I can't Misty is 14 years old. About a year ago she started urinating outside her box, but she also uses her box as well. It's odd because I've tried other litters and she still prefers the one I use, and she doesn't urinate outside of it all the time and we keep it clean. Plus another thing she does is she gets out of the box, and then she scratches on the ground around the box like she's trying to cover her waste, but she's no longer in the box. Has anyone else heard of this? Also she's been checked out by the vet and all is fine so he is recommending amitriptyline. Anyone have success with it? Thank you!!
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- Thread starter vegasq
- Start Date
Can you pinpoint any changes that occurred around that time? Is there any chance that something is stressing her out? Any strange animals in the yard?
When my cats started to grow into adults they started to scratch the carpet outside the box, a behaviourist or vet wrote somewhere that they did this when the box was too small for a cat. I bought much larger boxes and they stopped doing it. Could you try a larger box with lower sides? It may be easier to get in to if she has a touch of arthritis.
Some forum members have had success with cat attract, you can buy it mixed in litter or in a jar and mix it into your own clumping clay litter.
When my cats started to grow into adults they started to scratch the carpet outside the box, a behaviourist or vet wrote somewhere that they did this when the box was too small for a cat. I bought much larger boxes and they stopped doing it. Could you try a larger box with lower sides? It may be easier to get in to if she has a touch of arthritis.
Some forum members have had success with cat attract, you can buy it mixed in litter or in a jar and mix it into your own clumping clay litter.
I agree with the above, there is something about the box, or the litter she doesn't care for. She may have arthritis now and trouble getting into the box, try a bigger, lower one. I don't see it as a memory or behavioral problem because she is trying to go near the box. If she is going away from the box, then yes there is a change she doesn't care for, like a new neighborhood cat, new neighbor, or some kind of change. Because of her age, she may not be able to make it to the box. You might want to get her another box on the far side of the house. Scratching outside the box sounds like she doesn't like the feel of the litter, or it may just be comforting for her to do this, I have several cats that 'air scratch'. Good luck and keep us posted!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #4
Thank you for your replies. It's not that she's not using the box at all. She uses it. I put six other low boxes around the area where she's urinating, with different letter in each one. She actually uses the lower ones and the high one with the same litter that she's always had so it must not be the litter. Plus she still using her old box. See attached picture. She's using the boxes and she's being on the floor. I have feliway plugged in, same behavior. See the photo uploaded here. See the big P Mark by the lighter colored lit
ter. And it's not a little amount it's a big amount so I do think it's behavioral.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
You need to scrub the carpet with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. If she has been peeing in the same spot over and over, the smell of urine will attract her to pee on top of it. Cats can smell pee even when we can't. If her pee has seeped through the carpet and into the floor boards over time, you may have to lift your carpet....
I've known several humans who have had success with amitriptyline. At different doses it produces a profoundly different effect. It sounds as though it might be a reasonable choice for cat behavioural problems related to anxiety.
However, we have in no way exhausted all the possibilities of why she's peeing. And we haven't even begun to advise you on methods to trial. So, I'd wait off for a bit on the amitriptyline, as it's a seriously heavy duty drug.
I expect the cat peeing outside the box experts will figure something out.
But first of all, scrub that carpet, lift it, you might even have to throw it away. Put litter trays on lino, tiles, laminate, something that pee won't seep into and that can be easily cleaned. Put a plastic sheet or plastic tablecloth down in the meantime (after the thorough clean!) whilst you decide what to do about the carpet.
However, we have in no way exhausted all the possibilities of why she's peeing. And we haven't even begun to advise you on methods to trial. So, I'd wait off for a bit on the amitriptyline, as it's a seriously heavy duty drug.
I expect the cat peeing outside the box experts will figure something out.
But first of all, scrub that carpet, lift it, you might even have to throw it away. Put litter trays on lino, tiles, laminate, something that pee won't seep into and that can be easily cleaned. Put a plastic sheet or plastic tablecloth down in the meantime (after the thorough clean!) whilst you decide what to do about the carpet.
Especially as she's declawed, I really would be looking at this as a pain issue. Arthritis and pain in the paws is very common in declawed cats, and at 14, arthritis is even more likely.
As she's happy with her original litter, I'd probably remove the other litter choices. If she's ignoring them, there's not a lot of point in leaving them out. I would, however, find the softest litters possible (maybe a paper litter like Yesterday's News. Swheat Scoop is meant to be very soft too) and try those out. Try lining a box with puppy pee pads too. If she's preferring to pee on the floor she might find that a good alternative. You can get purpose made trays for pee pads too, which might be worth looking into. Unlike litterboxes, they're almost flat, so would be really easy for her to access too.
Another thought - have you seen Misty pee outside the box, or have you just found the puddles? One of my old boys would go into the box to pee, but would somehow managed to miss and pee outside it...and that was with a covered box! Very ingenious, but equally frustrating for us. We dealt with it by always having a pee pad in front of the box to catch it.
The scratching/'covering' actions in front of the box could be another pain indicator - she still wants to cover her waste, but scratching in the litter may simply be too painful. Having said that, my girl is appalling at covering, and will scratch everywhere BUT the box, and always has She's young and has all her claws - she just has VERY bad aim :lol3:
Go back to your vet and ask specifically about arthritis or pain in her legs and paws (or maybe even seek a second opinion). I'd want to be 100% certain that pain wasn't the issue before moving on to anti anxiety medication like amitriptyline.[article="32366"][/article][article="33610"][/article][article="32341"][/article][article="30323"][/article][article="31290"][/article][article="33457"][/article]
As she's happy with her original litter, I'd probably remove the other litter choices. If she's ignoring them, there's not a lot of point in leaving them out. I would, however, find the softest litters possible (maybe a paper litter like Yesterday's News. Swheat Scoop is meant to be very soft too) and try those out. Try lining a box with puppy pee pads too. If she's preferring to pee on the floor she might find that a good alternative. You can get purpose made trays for pee pads too, which might be worth looking into. Unlike litterboxes, they're almost flat, so would be really easy for her to access too.
Another thought - have you seen Misty pee outside the box, or have you just found the puddles? One of my old boys would go into the box to pee, but would somehow managed to miss and pee outside it...and that was with a covered box!
Very ingenious, but equally frustrating for us. We dealt with it by always having a pee pad in front of the box to catch it.The scratching/'covering' actions in front of the box could be another pain indicator - she still wants to cover her waste, but scratching in the litter may simply be too painful. Having said that, my girl is appalling at covering, and will scratch everywhere BUT the box, and always has
She's young and has all her claws - she just has VERY bad aim :lol3: Go back to your vet and ask specifically about arthritis or pain in her legs and paws (or maybe even seek a second opinion). I'd want to be 100% certain that pain wasn't the issue before moving on to anti anxiety medication like amitriptyline.[article="32366"][/article][article="33610"][/article][article="32341"][/article][article="30323"][/article][article="31290"][/article][article="33457"][/article]
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I have a few litter boxes because I have 4 cats in my home. Now my kitty Stormy will scratch the sides of the litter box and the outside of the box. It's really confused me because she isn't covering anything doing that. I think she just doesn't quite understand. Another thing, regarding all of my cats. They have a specific box they use according to what they're doing. They use one to just urinate and the other for poo. Ì kinda thought this was interesting. One suggestion that has helped all my cats is maybe get a couple XXLARGE cat pans. My cats hated their old ones, so we bought bigger because most of them are big kitties. It has really helped their bathroom habits.
I don't know about medical stuff with cats so I'm not much help there. Sorry. All I do know is as they get older they can get arthritis and such. Watch for if your kitty is in pain or distress. They usually don't hide it.
I don't know about medical stuff with cats so I'm not much help there. Sorry. All I do know is as they get older they can get arthritis and such. Watch for if your kitty is in pain or distress. They usually don't hide it.
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