Cat Keeps Missing the Litter Box.

ObeseChess

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Alright folks, got another one for you.

Sassy has recently started doing a fun new thing where she gets about halfway into the litter box and starts peeing right off the front edge of it. She finds this upsetting as she then has to wade through pee to get out of the litter box, and I find it upsetting because it stinks and gets all over my floor.

We have lived in the same place for almost two years and this only just started over the summer. I have bought a larger, higher-sided litter box, and this solved the problem for a few months, but now she seems to regard it as a fun challenge to hang her butt right off the edge. It happens about once every other week.

I can't get her to use a top-entry litter box. At her most recent checkup last month, she was found to be perfectly healthy, so I don't believe it's related to any bladder/kidney issues or any other health issues (she is fourteen). The vet is stumped. It seems to be sort of related to how much litter is in the box - I clean the box every day and she likes to push the litter around, but I can't really get a good handle on what I'm doing wrong as she will do this both if there is lots of litter in the box or not enough, it's almost like it has to be "just right" but I don't know what that is. Nothing has changed in my lifestyle or schedule, nor hers as far as I am aware, so I don't believe there are any new sources of stress.

She only does this when she pees. Pooping, she faces the opposite direction and poops on the other side of the litter box.

Anyone ever dealt with this?
 

mrsgreenjeens

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After I scoop out the boxes, I level out the litter, and one cat is always waiting for me to finish so he can jump right in. That's his quirk.

I would say to try cleaning in the morning and before bedtime, and notice the level of the litter when she isn't peeing out side the box. Try to keep it at that level. Try using puppy pads outside the box for any "accident" to catch the urine for easy cleanup. We had to do that for our elderly sick cat when he would get one foot in the box and start peeing, thinking he was in there. I always praised him because he worked so hard just to make it that far
 
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ObeseChess

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The puppy pads are a good idea, thank you!
 

FeebysOwner

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I can't be of much help, but I do know the routine your cat uses for peeing and pooping - just barely get into the box to pee and then turn around in the box to poop on the other side. I do think that holding poop is easier than holding pee, so that might explain why the pee is the problem. She may be in great health for her age, but checking for arthritis might be something you want to do as well. The most typical way to do that is through x-rays that encompass not only her limbs but her spine as well.

I set up a step-box for my cat to get out of the litter box, and she uses it religiously, which stops her from having to exit through where she pees. The step-box is off to the side, and while she still enters at the front, she now knows to exit via the step-box on the side. You could try an additional step-box at the front entry of the litter box too.
 

GranolaLouise

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OK. So my senior has 2 boxes..high sided jumbo ones. She will not pee and poop in the same box.
Since yours is using opposite ends for pooping and peeing maybe she is trying to use the peeing end and there isn't enough space left..poop being there or not, but that end is for that function for her. Seems to me she needs more area of separation!
Have you tried getting her another box and having one for each function?
Just thought I would mention what my Louise does.
 
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ObeseChess

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No arthritis, we had her checked for that - and sometimes when we go to my mom's house to visit she can hop the seven foot fence in the garden!

I think unfortunately I may only have room in my 700 sq ft apartment for one litter box, but that's a good thought too. I'll see what I can wrangle up.
 
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