I need some help with my cat!!

[Phoenix15]

I have two house cats. One is a 3 year old and one is a year and a half old. Suddenly, the younger one refuses to use the litter box. She instead decides to use my couch :| I have no idea why she started doing this.

I can see no medical reasons that wold cause her to do this. They both had a checkup a few weeks ago and were given a clean bill of health. Anyone have any ideas on why she would do this? Any websites that have tips on this?

Pease help! If I can't figure this out, she may have to go. This would really suck so I don't want to do it, but I can't stand this for long.

 

[Nitemare]

Maybe the other cat is not wanting to share. Either that or the younger cat just doesn't like you or care.

 

[ttn1]

Well, most people I know say that cats require a litter box per cat. This always seems to work best. How do I know this? My fiance is a cat lady. She has 10 cats!! It's practically a full time job for her to take care of them.

 

[Phoenix15]

I actually have three litter boxes. I have no idea why she would one day decide she doens't like the litter box. I'm scheduled a vet visit this afternoon, so maybe he can give me a few tips.

 

[BillGates]

Have you cleaned the cat's litter box yet this year??

As you may have noticed, they are very clean animals, and if they have to step in poo to pee all the time, they're going to get ticked off and find somewhere cleaner and drier and better smelling.

 

[Kadarin]

<< Have you cleaned the cat's litter box yet this year??

As you may have noticed, they are very clean animals, and if they have to step in poo to pee all the time, they're going to get ticked off and find somewhere cleaner and drier and better smelling. >>



Heh.. as opposed to dogs. My dog's favorite thing in the world is to sniff dog poop/pee (preferably as it's coming out of the other dog). In fact, the other day, he was rolling around in the grass out front, and came in with poop on his face.. I about killed him..

 

[Descartes]

Buy one of those automatic litter boxes

Laugh at me all you like, but I bought one of the larger ones for my 2 cats. They love it, I love it. $175 well spent

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

I have no specific advice, but I know my cats have some occasional mental problems like this also, they seem to pass. Are you cats both neutered/spayed?

I know my 2 cats sometimes get along fine, other times one goes through a phase of wanting to go outside in the worst way and since he cannot, he turns to attacking the other, and this seems to correlate to some of the bathroom problems.

 

[Linflas]

Taking her to the vet is the best first move. If the vet rules out FUS or other physical reason then you may want to try and confine her to a single room with a litter box for bit to see if you can get her back into her normal behavior. Your vet may have some ideas for you as well so be sure and ask.

 

[Geekbabe]

You need to go back to the Vet, UTI's can develop in a matter of a few days. Make sure your cat isn't suffering from some medical problem before you spend a lot of time/money exploring behavioral cures.

For Now though, limit her range of the house,keep her confined to a smaller,more easily cleaned area with her own food,litter box.

 

[Phoenix15]

<< Have you cleaned the cat's litter box yet this year??

As you may have noticed, they are very clean animals, and if they have to step in poo to pee all the time, they're going to get ticked off and find somewhere cleaner and drier and better smelling. >>



Why yes, smartass, they are cleaned twice a day. I love how you assume my house is filthy

As I said above, I have scheduled a vet visit this afternoon. She seems to be in no discomfort and is not immobile. She can easily leap the four feet to get onto my bed, so I don't see why she could not step over the 4 inch litter pan rim. They are both spayed, so that shouldn't be a problem. I found a good source of info
here.. I want to give a few of these suggestions a try if the ve says she is ok.

 

[Cerebus451]

Yeah, your best bet is the vet. Another thing to wonder about is if you have changed anything inside your house (like moving stuff around and the like), especially stuff around the litter boxes. If that's the case, you may need to just put the cat into the litter box again to remind her where it is. When I last moved my litter boxes one of my cats immediately ran to where they used to be and took a dump on the carpet, but once I showed him where they were moved to he hasn't had a problem since (except occasionally when he climbs onto the edge of the litter box with his butt hanging over the edge and poops onto the carpet next to the litter box).

 

[jaeger66]

Try changing litter brands. If that doesn't work, the vet. It could be nothing, just a phase, or something much worse like a urinanry tract infection.

And if for some reason you do get rid of her, get another one. You should always have at least 2 cats(if you have 1).

 

[jaeger66]

Try changing litter brands. If that doesn't work, the vet. It could be nothing, just a phase, or something much worse like a urinanry tract infection.

And if for some reason you do get rid of her, get another one. You should always have at least 2 cats(if you have 1).

 

[notfred]

I beleive I'm the only person on the plenet with cats that go outside to pee.

Cat meows at door - cat goes out, cat digs hole under bush, pees, lays on the porch, eats some grass, chases a bird, meows at the door, comes back inside, etc.....

 

[ElFenix]

<< Cat meows at door - cat goes out, cat digs hole under bush, pees, lays on the porch, eats some grass, chases a bird, meows at the door, comes back inside, etc..... >>

hehehe my cat is scared of the outdoors.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

I know how frustrating this can be. Here is what i have learned from having a bad cat (currently reformed).

1) the cat may have an UTI, which causes pain during urination. The cat associates pain with cat box. The cat then pees any where BUT the cat box.

2) cat behavior is all about conditioning. Use a treat (something your cat really really likes to eat) and reward the cat every time she goes in the box. Do this over and over and over. Soon your cat will be back in the box like a normal cat.

3) ignore any and all explanations that try to account for the cats behavior with some sort of 'motivation or psychological need'. It really boils down to reinforcing good behavior. You have enough cat boxes, and keep them clean, so it will just boil down to you being able to shape the cat's behavior.

good luck.