8/19, Jake, AMPS 587, +4. 509 +7 463 PMPS 460, + 2 350

I really need some encouragement. Jakes just about stopped using the litter box. It’s getting worse every day. I’m overwhelmed. I feel like I can’t get a handle on this, I don’t know if he’s just getting to old. He’s 18. He acts confused. We’ve caught him drinking out of the toilet. He wonders around the house like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. If I could just get him to use the litter box I could handle it all better. He at least doesn’t go anywhere but the laundry room. His 2 litter boxes are in the laundry room. I don’t understand why he pees all around them but not in them. Yet he always poops in them! Any thoughts?

 

Here's your thread from yesterday (I'm surprised nobody noticed the wrong date...LOL) https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/8-19-jake-amps-587-4-509-7-463.267303/

It's not unusual for cats to drink out of the toilet, especially diabetic ones who can't seem to get enough water! It's actually a little surprising to me that he's strong enough to jump up there and hold himself on the seat while getting his head down into the water!

As for the peeing, that's a tougher problem. With all the water they drink, it has to go somewhere and sometimes our older kitties can't hold their urine as well as they could when they were younger. You might try a different kind of litter or a box with a low entry. Has he been checked for a UTI?

 

I don’t think it’s a UTI. I’ve followed him and he goes to the laundry room sniffs at the box and then pees outside. On an off he pee’s in the box. He never poops outside of the litter box. Box has a low entry. That doesn’t seem to be the issue. Thinking maybe tomorrow we’ll empty one of the two boxes and hose it out, dry it and put fresh litter and see if it makes a difference.

 

Try lining around the litter box with puppy pee pads. If nothing else, they are easier to clean up. Have you watched him pee? Some cats with iffy legs (arthritis, neuropathy) have a hard time squatting and the pee shoots over the top of the box.

I'm hoping you'll see better numbers soon that will make it easier on his system and he won't feel so bad.

 

Thanks. I’ve got puppy pads everywhere in the laundry room. I’ve watched him pee. He goes up to the box some of the time sniffs it and then pees in the boot tray I have under the box. Sometimes he goes in the box and doesn’t turn around and pees out the opening into the tray and sometimes he just decides to pee next to the box in front of the shelves or in front of the cabinet. 2/3rds of the room is covered in puppy pads. Just going through a lot of puppy pads and my only income is social security.

 

I'm sorry you are having a tough time. He is very lucky to have you. I had a very old leaky dog once and I put shower curtain liners or painters tarps on the floor covered by newspapers. It worked well. My kitty is getting some dementia and I don't mind telling you it has made me crazy when she gets up exactly at 3;30am howling for food continuously even after she ate. I recommend talking with your vet asap. I now give her a little bit of gambapentin which is a sedative before bed time and it has helped. Vets have experience with this and probably have suggestions. What a wonderful pet parent to care for you kitty so she is now 18.

 

Good to hear you've got the pee pads. You can buy washable reusable ones. (voice of experience here, Neko had bad arthritis). How old is the litter box? The plastic can retain pee smell after a while and as much as you scrub it, might not get all the smell out of it. Maybe try a new litter box, or cut down storage container box. This has got to be the most frustrating issue to deal with.

 

Maybe one of those low and very long storage tubs to keep under the bed would make it easier for him to step in, and also harder for him to overshoot?
If you can find it locally, you could also try Cat Attract litter (link), it works really well. Maybe the additional smell to attract him to the box will help if he's got a touch of dementia or weak from other medical causes.

 

I use Rubbermaid boxes with a hole cut for an entry. Replaced them this year thinking that was the issue.

 

We are using the storage tubs already and we already use Dr. Elsey’s litter. That’s what’s so frustrating is we seem to have tried everything even reconcile Which has worked for years till now. And the house is starting to smell of cat urine!

 

Dang. I'm so sorry Sharon, you have everything lined up perfectly
If it were me I'd still try a tub like this, just in case?

 

I'm so sorry this is happening; it's frustrating to do everything right and still have a problem like this. FWIW, I also use those mats under my litter boxes. They are great, but for me if any pee gets on them they are hard to clean and they do hold that odor.

 

That’s who I keep puppy pads in them now. They were to hard to clean but the puppy pads make it so I don’t have to clean them.

 

I’ll give some thought to it but I’m afraid a box like that he’d end up spraying the wall. Our house is only 3 years old and it would ruin the paint and unfortunately because of how they water down paint in tract holmes it’s impossible to match the paint so I can’t afford for him to pee on the wall. So I don’t think one of those boxes would work. Theses boxes have always worked till recently. It’s weird too that he only poops in the box.