started peeing in the sink and was found to have crystals in her ureters. The crystals caused straining while urinating and apparently it's pretty common for girl kitties in this situation to try and pee somewhere smooth and cooler, like the sink (or maybe the floor).

[Aggie_Ama]

My husband thinks Heidi (our miniature schnauzer) is the reason Tortilla started. A year ago Heidi had bladder stones, the vet removed them but said that most dogs end up with some permanent scarring and bad potty habits. If we are not very attentive with Heidi she sneaks into the same room and potties. I clean it to where we no longer smell it but the animals surely can. We are thinking of just pulling up the carpet but right now that is not feasible. I think I will try Nature's Miracle, maybe diapers for Heidi and new litter for Tortilla. Ugh, I love my pets but right now I want to scream at them!

Veronica- I could rant forever about how cruel declawing is. I threw a fit when my aunt wanted to declaw my Mammaw's kitten instead of teaching him good manners. Of course I wouldn't pass Tortilla at the kill shelter because she was declawed. I wanted her because she was sweet and a manx, I wish she wasn't declawed.

[NadiaMac]

nature's miracle rocks. you might need to use a lot of it, if the urine has soaked into the carpet pad as well (if there is a carpet pad). Cats do home in on urine odor- my mom's cat peed on a particular spot in her carpet for ages, despite all attempts to clean up the carpet. She ended up cutting that patch of carpet out, which ended the problem. It was in a corner, so the hole was inconspicuous

[Veronica]

Of course I wouldn't pass Tortilla at the kill shelter because she was declawed. I wanted her because she was sweet and a manx, I wish she wasn't declawed.

I'm glad you took her. She needed someone to love her. I just wish declawing wasn't an option. Kitty and puppy love is grand.


Veronica

[bmccasland]

I'm having the same problem with Calypso. She's declawed - came that way. I cleaned her litter box this morning, and after her morning ritual of a brief romp outside (she goes out with the dog, Nala, but does she find a spot to "go" outside? NOOOO!), she runs to the bathroom and promply pees on the towel in front of the box. I could scream She also poops on the floor.

For some reason, Calypso refuses to use the litter box, she goes right in front of the box on the towel. I long ago gave up on bathroom rugs - which used to be her target. I either clean the floor with white vinegar or a non-ammonia cleaner, but I'm really getting tired of it. Let alone the laundry. Could the pee smell be lingering in the towel load? I rinse the towels with the hose, let dry, then when I have something of a load - towels + cleaning towels, everything goes in hot water with bleach. Lately I've been adding a good handfull of baking soda to the load as well.

Calypso had been an only cat for about a year, the first year of her life, then was surrendered to her vet by her previous owner. Lived there for a month before I adopted her.

I have two elderly kitties with health problems. Sometimes I wonder that in Calypso's eye's I'm "spending time" with them just because I'm medicating them (twice daily). Calypso does like to spend time outside, will meow to come in, run to the bathroom, go on the floor, then run back to the kitchen door, wanting back out again. ARRGGGH!

[Becky]

FWIW, my female hated that pine litter too. Come to think of it, she didn't like the corn-based ones either. I finally figured it out, and switched to Precious Cat, a clay litter with larger grain sizes than most- really good for digging (or so the cat tells me).

Cat Attract litter is made by the same company, and contains some kind of herbal attractant. I can vouch that it works miracles. I think we've solved our litter boxes issues (knock wood!), but I've continued using a little with every box change just as cheap insurance.

Good luck!

[Shara]

Some great responses in this thread. If you have the time/money/room/motivation you could set up several litter boxes with different litter in it and see which one she gravitates towards.

Also, I just wanted to mention that the company that owned Nature's Miracle sold a few years ago and the original Nature's Miracle formula is being sold as Petastic. Not that the new Nature's Miracle doesn't work -I haven't tried it- but you might find that interesting if you have not switched and noticed a difference.

[jesvetmed]

Aggie:

Sorry you are having troubles! There is some great information in this thread to try. I definitely second that you should visit the vet and make sure she doesn't have a urinary tract infection or crystals forming that are painful when she urinates.

As for the litter -- many have "preferred substrates" meaning they prefer to urinate on something that feels like sand, or carpet, or paper. If you can simulate that / find the favorite, you will go a long way! I have had clients cut up small carpet pieces and put them in the bottom of the litter pan by itself to start -- (get LOTS of scrap remnant pieces!) -- then slowly add litter after they begin using it -- a SLOW transition could get you where you want to go.

Try different litters -- I like Dr. Elsey's sandy stuff. I buy the "Precious Cat". And... IT'S CHEAP! Nature's Miracle also makes a litter and my cat loved it -- it helps a lot with odor, but is spendy! I now mix a little into the Dr. Elsey's to save $$

And always put enough litter pans -- especially put one in the exact place she is going -- even if it is inconvenient. Once she is using it routinely you can start nudging it inch by inch to a more convenient place for you.

Change the litter DAILY, or more! If you have more than one cat, get one more litter pan than you have kitties.

Make sure there is no stress in the area where the pan is, or on the way to the pan (ie, going by a noisy place, a dog, etc, to get there).

And a hardy +++++ to the Nature's Miracle liquid. Used correctly, it will enzymatically get rid of the odor in the pad and carpet (not only just to you, but also to the pet). They WILL continue to urinate in the same areas if they can smell it.

There you go -- that is everything I know! Your vet may be able to talk to you about anxiolytic drugs if it becomes necessary -- 99.9% of the time it is not. I hate jumping to drugs if not necessary. And it is almost always not!

GOOD LUCK! Start with a visit to the vet!

[bmccasland]

I bought some Precious Cat kitty litter the other day, and replaced most of the litter in the box that Calypso uses (bathroom box) with it - SUCCESS!!!

Thought it was a one day fluke, fresh litter and all. She's always liked new litter. Then yesterday I had a 14 hour day, came home to find the towel by the box all wadded up, but it was dry - no poo, no pee. Yippee! I'm really hoping for this trend to continue, and I'll be doing less laundry. Maybe, just maybe, I can even put the bathroom rug back!

Litters I've tried that she didn't like: Tidy Cats scoopable, Corn based, and Wheat based. I've come to realize that she absolutely refused to use the Tidy Cats. She would use the box if it had the corn based or wheat based, but ONLY when the box was clean, one use only. I wanted to use the corn or wheat based as I was trying to be able to put the waste in my compost pile, and flush the poo down the toilet - neither of which I can do with a clay based litter.

So Calypso gets Precious Cat litter here on out in her box. The other box will use up the mix of corn litter + Tidy Cats. Herald doesn't mind. Bonnie will use either box.

[Becky]

Yay! I love Precious Cat because my cats love it