No longer using litter box

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amy&spazz

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Hello again!

Thanks everyone for your advice in regards to my kitty's neuropathy. I didn't end up having to increase her insulin dosage again, it turns out the insulin I had had lost it's effectiveness and all I needed was a new bottle.

We now however have a new problem. Last weekend I noticed her having urination problems, and took her to the vet. She had a bladder/kidney infection & has now been medicated & it's back under control. But, she now has stopped using her litter box sometimes (it's kind of 50/50). She will use it sometimes, but other times she'll pee right in front of it, or beside it, and is also pooping in front or behind the box. I had initially thought maybe she just wasn't getting her butt in far enough (I have a litter box with the lid & little doorway since she's always had issues with peeing over the edges a little bit), but it's happening too far away from the litter box, and too often for this to be the problem. I called the vet clinic & they told me that cats will sometimes associate the pain of peeing with their litter box, even after the infection has been cleared up. They didn't really have any suggestions though on how to get her to use her litter box again.

Anyone have some advice or ideas? Unfortunately I live in a fairly small condo, so have limited choice as far as moving her litter box somewhere else (like to another room - right now her box is in the front closet).

Thanks!
Amy & Spazz
 
That is the same thing my vet said- associate pain with the litter box. Maybe you could get a new box or new litter- that may be new to her so she won't associate it with the old one and the pain?
Also, I can only think maybe her infection hasn't completely cleared up and she can't quite make it into the box?
Oh, and you have to clean around the box where she has gone with an enzyme cleaner or some vinegar. Sometimes once they use an area and can still smell it they think it is acceptable to keep using that area.
Hope she starts to use the box soon.
 
Oh I feel your pain ... mocha has never had LB problems up until two or three weeks ago when she all of a sudden decided that she was going to poop in front of her box. She get's locked up in the room with us at night so she doesn't get into the other cats food and she continues to do this almost every single night now. One time she did it during the day, just sat down and pooped right after I scooped her boxes! But like the other night, she went in the LB and pooped with no problem. She did this about two weeks ago too. But generally she feels the need to poop outside the box, but not BOTH boxes, just hers, in our bedroom. The BM is perfectly fine, no diarrhea, no blood, just reg. old poop. I have thoroughly cleaned around her box and thankfully it is not on carpet so there really isn't any odor from her doing this but let's just say more then once we have stepped blindly into her present left for us :roll:
 
I suggest trying Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract cat litter. It has worked wonders for many kitties. Petsmart carries it -- not sure who else.

A new litterbox isn't a bad idea, either.
 
If your cat has neuropathy, it may be difficult for them to get in / out of the litterbox, or it could be the the depth of the litter combined with the neuropathy makes them feel unstable when they're squatting. For the second problem, you can try using a thinner layer of litter in the box.

For the first problem, there are litterboxes out there with little ramps in, or with lowered sides. We switched to this litterbox and were very happy with it. The lowered lip across the front is the widest lowered lip we found, which made it easier for Gwyn to navigate in and out, and it has a larger footprint than normal litterboxes, making it easy for her to adopt as wide a stance as needed to keep her stable while she squatted in the litter.

For urine on the floor, mop it up with a towel, then splash some white vinegar down and swish it about. If the urine was sitting there for a while, let the vinegar sit for a few minutes, then mop it up with a towel. Make sure to check under the litterbox, in case some urine ended up there. (If you need to clean the floor under the litterbox, don't forget to clean the underside of the litterbox itself.)

When you're done, you can throw the towels in the laundry with your regular detergent, but add a cup of white vinegar. That'll get rid of the smell.
 
Think most angles covered.
I had an issue with Lucky peeing in a particular corner-took months to get her out of the habit.Cleaning the area definately helped.
Cats can associate box with pain too, if your around (and infection has cleared) pick her up and pop her in, hopefuly she will realise the box isn't causing her any pain.
Good luck
 
You could put some pee pads down around the box in the mean time. When Maggie got so sick she couldn't lift her behind off the litter, I actually replaced the litter with pee pads.
 
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