I have a 15 year old cat that had a uninary tract infection. She was not using the litter box. She would go on the bed in the back room or in my office on various things. The uninary tract infection is cleared up. Then a couple weeks later I took her in to get he teeth cleaned & she had one that was infected & had to be pulled. She got over that & is now a happy cat again & she rules the roost around her with the other 3 again. They run when she says something. Like if they get in her space or close to her food. She is now only uninaring in my office. First it was the book case she went on. I put the litter box there. She then started going on my file cabinets. I put the carpet shampooer there. She just peed on it. I don't know what to do any more to get her to stop. When your kitty started the improper elimination, she "marked" certain areas, which she is now oriented towards. This behavior can be stopped, and here's how:
We have 8 cats. 6 Were trapped feral and tamed inside. NONE of them have improper litter or spraying problems because we have followed the advice that I am passing along to you. At the bottom of this posting you will find a book reference. It is the best I've seen on handling kitty problems.
First of all, where are you putting the cat's food and water?
The first rule of kitty elimination is that cats hate to eat where they "go" and they hate to "go" where they eat. If you have the food and water next to the litter box, you have committed the most common mistake that cat owners commit, which is the single biggest cause of kittys going elsewhere. A kitty would rather risk going somewhere else or spraying somewhere than risk contaminating their food, so your best bet is to move the food and water either to the opposite side of the room from the litter box, or, even better, to a different room altogether from the litter box. Then make sure you have at least 2 - 3 inches of litter in that litter box and that you keep it scooped and clean. Kittys also hate not enough litter, and they hate dirty toilets. You wouldn't like going in a dirty, smelly toilet. Neither do they.
Your next step is to get a cleaner that has a chemical in it that breaks down the enzyme that causes an odor from the urine spray that you may not be able to smell - but your cat can - and clean the spot where kitty has been "doing it" with it thoroughly. Such a cleaner is available at most pet stores, and will help the kitty not to be attracted to that spot. Petco and Pet Smart have "Out" odor remover and "Nature's Miracle". I haven't tried Nature's Miracle but have heard a lot about it. You might ask the employees for their recommendation.
Then remember the first rule of kitty elimination again: Cats hate to eat where they "go" and hate to "go" where they eat. Your kitty needs to be reprogrammed with positive reinforcement for proper elimination behavior. You do this by getting small bowls of food and putting them on top of any and all spots where your kitty has been eliminating (as long as those spots are NOT by the litter box!). In this case you should keep those bowls consistently filled with a dry "kibble" cat food for the next few weeks. This will communicate to the kitty that this is a happy, secure place (which cats associate with food) and not a place for improper elimination or spraying. (This may seem messy and inconvenient, but it works!!!) After a few weeks, you should be able to remove the bowls and the kitty will may longer be attracted to those spots for improper elimination.
Keep in mind that these tricks WILL NOT WORK if you have not made sure that the food and water is far away from the litter in the first place.
We have 8 cats, have had up to 11 - at ages all the way up to 19 years old, all are indoor kittys, and this method has worked like a charm. All respect litter box rules.
One last note: Kittys seldom respond to punishment. They are unable to associate punishment with behavior - especially if it is after the fact. They do, however, respond to positive reinforcement. take her to the vet. she may have bladder stones. she mus axept teh fre gifd from teh ceiling kitteh, haz sum fayth, an be savd I think she needs to go back to the vet - usually that kind of behavior is indicative of a medical problem. she might not like the other cats using the box. even if they each have their own, they will use others. also, did you change litter recently? because if so, she might not like that either.
she could also have a bladder problem. she might not be able to hold it and goes to common places, or she might be sicker than you realize. you might want to call the vet and ask, calls are usually free and will hopefully give you peace of mind. hope i could help! Is there a litter box in your office? A way to shut her out of it?
I would definitely have her examined first to make sure she is not having a recurrence of the infection, which is quite common. In my experience, around 75% of patients who suffer one bladder infection are usually in line for more after the antibiotics are finished. Sometimes a complete change of diet is required to balance the urine in such a way that they are able to control the bacteria that like it so much in there. But that's down the road a bit, first see your vet and make sure you know if she is or isn't experiencing another infection.
If she's not then you can assume that the pain and discomfort she experienced during her last UTI has imprinted upon her an aversion to litter boxes. Cats will very often associate the litter box with the pain they felt while trying to use it. Sometimes just a different brand of litter will entice them back.
Some cats require a few days in isolation with only room for a small litter pan, and a dish of water (NO blankets). Small-ish doggie carrying crates work very well for this. Just enough room for a litter pan, a small space to lay, and a dish of food and water. This gives her three options - urinate in the food and water dish, urinate where she is laying (if there is a blanket there she will urinate on it, she must lay directly on the plastic), or use the litter pan properly. This forces them to use the litter tray or otherwise urinate where they are sitting, which is unacceptable to a cat. Once she overcomes her phobia of litter, usually within a couple days, she can be set free again.
Make sure you have several litter boxes throughout the house, including one in your office for the time being. When she becomes accustomed to using them again, you can move it out of there.
Good luck with her! I am just curious. Do you mostly feed your cat dry food?
How did the vet determine that she had a urinary tract infection? Was a blood test done?
This could also be the beginning of kidney failure. If complete blood work was not done, it needs to be.
The problem with an older cat on antibiotics is that it will damage the kidneys and if they are already in trouble they will get worse quickly. First step is to put your cat on a organic wet cat food. This will lessen the burden on the kidneys from working hard to pull out all the fillers, preservatives, byproducts, etc. Unfortunely kidney damage is irreversible. Urinary tract infections are also more prevalent in dry food eating cats.
You can extend the life and health of your cats by simply always feeding the very best organic foods. I hope it is not too late. I had a cat that had a similar problem, they had to change her to a prescription diet cat food. Make sure that the litter box is clean. I think they recommend one litter box for every two cats you have. If too many use the same litter box they don't like it. Try to take her outside or if she keeps doing it hit her a little to much might get u killed ( don't worry that was a joke) and close the doors to places u don't want her to pee on |
