Anyone have experience with cat urinating outside of box?

AnneMA

AnneMA

Cathlete
Hi:

Just thought I'd reach out and see if anyone had any success in solving this problem. My husband and I adopted a 5 year old cat from a shelter 6 months ago. She's a sweetheart. She began peeing directly in front of her box on and off the last 4 weeks. I did alot of reading and corrected some things that could have been the issue. Changed her litter, took the hood off the litter box, bought a larger box. The box is also immaculate; I clean it several times per day. We took her to the vet and were able to rule out urinary issues. She appears perfectly healthy, except for some itchiness and resulting overgrooming to which she was given a steroid injection.

We have not made any changes in the household nor are there any other animals or stressors for her. Anyone have any experience with this or suggestions for me? Thanks for reading.
 
I'm not sure if this helps, but I had a cat that did that to. I got him as a kitten and he was using the box fine, then one day, he got a big shock when he chewed through some electrical cords. I took him to the vet and he checked out fine. Shortly after that, he stopped using the liter box. Sometimes he would put his front paws in but still pee outside the box. I took him back to the vet and he just assumes that maybe my cat got a little brain damage from the jolt and forgot how to do things. He also stopped playing as much as he did, but we ended up putting the litter box on the back porch so if he urinated outside the box, it was easier to clean up. He lived to be 15 yrs old and most of the time he urinated outside the box. So maybe the cat was injured early as a kitten like mine was.
 
Hi Anne,
I am so happy that your new kitty has found loving "pet parents" and is enjoying a happy home environment. There could be many reasons for your poor kitty's potty issues: even though there was no sign of urinary issues, there could be discomfort. We have a feral kitty that has joined our family and he has urinary problems every now and then (but never goes outside the box, which is odd).We have found a life saver product that has really cut down on the severity and duration of his episodes. I'm not saying that your kitty has UTIs, maybe just discomfort. You may want to check out this site:
Only Natural Pet Tract-Ease Dog Cat Herbal

It really worked for us!
 
Here are a few things to consider:

1) Is the litter scented? Some cats dislike the smell.

2) Where is the litter box? Is it near her food/water bowl? Some cats are very particular, in that they do not like to go to the bathroom where they eat.

3) You say you clean the litter box often. Do you ever clean/wash it with a strong smelling cleanser? Some cats are very particular with scents. OTOH, do you ever wash it at all (even with an unscented soap)? I find that it is simply not enough to change the litter, you must also wash the box bi-weekly/monthly.

4) What kind of litter are you using? I remember when my cats were kittens, we bought this all-natural type litter. The litter granules were "bigger" and my cats hated that!

5) If you have ruled out any medicals conditions, most likely when a cat refuses to use their box, it is behavioral. She is definitely trying to tell you something. She could be "marking" her territory, or perhaps does not like where you have put the box (is it near a very "busy" area in your home).

6) Does she defecate outside of the box too? If she is urinating outside of the box and defecating inside, I would say it is most likely behavioral. A few years ago, my girl cat, who is normally very clean and never had an accident outside of her box, actually urinated on our bed (while my DH was sleeping might I add :eek:). Of course she was trying to communicate with us. We quickly realized that the litter box was too dirty (both of us were working a lot of hours at the time and neglected to clean it to her standards). Let me tell ya, she passed on the message real quick :mad:. We cleaned the box and everything was fine and dandy. I find female cats are more particular with the litter box too.


Hope some of these suggestions help you :)

Natasha
 
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Thanks for the suggestions. I can ask my vet about the drops. And as far as putting the box outside, our kitty is indoor only.

The litter is scented, but she has been urinating in her box with this same litter for several months with no issues. The box is not near her food/water and is in a quiet spot. She is defecating inside the box and it is kept very clean. I keep a towel in front of her box, so at least she's peeing on that, but I've been washing towels right and left. If it's behavioral, I'm at a loss at what she's trying to tell us. Sigh.
 
I was told by my vet when my cat would not use the litter box...my cat would go on the rugs i had on my wood floor .....i was told it was behavioral AND surface preference....so maybe your kitty like the feel of the towel ....? also, it could be his new 'learned' behavior...he just thinks that's where he's supposed to go, since he's been doing it for awhile now...?

good luck...
I love my cats, too, but sometimes the litter pan issues are just a lot to deal with!!!:confused:

BestICan
 
Please be sure to see if it has a urinary tract infection. For whatever reason, kitties won't go in their normal box when they have them. Annoying as heck but that's usually a good sign that they have one.
 
My husband's cat does the same thing. She showed up at our door when she was about 4 months old and we have had her for 9 years now. She continues to urinate outside the litter box even now. She poops in the box--never outside it. She just chooses not to pee in there. We have lived in four different places and have arranged the litter box/food bowls differently in each. We have tried different litter, different food, etc., but nothing has worked. The vet finds nothing wrong with her. So we just try to find a way to deal with it. At first we used towels with garbage bags underneath them. Like you, we got really tired of washing those nasty towels. I started buying those large puppy pee pads and I place several of them (layered) in front of the litter box, and she urinates on/saturates them. It can get a little expensive, but it is easier dealing with just tossing the pads than washing those towels over and over.

Just wanted you to know that you're not alone.
 
Yes, she was checked for UTI and she's healthy.

It is possible that now she prefers the towel and she's stuck in a pattern. Interesting..

Might have to consider those wetting pads if this continues. Thanks do much for listening and letting me know I'm not the only one that has dealt with this. I've only had one other cat, who passed away severals years ago at 16, and he didn't have any litter box issues.
 
My friend had this same issue with his 2 siamese cats. He finally got litter made from newspaper and that solved the problem. Otherwise I think pee pads are your answer. At least until you can figure out what is bothering her.
 
Did the litter box issues and the steroid injection happen around the same time? Does she have her claws? Do you have more than 1 litter box?
 
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No, the litterbox issue has been happening on and off since we adopted her, not since steroid shot. Each time I made a change ie; new litter, taking cover off, etc she would stop and I thought we solved it. She had about 3 months where it wasn't happening at all.

I originally used wheat litter because the previous owners declawed her in all four paws and I thought it would feel better on her paws. She began urinating outside the box soon after, so I switched her to clay.

We only have one litterbox since we just have the one cat.
 
That may be the problem, a lot of declawed hate most litter because their poor paws are sooo sensitive, I have heard this many many times, in fact it happened with our own cat when I was little. Also the rule of thumb for a cat is to have 1 litter box per cat plus 1. What litter did they use at the shelter? I would avoid scented as well.
 
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I mentioned above that a friend had this problem with his 2 siamese and that newspaper litter stopped the problem. They were declawed and the litter was hurting their paws. Once he tried the newspaper kind the problem was solved. Worth a try.
 
My friends cat is declawed and the poor thing somehow manages to walk on the rim of the box, hover over it and go never touching the litter, so the more I think about the more I would say it is because if the declawing. Knowing what we know now why vets and cat owners still do this to cats is disgusting, so many times they end up back at the shelter or worse because of this very problem, grrrrrrrr! Kudos to you for trying to solve the problem.
 
When we first adopted her, I anticipated the paw issue and bought some wheat litter which was softer than clay. Her urinating began a couple weeks afterwards, so my first assumption was to switch her to clay which she was using at the shelter and thinking maybe what her previous owners had. So, that's what makes me think it isn't a paw issue. I did notice, though, that the wheat didn't seem to have any scent because it's natural and so you could smell the pee easily. I suppose it's possible that she liked the feel of the wheat, but not the smell. This is a toughie.

We were told by the people at the shelter that this couple was getting divorced and they didn't want her anymore. They had her 5 years. So, who knows what kind of baggage this little girl may have come with.
 
AnneMA said:
When we first adopted her, I anticipated the paw issue and bought some wheat litter which was softer than clay. Her urinating began a couple weeks afterwards, so my first assumption was to switch her to clay which she was using at the shelter and thinking maybe what her previous owners had. So, that's what makes me think it isn't a paw issue. I did notice, though, that the wheat didn't seem to have any scent because it's natural and so you could smell the pee easily. I suppose it's possible that she liked the feel of the wheat, but not the smell. This is a toughie.

We were told by the people at the shelter that this couple was getting divorced and they didn't want her anymore. They had her 5 years. So, who knows what kind of baggage this little girl may have come with.
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Poor baby they didn't deserve her, people are so cruel. Maybe try a plug in diffuser for cats to calm her, it works on some cats, not all. Btw I use oatmeal for litter because it is natural, non allergen, great at clumping and doesn't smell, my cats have never not used their box.
 
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Someone recommended Feliway plug-ins in the room where her litterbox is. Also seems like CatAttract comes in litter and might be worth a try. The majority of reviews are excellent. Of course, every cat is different. I don't want to try too many things at once, just one at a time.

Oatmeal huh? What made you decide to use it?
 
AnneMA said:
Someone recommended Feliway plug-ins in the room where her litterbox is. Also seems like CatAttract comes in litter and might be worth a try. The majority of reviews are excellent. Of course, every cat is different. I don't want to try too many things at once, just one at a time.

Oatmeal huh? What made you decide to use it?
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I was using the wheat, but my cat has horrible allergies, so I tried the corn and my one cat actually would eat that right out of the box, so after some brainstorming I thought hmmm I wonder if oatmeal would work, I know it is the least allergenic so I tried it and it works great!
 
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