using my carpets instead of litterbox...Help

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debthacker

Member Since 2012
Since a short time before being diagnosed with diabetes and for the 2 months since, my 11 yr old cat has been using her litterbox most of the time but once every day or two she defecates and/or urinates on my carpets (any room she chooses) There have been no changes to litter, surroundings routine, etc. I have been giving her 1/3 can fancy feast along with her dry Evo food. I am at my wits end because I can't have her ruining my fully carpeted home. Is this medical or evil? She sometimes comes right up to the bedroom and pees in the corner while I am in the room.
She had always used her litterbox for 10.5 years no problems. Also I am changing the litter daily/every other day even though it is cleaned several times a day and is fine.
Any advice or suggestions would be most appreciated. This is my first cat and I don't get it!
 
Have you had her checked out for a UTI? Sometimes if it has hurt to use the litter box, they will go other places. Does she have neuropathy - walking on her hocks or having trouble walking? If so, she might have trouble getting in and out of the litterbox. And they can also start disliking the litterbox if they are unregulated and the litter sticks to their paws like cement when they use it.

We have a protocol for diabetic cats that is very successful. You might read some of the nutrition and hometesting links on the main forum page and see if our protocol might work with your kitty. Once you start testing your cat at home, you can see how the insulin is working and have a much better handle on how your kitty is feeling. If they are getting too much or too little insulin and it is generally making them feel crummy, they may react with letterbox issues.
 
debthacker said:
Since a short time before being diagnosed with diabetes and for the 2 months since, my 11 yr old cat has been using her litterbox most of the time but once every day or two she defecates and/or urinates on my carpets (any room she chooses) There have been no changes to litter, surroundings routine, etc. I have been giving her 1/3 can fancy feast along with her dry Evo food. I am at my wits end because I can't have her ruining my fully carpeted home. Is this medical or evil? She sometimes comes right up to the bedroom and pees in the corner while I am in the room.
She had always used her litterbox for 10.5 years no problems. Also I am changing the litter daily/every other day even though it is cleaned several times a day and is fine.
Any advice or suggestions would be most appreciated. This is my first cat and I don't get it!
Click to expand...

First thing I wanted to mention is to eliminate the DRY food as it will not be any good for your numbers; dry food is no good for diabetics.

OK one of my cats was very clean before she was diagnosed, but the reason I took her to the vet was her starting to urinate outside the box, in all sorts of places. I never completely cured her of the issue but as she became regulated, she would contain her 'accidents', to just outside the box. When her numbers spiked, she had more accidents. She had short legs and I suspected that her bladder was full and rubbed on the edge of the box when she stepped in. I put a step in front of the box and she was able to step into it nicely. I also physically put her into the box first thing in the morn as her bladder seemed full, and she would immediately pee like a race horse.

I don't know why she would urinate outside the box some times, and vets were never able to find a reason.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have tried eliminating the dry food but she will only eat a taste of wet and walk away. I have coerced by sitting and petting, adding water, leaving it down for awhile and several days letting her know it was the only choice. She just doesn't eat more than a spoonful. I worry that with insulin she has to eat something so I use a very low carb 6% Evo food. I don't know what else to do. I have tried several flavors of fancy feast classic and have even added a tiny bit of regular people tuna. ????
 
debthacker said:
Thanks for the advice. I have tried eliminating the dry food but she will only eat a taste of wet and walk away. I have coerced by sitting and petting, adding water, leaving it down for awhile and several days letting her know it was the only choice. She just doesn't eat more than a spoonful. I worry that with insulin she has to eat something so I use a very low carb 6% Evo food. I don't know what else to do. I have tried several flavors of fancy feast classic and have even added a tiny bit of regular people tuna. ????
Click to expand...
maybe start a post on advice for switching from dry food, and you will get plenty of suggestions and methods that have worked for others. If you have a cat who is carb sensitive, you will not have much luck regulating her. If she is eating some, that's a good start, but you cave in and she wins! Cats are very sly, so you can try things like grind up her dry and put a few sprinkles on top of the wet food. She will smell the dust and have to eat the wet to get that bit of dry.

Over time, she will get used to eating the wet, and you can put less and less of the dry dust on top.

Others will have some good tips as well.
 
Hi. Tucker had the same problem....."free peeing" all over the carpet, and any small area rug. Like you said, the litter box was cleaned often. He would even pee on the rug next to the litterbox.
I decided to try Dr. Elsies "Cat attract" litter and a new litter box. I actually used a large plastic sweater box, about 2o" wide, 30" long and 6" deep. He is using it about 99% of the time now. The litter really seems to work! He only occasionally still hits the rug by the litter box, but that's better than the wall to wall upstairs!
I also cleaned the main rug with "odor mute", an enzyme for odors to get rud of any smell. In addition to that, I covered the areas where he peed with the plastic carpet protective runners, only upside down so the sharp little nubs point up.
One more thing. Cats don't like citrus, so I spraid the real citrus deoderizer in those areas .
So far so good. Good luck!
 
My mother's cat (not diabetic) has peed and pooped in the garage outside the litter box for almost a year. Fortunately, when in the house she has still used the box.

My mother noticed a couple of weeks ago that one of Annie's nails had grown into her pad. We took her to the vet and had it cut back. Since then, nothing outside a box anywhere!

Perhaps check her nails that they aren't causing pain, especially in the box.

Good luck!

Lisa and Spooky (GA)
 
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