Peeing outside of box question..

[peeka73]

Hello all,

I've written previously to ask for help on my cats health and food issues. Thanks so much for everyone's help!

Here are some of the threads.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=232199
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=232265
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=233024

It's been a month since I last took my cats to the vet, and it seemed after all the med treatments, food changes, and about 1/2 a month back of adding a sterilite bin litterbox, things were going well. No one has been going outside the box. They love the new sterilite bin box SO much that they've pretty much use it exclusively, and occasionally would use the other boxes. Mostly, the other 2 regular litterboxes are left unused.

Early this evening, while Tripper is in the sterilite bin litterbox, Putz walked up, sniffed and then wandered away. And then promptly pee'd right by where the cats had pee'd previously.

She's been good for all this time, this is totally out of the blue. So.. here are the questions..

1) Could it be a simple case of another cat in the box, so she just pee'd outside the box?

2) Could her UTI issues are back, and if so, this soon? She's on a canned food diet with lots of water added to the food.


I promptly cut up another sterilite container and have placed it in the adjacent room. So I'm going to see if that will help alleviate the 1 favored box in the house situation. I'll change the upstairs box to another sterilite container over the weekend as well.

Tripper is on Purina UR canned food now. The vet didn't think the regular Purina for Urinary control was working, and prescribed him medicated food. Should I give some to Putz or just observe Putz for now, and see if the additional sterilite container will make all the difference?

All 3 cats are on canned food diets now. I've been feeding them canned Wellness Turkey grain-free, canned BG Turkey, Purina Urinary control canned, and canned Purina UR for Tripper. Someone commented that Wellness canned can cause UTI in cats, but does anyone know what is a good replacement for Wellness canned grain-free? I haven't heard too much about BG canned foods. Luckily all my cats are pigs in disguise, so they eat anything. Any suggestions?

I'm just not sure if this is just a crowded litterbox issue or oh crap, UTI again. Does anyone have cats that would pee outside the box if another cat is in the box?

Thoughts?

 

[howtoholdacat]

The answer to both of your questions is yes. I would wait, watch and see what happens. I was going to suggest adding another litter box of the kind they like but if I read your post correctly, you've already done that. If she doesn't pee outside of the box again, chances are good that she saw her preferred potty was full so she went for option two. If you see any other accidents or signs of UTI it could be time to go back to the vet. Sometimes, it's a matter of finding the right brand to suit the cat. It took me 3 foods before we found something that worked well for Seti.

 

[peeka73]

howtoholdacat: So far, Putz is using the box, no accidents since yesterday, so I'm assuming it's related to another cat in the box issue. Yep, I have 2 sterilite containers on the same floor now, one on each side of the house. Hopefully it will help. She doesn't have any of the UTI-related symptoms so I'm going to just keep an eye on things. If no additional pee outside the box by next week, then I'm going to assume it's just litterbox favoring issues.

Thanks for your response.

 

[howtoholdacat]

Absolutely. I'm glad to hear that it probably isn't a medical problem. Sounds like you know your cats really well.