Cat won't use litter box after a year of trying everything, don't want to give her away

[kjoregon]

Last summer we rescued a beautiful, loving (5-7 year old female) cat that was left at a kill shelter. Our previous cat of 18 years (male) had passed away 3 months earlier.  We have another 12 year old cat (female) living in our home.  Both are indoor cats only and have to be becasue we live in NYC.

Immediately after adopting Chloe she began urninating on the beds and couches.  She uses the litter box too, but anytime we leave for work, or even leave the room she will pee on the furniture.

We have been covering all of our furniture with plastic for the past year as we try what seems to be everything to get her to use the litter box. Here is an abbreviated list of what we have tried so far:

• Vet - to test for any and all reasons for not using the litter box
• Prozac - she was on it for 4 months with no change so she is no longer on it
• Pheromones (plug ins all around the apt)
• Multiple littler boxes (still have them all set up)
• Different types of litter boxes
• Different types of litter
• Cleaning litter boxes daily
• Cat Attract litter
• Dumb Cat/AntiScent stuff Cat Away and numerous other detractants
• Fed her on couches/beds where she peed (after thoroughly cleaning with enzym treatments etc)
• Playing with her and leaving toys she likes to play with on the spots where she was peeing
• Giving treats every time she uses the litter box
• Covering all furniture with plastic (she will pee on the plastic, and even pees in the bed when we are sleeping)

Over the course of the year we have discovered she has allergies and is on a Dr. perscribed daily dose of Zyrtec, she is also allergic to all chicken products so has a very particular diet. Allof which is completely manageable.

We recently moved to a new home and literally got rid of all of our furniture when we moved because it was completely destroyed by cut urine (she will pee on it if you are out of the room for just 5 minutes).  We were hoping that maybe it was because the older male cat had a scent on the couch or our beds that she didnt' like and maybe a "fresh start" would be good for her.

We slowly introduced her to the new home with all of her toys and cat tower and litter boxes.  And for the first week she was great and used just the litter boxes (but we didn't have beds or furniture and were sleeping on an aerobed until our new furniture arrived - that we could put away during hte day so she couldn't pee on it).

But not even 2 hours after our new furniture arrived did she pee on the bed.  We quickly cleaned it up and stripped the bed and put on new sheets and used enzyme treatment - that night she peed in the bed while we were sleeping in it.

We are now back to covering everything with plastic - which is a HUGE effort to do everytime you leave/enter a room, and has caused us to stop entertainng b/c we can't have people over and keep taking plastic on and off the furniture when we leave/enter rooms.

I am a true believer that if you adopt a cat you should do everything to make it work.  Adopting an animal takes commitment and you need to do EVERYTHING in your power to make it work.  I think we have done that - she has literally cost us thousands of dollars in furniture. Now she is destroying my new home.  I love her to death and she sleeps on my lap every day when I get home from work, we play ... a lot, I love everything about her - but I literally can't afford to have her destroy my new home.  I don't want to give her back but I am at the end of my rope - the only other possible solution I can think of is literally crating her in a large dog crate with a litter box, food/water when we are at work and when we have company -- but I still don't want to be held hostage to plastic tarps on my furniture.

We just made an appt to meet with a cat behaviorist as a last resort - We really need help, because I can't imagine getting rid of her, but I can't imagine this going on for another month let alone another 10+ years. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do.  Yes we clean the litter boxes daily, we scub them with bleach - we even tried just buying new litter boxes 1/mo. Nothing is working...

 

[Ms. Freya]

First off, thank you for clearly putting in such an effort at helping your girl.

I don't have much advice that you haven't already tried, but would you consider confining her to a smaller area of the house when you're not available to watch her and make sure she doesn't pee on anything? It' just a stop-gap but maybe something you could do at night...also, and this may sound odd, but is she peeing or spraying? The end result is the same, but spraying would be a territorial issue, instead of a litter box issue, and it would be helpful to your cat behaviorist to know which.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/spraying-when-your-cat-uses-urine-to-mark-territory

I know we have a few members here who've dealt with chronic peeing issues, so hopefully they'll be along shortly to offer some better advice.

 

[callista]

Are you in an area where you could build her an outdoor enclosure? You'd have to have a yard, of course; and you'd have to be living in a place where she couldn't be hurt by heat or cold if you left her outside when you couldn't supervise her indoors. I've never built one but I know that there are some people here who have done so for ferals or exotic cats, or just cats who liked the outdoors. They are enclosed on all sides--top and sides, and fencing buried down into the ground, so that the cat can't get out and no other animals can get in--and of course you'd need an outdoor shelter for her to use, for if it started raining, or to get out of the sun, while you weren't there to let her back in. If it were me building a thing like that, I'd put the human patio furniture there too, so you can hang out with the cat when you're outside.

It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than having to put her in a crate when you can't constantly watch her. Maybe she'd even start scratching in the dirt instead of using the furniture.

 

[lgflorida]

Dear kjoregon: I found your post when doing a Google search and felt such sympathy, since we are enduring the same litter box troubles with our cat. Can you tell me what you eventually decided to do? We have done Prozac/two litter boxes/Cat Attract litter, etc., etc., and nothing seems to be working. We are at the end of our rope. It would be so helpful to hear from someone who has been through this. Thanks!

 

[kc1013]

Have you tried pinning the cat up in a small room such as the bathroom with his litter box? 

 

[orientalslave]

They said they would consult a behaviourist, and that might be sound advice for you as well.

 

[tammyp]

My best wishes to you - you really are doing everything you can!

While you investigate the behaviourist route, one thing we recently discovered are water-proof mattress protectors.  They make various sized fitted mattress protectors, and also pillow-slip protectors.  I'm sure you could fashion a couch cover out of this material, and that would stop the constant on/off with plastic, as it would be something you'd happily sit on and sewn right, attractive.  (Might be worth writing to the makers first to check about whether you can clean them with a urine enzyme cleaner tho, or maybe you wouldn't need to do this type of wash with this type of material).  I was impressed with the fabric - it is not crinkly and plasticky.  In fact, we have a bamboo variety, and they are beautifully soft...technology has certainly advanced!

Also, have you tried plain old sand/soil in the litter box?  Just thinking that maybe in extreme cases, the cat needs the real thing?

I truely wish you well.

 

[orientalslave]

Should add to make sure any behaviourist you consult is properly qualified.  I have no idea what the US professional body is, but Google will find it (or maybe them) for you.  You might also need your vet to refer you and send over a copy of your cat's notes.

 

[AlPacino]

Last summer we rescued a beautiful, loving (5-7 year old female) cat that was left at a kill shelter. Our previous cat of 18 years (male) had passed away 3 months earlier. We have another 12 year old cat (female) living in our home. Both are indoor cats only and have to be becasue we live in NYC.

Immediately after adopting Chloe she began urninating on the beds and couches. She uses the litter box too, but anytime we leave for work, or even leave the room she will pee on the furniture.

We have been covering all of our furniture with plastic for the past year as we try what seems to be everything to get her to use the litter box. Here is an abbreviated list of what we have tried so far:

• Vet - to test for any and all reasons for not using the litter box
• Prozac - she was on it for 4 months with no change so she is no longer on it
• Pheromones (plug ins all around the apt)
• Multiple littler boxes (still have them all set up)
• Different types of litter boxes
• Different types of litter
• Cleaning litter boxes daily
• Cat Attract litter
• Dumb Cat/AntiScent stuff Cat Away and numerous other detractants
• Fed her on couches/beds where she peed (after thoroughly cleaning with enzym treatments etc)
• Playing with her and leaving toys she likes to play with on the spots where she was peeing
• Giving treats every time she uses the litter box
• Covering all furniture with plastic (she will pee on the plastic, and even pees in the bed when we are sleeping)

Over the course of the year we have discovered she has allergies and is on a Dr. perscribed daily dose of Zyrtec, she is also allergic to all chicken products so has a very particular diet. Allof which is completely manageable.

We recently moved to a new home and literally got rid of all of our furniture when we moved because it was completely destroyed by cut urine (she will pee on it if you are out of the room for just 5 minutes). We were hoping that maybe it was because the older male cat had a scent on the couch or our beds that she didnt' like and maybe a "fresh start" would be good for her.

We slowly introduced her to the new home with all of her toys and cat tower and litter boxes. And for the first week she was great and used just the litter boxes (but we didn't have beds or furniture and were sleeping on an aerobed until our new furniture arrived - that we could put away during hte day so she couldn't pee on it).

But not even 2 hours after our new furniture arrived did she pee on the bed. We quickly cleaned it up and stripped the bed and put on new sheets and used enzyme treatment - that night she peed in the bed while we were sleeping in it.

We are now back to covering everything with plastic - which is a HUGE effort to do everytime you leave/enter a room, and has caused us to stop entertainng b/c we can't have people over and keep taking plastic on and off the furniture when we leave/enter rooms.

I am a true believer that if you adopt a cat you should do everything to make it work. Adopting an animal takes commitment and you need to do EVERYTHING in your power to make it work. I think we have done that - she has literally cost us thousands of dollars in furniture. Now she is destroying my new home. I love her to death and she sleeps on my lap every day when I get home from work, we play ... a lot, I love everything about her - but I literally can't afford to have her destroy my new home. I don't want to give her back but I am at the end of my rope - the only other possible solution I can think of is literally crating her in a large dog crate with a litter box, food/water when we are at work and when we have company -- but I still don't want to be held hostage to plastic tarps on my furniture.

We just made an appt to meet with a cat behaviorist as a last resort - We really need help, because I can't imagine getting rid of her, but I can't imagine this going on for another month let alone another 10+ years. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do. Yes we clean the litter boxes daily, we scub them with bleach - we even tried just buying new litter boxes 1/mo. Nothing is working...

Hi I know this is an old post but I found it while looking for help as we are living the same situation right now. What happened after this thread/since?

 

[Kippenberg]

I would also like to know how it was handled.

I have a similar problem, but it is much milder. My cat was also adopted. He started out by using the bathroom corners and the tub for his urinating. At first, it seemed he was spraying, but he continued to do it. We put down paper towels in the corners to make it easier to clean up. Then we closed the bathroom door and he moved to the closet we set up as his area - litter box, food, etc. He still would poop in the box but pee on the floor - all over the floor. He particularly seemed to like spraying the door. We later got a new dog who like to eat the cat food, so it was moved into the kitchen and we rearranged the cat room. He still won't use the box for peeing, but he down to only a couple spots that we use the paper towels for. So, we've had an improvement, but I still don't understand why he doesn't use the litter box for all his activity. He's been with us for about a year and a half, so it shouldn't be from the change in living arrangements, and we have a very quiet household with very little disruption.

 

[betsygee]

MOD NOTE: As has been noted, this is a pretty old thread and the OP has not been back for several years. A AlPacino and K Kippenberg , please feel free to start your own threads on this topic if you don't get responses here. Welcome to TCS.