Not always using the sandbox.

[TonyPony]

We had two Siamese(Luke-male, Lydia - female) which we adopted about 11 years ago. However the female recently passed away due to complications from diabetes. Around the time of 8yo, our female developed diabetes and would occasionally come down with a UTI. Due to this she would urinate in a specific place outside the litter box, so to save our carpet we would place puppy pads down just in case. Over this last year she started urinating in a new location(Once again due to another UTI). We finally had a urine culture done and the vet placed her on a 21 day regimen of doxycycline. About a week after finishing her regimen she developed kidney failure and passed away about a week later.

About a month before she passed away, she found a new place to urinate and so we placed puppy pads down in an attempt to save our carpet in this area. Unfortunately, shortly after, her big brother decided he was also gonna use the puppy pads which we laid out.

I regularly clean out the sandboxes and I've noticed that Luke still uses the sandboxes to urinate and have a bowel movement in. So I am wondering if this is just a new learned behavior, or is there something else at work here? The vet said he could possibly be arthritic and doesn't feel like traversing the stairs to where the sandboxes are. And she did give me some Gabapentin to give him occasionally. But he has no problem traversing the stairs to the same floor the sandboxes are on when he's hungry for some treats(at this point the sandbox is only 6ft away). Or is it time to get rid of the old sandboxes cause they may still have her scent on them? Anybody have any ideas or some insight?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi and welcome to TCS! So sorry that Lydia is no longer with you and Luke. Cats do mourn the loss of long time companions, so take that into consideration too.

Aside from that, it sounds like you have had Luke checked out by your vet and there are no urinary issues for him?

Does Luke pee in the same area(s) outside the litter box that Lydia did? Have you thoroughly cleaned those spots (beneath the pee pads) to ensure the smell of urine has been eradicated?

I would also give Luke at least one litter box on each level of your home, and not make him traverse downstairs. There is a bit of a different motivator between being hungry and having to pee, so he might be more willing to deal with those steps to get his food and a little less driven when he has to pee.

Since Luke does use those litter boxes, I don't think replacing them because there might be some of Lydia's scent left is really the issue - otherwise he probably wouldn't use them at all.