Is She Just Getting Old, Or It Is Something Else?

[hspot]

I am kinda getting at my wits end here. I love my cat to death, and it worries the h### out of me. Lately, the past week or so, whenever she goes pee, she just walks halfway into her box to where she can smell her litter, then she just pops a squat with her butt hanging on the edge...usually making a big mess. When she poops, she goes in the middle of the box, so no issue with pooping. She has two boxes, and I clean them both daily...sometimes twice a day. She is a 14 yo tabby calico named tabitha. I know she is getting up there in age,so is this natural that they will just 'miss' the box? I watched her do it twice in a row. I scrubbed and cleaned the area/side of the box where she peed over, so she hopefully won't smell it and go there again. I have recently changed boxes,the one she started peeing over the edge was a covered generic litter box. She is a pretty big cat, so it is a tight space in there for her. So I changed that to an open box which is much bigger. But I saw her do the same thing in that one-just walked over the edge and popped a squat half way in,making a mess outside the box. So I built a retaining wall around the area where she enters(the backside of the box is against the wall), so now she has to jump over the wall to enter the box. It has seemed to work so far, but it has only been a couple of days. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[KarenKat]

idk, but if you can solve this one you would be my hero. Our stupid (lovely, snuggly, beautiful) 10-yr tabby Trin has always walked will doing his ... business. So the poop will start in the box, and then he walks forward leaving a little trail of poop crumbs. Combine that with terrible output from recently diagnosed IBD and we have a fun time of cleaning it up. At least it makes it easy to monitor his condition.

Urine is generally fine, although once in a while he does this as well. He's a 14-lb tabby, so his frame is very large too. He's also declawed, unfortunately, although trying out different litter types seems to do nothing. We scoop fairly often, and we also have 5 litter boxes in a 3-cat house. He uses them all with equal competence.

I like the idea of there barrier. We use the Van Ness XL covered litterboxes and they work well. I tried an uncovered box but both him and another cat pee near the corners and it causes more mess. I'm thinking of trying a large storage bin for higher sides.

^ Our resident pooper

 

[1 bruce 1]

This is a long shot but we had the opposite problem (weird box missing pooper) and his spine was very much out of alignment. A few visits to a cat chiropractor and he stopped.
The vet was never sure but suggested that there might be some mild arthritis in his back. He's almost prissy about cleanliness, so he would get all the way into the box to pee but pooping outside the box didn't seem to bother him as much, and he was willing to skip whatever mild discomfort he had to poop but peeing was messier on his paws so he learned to pee in the box, poop outside.
Shot in the dark, but hey...worth a mention maybe.

 

[hspot]

Okay, so it is a common problem. There is nothing wrong with her. WHEW. My barriers I built so she has to jump over into the box work great. Try building something where they have to jump over to get in.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Okay, so it is a common problem. There is nothing wrong with her. WHEW. My barriers I built so she has to jump over into the box work great. Try building something where they have to jump over to get in.

Good idea!
If you notice she stops jumping and peeing outside the box, get to a vet though!

 

[hspot]

Yea, when I first got here at 1 month old, she developed struvite crystals and was peeing outside the box. She has been fine ever since. Thanks.

 

[hspot]

I have also noticed,since this has been going on too, she is eating a bit less and pooping less too. Age?

 

[basschick]

maybe worth taking her to the vet.

btw, when he turned around 17, HK started peeing off the edge of his box, so our poor floor was getting peed on. we dealt with it by getting an extra large dog crate tray, putting litter on it, then putting the cat box on top of it. that way, if he peed out of the box, he'd still hit the litter on the tray.

now he's going on 20, we removed the box because the tray is easier for him with no climbing over. and after he started peeing off the edge of the tray, we got a piece of vinyl flooring and put it under the tray to protect our floors. it probably looks pretty weird, but it's so much easier to clean the sheet vinyl than the hardwood floor...

 

[vyger]

maybe worth taking her to the vet.

btw, when he turned around 17, HK started peeing off the edge of his box, so our poor floor was getting peed on. we dealt with it by getting an extra large dog crate tray, putting litter on it, then putting the cat box on top of it. that way, if he peed out of the box, he'd still hit the litter on the tray.

now he's going on 20, we removed the box because the tray is easier for him with no climbing over. and after he started peeing off the edge of the tray, we got a piece of vinyl flooring and put it under the tray to protect our floors. it probably looks pretty weird, but it's so much easier to clean the sheet vinyl than the hardwood floor...

When my kids were little I had this wild idea run through my head to sink the living floor a few inches and fill it with sand. Make a giant sand box, so when I stepped on the Legos barefoot it wouldn't hurt so bad. Wouldn't have to vacuum, just rake it smooth and whatever was left over would sink to the bottom. Once a year shovel it all out and replace it with new stuff. So essentially the problem is not the cat but rather us insisting on having something other than dirt for a floor. Just think how easy it would make life. Never have to worry about dust or tracking mud. If something really nasty happens just shovel out the bad stuff and drop in some fresh garden soil. We sure have made our lives complicated.

 

[Norachan]

If she hasn't had a health check for a while I'd strongly recommend you take her for one soon. 14 is quite old for a cat. As well as weakening bladder control cats can suffer from a whole range of health issues as they get older. They can get heart problems, kidney problems, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, dementia... all the kinds of health problems people get as they age.

Take her to your vet and get a full health check and blood work done, so they can make sure all her organs are functioning as they should. If you catch any problems early on it's much easier to treat them before they develop into major issues.

 

[jen]

I agree with having her checked out. Cats do everything they can to hide their discomfort and pain so often by the time you actually notice something isn't right, it is farther advanced and could have been treated long ago.

If she hasn't has bloodwork done lately I would DEFINITELY do that. A full senior blood panel and urinalysis. Mention to the vet about this issue and see if there might be some arthritis going on also.