Another odd cat behavior re litter box

This is not a problem per se, but just something I thought I'd share to
perhaps get some insight.

Up until November of last year I had two cats. My 19 year old, Murphy,
passed away right before Thanksgiving. He lived with me from kittenhood,
so we literally shared 19 years together. (Longer than my own dad was in
my life.) Anyway, 4 and a half years ago I also adopted a female kitten
(named Sassy) who is now my only cat. I noticed, over the years, an odd
behavior that she developed. She seemed to have an objection to using a
fresh litter box. I wondered, at first, if it was the litter she
objected to, but I never changed it and it was the only one I ever used:
Feline Pine or versions of that type.

When Murphy was alive, Sassy would seem to wait for Murphy to use the
box and only then would she use it. If that didn't happen, she would
literally pee or defecate in the tub or on a throw rub, which drove me
insane. Fortunately, Murphy often jumped right in the box as he was
always drinking due to his kidney deterioration. Anyway, now that Murphy
is no longer here, it's up to her to "christen" the litter box. The
other day, after I thoroughly cleaned it, replacing all the litter, I
noticed that she didn't use it all day. Nor did she use it the next
morning. So, since I live in an apt. and she is an indoor cat, I began
to look around to see if she was going somewhere else, but could find
nothing. I was really getting worried about her as she WAS eating and
drinking. Finally, I took some of the soiled litter, which I still had
in a bag ready to be put out with the trash, and threw a few scoops in
the clean box. Within the hour, she was in the box, using it.

Now, I know.

Unless I get another cat who will use the box first, I'm going to have
to keep throwing a few scoops of her soiled litter on the fresh to get
Sassy to use that box. Otherwise, I think she'll explode.

What do you make of this if anything?

Sandy
P.S. Maybe the litter is still the problem. Maybe she doesn't like those
pellets that break down into sawdust once used, but she DOES prefer the
sawdust??? One's hard'; one's soft. Maybe the pellets hurt her feet???

Sandy McDermin wrote:

When Murphy was alive, Sassy would seem to wait for Murphy to use the
box and only then would she use it. If that didn't happen, she would
literally pee or defecate in the tub or on a throw rub, which drove me
insane.

Oops. I clearly meant to type "throw rug" and not "throw rub". Sassy
definitely wouldn't go to the bathroom on the latter.

Sandy

Unless I get another cat who will use the box first, I'm going to have
to keep throwing a few scoops of her soiled litter on the fresh to get
Sassy to use that box. Otherwise, I think she'll explode.

What do you make of this if anything?

Maybe she just doesn't recognize the litterbox as the place where she is
supposed to go without some sort of marker. I would just leave a little bit
of the soiled litter in.

Have you ever tried traditional litter just to see if she would like it
better?

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG

KellyH wrote:

Unless I get another cat who will use the box first, I'm going to have
to keep throwing a few scoops of her soiled litter on the fresh to get
Sassy to use that box. Otherwise, I think she'll explode.

What do you make of this if anything?

Maybe she just doesn't recognize the litterbox as the place where she is
supposed to go without some sort of marker. I would just leave a little bit
of the soiled litter in.

Have you ever tried traditional litter just to see if she would like it
better?


You mean clay, like Tidy Cat? No I haven't and it's been something that
I've thought about. It's just that, years ago, I switched from the clay
to try Feline Pine, and I haven't looked back. I just found the latter
to be so much better in terms of controlling odors, plus you can flush
it if you want to -- not that I ever really do that. It's actually the
odor issue that comes into play, seeing as I live in an apt. and I can't
relegate the litter box to a laundry room or basement as people living
in homes might.

I absolutely hate the litter that clumps. Murphy would go to the
bathroom and would leave behind a clump so huge it was like a cement
block the mafia could use to make "shoes" for its victims. I just don't
get the clump craze.

Haven't tried the crystals (I am curious though.) And the newspaper
pellets strike me as being useless in terms of odor control.

Sandy

On 2005-01-14, Sandy McDermin penned:

I absolutely hate the litter that clumps. Murphy would go to the bathroom
and would leave behind a clump so huge it was like a cement block the mafia
could use to make "shoes" for its victims. I just don't get the clump craze.

It's easier to scoop up ... at least, seems that way to me. I like it =)

Haven't tried the crystals (I am curious though.) And the newspaper pellets
strike me as being useless in terms of odor control.

I know of at least one cat who had no potty problems till his owner switched
to crystals, at which point he'd pee elsewhere. A lot of cats object to the
extremely harsh smell the crystals have.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

Sandy McDermin wrote:
snip

Haven't tried the crystals (I am curious though.)

The crystals stink - literally.
From an old post of mine:

**paste**

I like the idea of the silica crystals. So, I'm doing a "test" to see
if it will work for me and my cats. I did an initial transition to
the crystals last week, by mixing them into my old cat litter...This
week, I switched to an entire pan of the crystals.

Data:
Litter Select brand - largish crystals, including blue
"pretty-smelling" ones.
One bag is supposed to last 40 days with two cats (one box). Cost
$6.99/bag. Seems like a good deal.

Trial:

I filled the box on 5/13. New bag, clean box, lined it with the
provided "liner" that is supposed to soak up the pee that runs to the
bottom. Poured entire bag into box.

5/14 - no problem. Working as it is supposed to. The poops were
easily removed. The pee "balls" were stirred into the rest, as
instructed. Liner has pee spots on it, but looks ok.

By 5/15, the liner was getting pretty wet.

By today, 5/16, the liner is completely soaked, and pee is running
underneath the liner and starting to stink.

I think that by tomorrow, I will have to go to the pet supply store
and buy some of my old scoopable clay brand, Precious Cat, which, to
date, is still the best thing I have found to control odor and last
long. / I'm sorely disappointed, and will call the company to
inform them of my test.

-L.