Litterbox help required

Cleo has not been using her box.

We thought we smelled urine in the basement in the past but could never find
it. About six weeks ago we finally discovered that she had been using a sofa
in the basement for her litterbox. We cleaned it with Nature's Miracle and
washed the seat covers, but it still smells. Covering the sofas in plastic
seemed to cure her for a while, but then she started pooping beside the
litter boxes. Although not a good thing, it's much better than whizzing on
the sofa.

About two weeks ago I thought I'd smelled urine again, but wasn't sure if it
was the sofas outgassing or a new problem. I was giving the fish their
weekly bath (water change), when I noticed Cleo going into the poop room. I
saw her checking out the one litterbox, so I thought all was well. A few
minutes later I caught her peeing on the carpet in a corner. I know where
her new spot is now!

I've read about the various reasons cats do this (texture, smell, poor
training as a kitten, UTIs, marking, etc) and some of the deterrents and
training methods. I'm pretty sure Cleo does it because of the smell of the
other cats (VERY territorial), although it's possible she associates it with
the pain from her Spay. I'm not sure deterrents for the current spot will
buy us much, as there are just too many other choices. I also did not think
much of the advise to lock her in a room with a box, until she learns to use
the box again. This seems somewhat cruel and likely ineffective, if the
other cats are the issue. She did not seem to have any problems using the
box when we had her segregated pending her medical. But of course she was
the only one using the box then.

Any bright ideas? I was considering getting Cleo her own box, using one of
those locking cat doors that use a magnetic collar. But I don't know if this
is the real issue. I guess I'll segregate her for a few days with her own
(clean) box to see how she makes out.

Every time I've had "litter box rejection" the problem turned out to
be either 1) a sick kitty who just couldn't get there in time, 2) the
kitties had suddenly decided they didn't care for that particular
brand/type of litter any longer, or 3) that I wasn't cleaning the box
frequently enough for them.

As to the first, from what you describe, that doesn't sound likely. As
to the second, if you've used the same litter for quite a while, maybe
the formulation changed? As to the third, only you would know for
sure...



Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com

How many boxes do you have for them
is she neutered
how many new cats are we talking about
How were they introduced
You have to rule out a medical problem first before any behavioral problems
can be dealt with

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...
Cleo has not been using her box.

We thought we smelled urine in the basement in the past but could never
find it. About six weeks ago we finally discovered that she had been using
a sofa in the basement for her litterbox. We cleaned it with Nature's
Miracle and washed the seat covers, but it still smells. Covering the
sofas in plastic seemed to cure her for a while, but then she started
pooping beside the litter boxes. Although not a good thing, it's much
better than whizzing on the sofa.

About two weeks ago I thought I'd smelled urine again, but wasn't sure if
it was the sofas outgassing or a new problem. I was giving the fish their
weekly bath (water change), when I noticed Cleo going into the poop room.
I saw her checking out the one litterbox, so I thought all was well. A few
minutes later I caught her peeing on the carpet in a corner. I know where
her new spot is now!

I've read about the various reasons cats do this (texture, smell, poor
training as a kitten, UTIs, marking, etc) and some of the deterrents and
training methods. I'm pretty sure Cleo does it because of the smell of the
other cats (VERY territorial), although it's possible she associates it
with the pain from her Spay. I'm not sure deterrents for the current spot
will buy us much, as there are just too many other choices. I also did not
think much of the advise to lock her in a room with a box, until she
learns to use the box again. This seems somewhat cruel and likely
ineffective, if the other cats are the issue. She did not seem to have any
problems using the box when we had her segregated pending her medical. But
of course she was the only one using the box then.

Any bright ideas? I was considering getting Cleo her own box, using one of
those locking cat doors that use a magnetic collar. But I don't know if
this is the real issue. I guess I'll segregate her for a few days with her
own (clean) box to see how she makes out.

On 2006-07-09 19:24:40 -0500, "Bill Stock" said:

Cleo has not been using her box.

We thought we smelled urine in the basement in the past but could never
find it. About six weeks ago we finally discovered that she had been
using a sofa in the basement for her litterbox. We cleaned it with
Nature's Miracle and washed the seat covers, but it still smells.
Covering the sofas in plastic seemed to cure her for a while, but then
she started pooping beside the litter boxes. Although not a good thing,
it's much better than whizzing on the sofa.

About two weeks ago I thought I'd smelled urine again, but wasn't sure
if it was the sofas outgassing or a new problem. I was giving the fish
their weekly bath (water change), when I noticed Cleo going into the
poop room. I saw her checking out the one litterbox, so I thought all
was well. A few minutes later I caught her peeing on the carpet in a
corner. I know where her new spot is now!

I've read about the various reasons cats do this (texture, smell, poor
training as a kitten, UTIs, marking, etc) and some of the deterrents
and training methods. I'm pretty sure Cleo does it because of the smell
of the other cats (VERY territorial), although it's possible she
associates it with the pain from her Spay. I'm not sure deterrents for
the current spot will buy us much, as there are just too many other
choices. I also did not think much of the advise to lock her in a room
with a box, until she learns to use the box again. This seems somewhat
cruel and likely ineffective, if the other cats are the issue. She did
not seem to have any problems using the box when we had her segregated
pending her medical. But of course she was the only one using the box
then.

Any bright ideas? I was considering getting Cleo her own box, using one
of those locking cat doors that use a magnetic collar. But I don't know
if this is the real issue. I guess I'll segregate her for a few days
with her own (clean) box to see how she makes out.

IMO, it is best to spend the money for a *complete* check up with blood
tests and urinalysis. You *have* to rule out a physical problem before
trying behavioural cures or it just won't work. Without that, you will
just be frustrated and have a frustrated cat too. I know it is
expensive, but it's more expensive to go on the feeling it is
territorial when it is not, in the long run. over 90% of the time this
is a physical issue.

On Sun, 9 Jul 2006 20:24:40 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

Cleo has not been using her box.

How many boxes and how many cats? How often do you scoop/change the
litter/scrub the box? If she's truly fastidious try clumping litter
and scoop the box as soon as you see another cat leave the box.
We're lucky and our three cats don't mind sharing one big box that's
changed once a week and ideally scooped daily, but a lot of cats
demand their own.
The only time I've ever had litterbox rejection was when we tried
giving them a covered litterbox - one of the cats hated the covered
box but the last straw was adding one of those plastic litter-catching
mats at the entrance... once that was there she refused to set paw on
it, and preferred to pee any place else in the apartment besides
there! As soon as we went back to a regular open box and took away the
mat she was happy...

"Karen AKA Kajikit" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 9 Jul 2006 20:24:40 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

Cleo has not been using her box.

How many boxes and how many cats? How often do you scoop/change the
litter/scrub the box? If she's truly fastidious try clumping litter
and scoop the box as soon as you see another cat leave the box.
We're lucky and our three cats don't mind sharing one big box that's
changed once a week and ideally scooped daily, but a lot of cats
demand their own.

We have three boxes and three cats. They get scooped every day and cleaned
about once a month. We changed to that crappy wheat/pine? flushable stuff a
while back. But I'm TOLD that Cleo's problems started before this. We did
uncover one of the boxes, they are all Omega Paw. I'm pretty sure it's the
othjer cats, more than the cleanliness. I was tempted to buy one of those
Litter Robots, but fortunately for my wallet theh don't sell them here.

Cleo will be getting her own box (with clay) and room for the next few days
to see if that solves her problem. If she behaves with her own box, that
presents a problem.Perhaps we will have to settle her to a single cat home.
Although I fear that Cleo just has a screw loose and will not ever use a
litter box on a regular basis.


The only time I've ever had litterbox rejection was when we tried
giving them a covered litterbox - one of the cats hated the covered
box but the last straw was adding one of those plastic litter-catching
mats at the entrance... once that was there she refused to set paw on
it, and preferred to pee any place else in the apartment besides
there! As soon as we went back to a regular open box and took away the
mat she was happy...

"Karen" wrote in message
news:2006070921131716807%kchuplis@alltelnet...
On 2006-07-09 19:24:40 -0500, "Bill Stock" said:

Cleo has not been using her box.

We thought we smelled urine in the basement in the past but could never
find it. About six weeks ago we finally discovered that she had been
using a sofa in the basement for her litterbox. We cleaned it with
Nature's Miracle and washed the seat covers, but it still smells.
Covering the sofas in plastic seemed to cure her for a while, but then
she started pooping beside the litter boxes. Although not a good thing,
it's much better than whizzing on the sofa.

About two weeks ago I thought I'd smelled urine again, but wasn't sure if
it was the sofas outgassing or a new problem. I was giving the fish their
weekly bath (water change), when I noticed Cleo going into the poop room.
I saw her checking out the one litterbox, so I thought all was well. A
few minutes later I caught her peeing on the carpet in a corner. I know
where her new spot is now!

I've read about the various reasons cats do this (texture, smell, poor
training as a kitten, UTIs, marking, etc) and some of the deterrents and
training methods. I'm pretty sure Cleo does it because of the smell of
the other cats (VERY territorial), although it's possible she associates
it with the pain from her Spay. I'm not sure deterrents for the current
spot will buy us much, as there are just too many other choices. I also
did not think much of the advise to lock her in a room with a box, until
she learns to use the box again. This seems somewhat cruel and likely
ineffective, if the other cats are the issue. She did not seem to have
any problems using the box when we had her segregated pending her
medical. But of course she was the only one using the box then.

Any bright ideas? I was considering getting Cleo her own box, using one
of those locking cat doors that use a magnetic collar. But I don't know
if this is the real issue. I guess I'll segregate her for a few days with
her own (clean) box to see how she makes out.

IMO, it is best to spend the money for a *complete* check up with blood
tests and urinalysis. You *have* to rule out a physical problem before
trying behavioural cures or it just won't work. Without that, you will
just be frustrated and have a frustrated cat too. I know it is expensive,
but it's more expensive to go on the feeling it is territorial when it is
not, in the long run. over 90% of the time this is a physical issue.


Thanks Karen,

I may take her in for her checkup ahead of schedule, depending on what her
isolation reveals. I should know by tomorrow morning.

How many boxes and how many cats?
How often do you scoop/change the litter/scrub the box?

We have two cats and two litter boxes.
The litter boxes are plaster mixing tubs from Home Depot.
They each hold 20 lbs. of clumping litter at 3 inch depth when they are
first filled. The volume diminishes as the clumps are removed and lasts
about three weeks at which time I wash them out and spray them inside
with cooking spray (PAM). This keeps the clumps from sticking on the
bottom.

I clean them first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and
several times during the day if I see they have been used. I use
PerSmart's brand of non-scented clumping litter which comes in 40 lb
boxes. Even after a couple of weeks use when it gets down pretty thin
in the tray, I have never had an odor problem. Even if I put my nose
down close, I don't notice anything.

Of course that might be just me. My house might really stink and
visitors too polite to say anything.

With three cats, you should have four (uncovered) litter boxes in varied
locations.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
With three cats, you should have four (uncovered) litter boxes in varied
locations.

Yes, I've read about N+1. But I doubt it would help, as Smokeky likes to
make a point of marking all the boxes.

Cleo was segregated last night and did poop in the box, but appears to have
peed beside the box. So maybe she had a painful experience in the past that
we don't know about. She goes to the vet later in the week for a checkup, so
we'll see. It looks like a separate box for her would be best, but I'm not
sure how to work that. The other two are afraid of tin foil and Cleo is not,
so perhaps a separate box surrounded by tin foil.