Hi everyone,
A month ago, a stray tabby cat found me and made her home with me.
She is clearly a cat that is used to humans. Very loveable and happy to stay inside. She has no desire to leave my place, asks rarely to go outside (I've stopped letting her) and despite me posting "found" notices both in my area and online, she appears to have no one looking for her. Vet checked her out and says she's about 3 years old and appears healthy overall.
She's gotten a lot plumper since being with me, and surface wounds have healed up nicely.
She has a voracious appetite, which I attribute to her homeless experience.
Here's the issue I'm trying to navigate now.
When she first came to me, I picked up clumping litter at the corner store last minute (only kind available - not my fave type of litter). At first she had no litter box problems. Then after a few days, she peed in my laundry basket (a few feet away from her box). Her box was on the full side, in that there were a few clumps of pee I should have cleared away already. She went back to peeing in her box. A day or two later I bought my preferred litter (pine pellets), and started mixing it with the clumping to adjust her to it. At first she was hesitant to pee in it, but with some coaxing she did. Come home the next day to find poop in her box and pee in the laundry basket again (gahhh... at least its somewhat contained!?!). I suspected she's one of those "clean" kitties that needs a poop box and a pee box.
About this time, I'm going away on a trip, and the boarding kennel where I kept her (lovely place!) uses pine pellets. Perfect! She'll get used to using pellets there. The kennel lady said she had no pee issues except for purposely peeing on a toy after she decided herself to "move" to a kennel she preferred better. Haha. (Side note: this kennel was awesome... there were about 4 kennels to a room, and the lady let the cats mingle together in the common area during the day if they did so peaceably.)
After a week away, we get back and I immediately get rid of all the clumping litter and fix up her box with just pine pellets. We had a day or so of being okay, and then surprise! - I find poop in the box and pee in the laundry basket again. Then poop in the box and pee on a blanket in my bedroom close by. I'm being pretty fastidious about cleaning the poop, so it's not like it's a dirty box. So yesterday, I buy a second litter box and put it in a different room and show her. It's a tinier box and in a tight corner between toilet and bathtub, but I really don't have any space for a second box, so I don't have much choice. Came home today to pee on the blanket again.
She doesn't seem to be in pain when she's peeing, and I don't think she's peeing too frequently. I suppose I could take her to the vet to check for a UTI. But I feel like it's behavioural?
Tomorrow I'm moving the second box into the hallway just to see if an easier access helps. I'm scared to remove the spot where I was keeping the blanket in case she decides she wants to search out a 3rd place to pee. She clearly likes "locations". Just not her box. Any pee that got on the carpet was treated with an enzyme cleaner.
Sorry this is so wordy. Any ideas on how I can address this concern?
A month ago, a stray tabby cat found me and made her home with me.
She is clearly a cat that is used to humans. Very loveable and happy to stay inside. She has no desire to leave my place, asks rarely to go outside (I've stopped letting her) and despite me posting "found" notices both in my area and online, she appears to have no one looking for her. Vet checked her out and says she's about 3 years old and appears healthy overall.
She's gotten a lot plumper since being with me, and surface wounds have healed up nicely.
She has a voracious appetite, which I attribute to her homeless experience.
Here's the issue I'm trying to navigate now.
When she first came to me, I picked up clumping litter at the corner store last minute (only kind available - not my fave type of litter). At first she had no litter box problems. Then after a few days, she peed in my laundry basket (a few feet away from her box). Her box was on the full side, in that there were a few clumps of pee I should have cleared away already. She went back to peeing in her box. A day or two later I bought my preferred litter (pine pellets), and started mixing it with the clumping to adjust her to it. At first she was hesitant to pee in it, but with some coaxing she did. Come home the next day to find poop in her box and pee in the laundry basket again (gahhh... at least its somewhat contained!?!). I suspected she's one of those "clean" kitties that needs a poop box and a pee box.
About this time, I'm going away on a trip, and the boarding kennel where I kept her (lovely place!) uses pine pellets. Perfect! She'll get used to using pellets there. The kennel lady said she had no pee issues except for purposely peeing on a toy after she decided herself to "move" to a kennel she preferred better. Haha. (Side note: this kennel was awesome... there were about 4 kennels to a room, and the lady let the cats mingle together in the common area during the day if they did so peaceably.)
After a week away, we get back and I immediately get rid of all the clumping litter and fix up her box with just pine pellets. We had a day or so of being okay, and then surprise! - I find poop in the box and pee in the laundry basket again. Then poop in the box and pee on a blanket in my bedroom close by. I'm being pretty fastidious about cleaning the poop, so it's not like it's a dirty box. So yesterday, I buy a second litter box and put it in a different room and show her. It's a tinier box and in a tight corner between toilet and bathtub, but I really don't have any space for a second box, so I don't have much choice. Came home today to pee on the blanket again.
She doesn't seem to be in pain when she's peeing, and I don't think she's peeing too frequently. I suppose I could take her to the vet to check for a UTI. But I feel like it's behavioural?
Tomorrow I'm moving the second box into the hallway just to see if an easier access helps. I'm scared to remove the spot where I was keeping the blanket in case she decides she wants to search out a 3rd place to pee. She clearly likes "locations". Just not her box. Any pee that got on the carpet was treated with an enzyme cleaner.
Sorry this is so wordy. Any ideas on how I can address this concern?