Cat Urinating Outside Litter Box

You guys are going to think I'm a big meanie, but I've got a problem with my
1.5 year-old cat and if it doesn't stop I will have to remove him from my
home.

Three weeks ago I had my roof repaired. The banging was loud and
reverberated throughout the house. My male tabby cat went totally schizo.
It took forever for me to find him, scared as could be hiding in the
furthest corner of the house. I tried everything to soothe him. He
remained scared for several days after the contractors left and he quit
using his litter box.

I have tried to retrain him, and oddly enough he will defacate in the litter
box 80% of the time, but 100% of the time he urinates on the carpet. He
doesn't care where. He still hides in corners and under beds on occasion
and I pick him up and pet him and he is OK for a while.

The roofing thing totally screwed him up. If I had known it would scare him
so much I would have made arrangements to keep him somewhere else. But that
opportunity is gone. Is there any way to retrain a cat to use a litter box,
or am I stuck? I now clean the litter box daily to ensure that the box
itself is not an issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I hate to have to get rid of this little
guy, but I can't have him doing this to my home.

G

Is there any way to retrain a cat to use a
litter box, or am I stuck? I now clean the
litter box daily to ensure that the box itself
is not an issue.

Your cat was clearly frightened and it's quite possible that a loud
noise happened while he was urinating and made him associate the box
with the scare he got.
It is not uncommon for construction in the home and the upheaval it
causes to stress cats and cause litterbox issues. Don't worry, though,
as this can be resolved if you are willing to be patient and
understanding. It's not your cat's fault this happened.

Definitely add a second litterbox in another, quiet location away from
where the first one is and make sure to scoop twice a day always. Also
get a couple of Feliway diffusers and put them near the areas where the
litterboxes are. A good place to order them is he
http://store.yahoo.com/pet-guys/-039079027910.html

Feliway has a calming effect and you want your cat to associate those
areas with a calm feeling. If he has any out of the box accidents don't
yell or get angry as it will only stress him out more. Hopefully the
Feliway and adding a second box that he doesn't associate with trauma
will be enough to turn him around, but if it doesn't the next step would
be to confine him to one small room with both boxes and keep him there
until he is using them consistently. Make sure during that time to spend
time with him and give him lots of love and attention.

Once he is using the boxes consistently you can then start slowly
allowing him out into the rest of the house for short periods of time,
supervised, to see how he does, gradually allowing him more and more
freeedom. Over time he should be able to have free run of the house
again. Don't give up on this little guy. He's been traumatized and that
is the reason for his behavior.

Megan



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"GES" wrote:

....
I tried everything to soothe him. He
remained scared for several days after the contractors left and he
quit using his litter box.
I have tried to retrain him, and oddly enough he will defacate in
the litter box 80% of the time, but 100% of the time he urinates
on the carpet. He doesn't care where.
Is there any way to retrain a cat to use a litter box,

I've never had to train a cat to use the litter box.

You definitely can cause problems by making the experience around
the box uncomfortable.

Cats don't respond very well to force. Sometimes it works but then
sometimes it produces side effects.

I now clean the litter box daily to ensure that the box
itself is not an issue.

Regardless, maybe it is an issue.

For two cats, I empty the litter box several times during the day. A
vinyl carpet protector is underneath the litter box and it gets
cleaned from time to time using a spray cleaner and paper towels, as
do the sides of the box.

A dirty litter box area is the most common problem which causes
going outside of the box.

Good luck.

"Brandy Alexandre" wrote in message
Failing that, a trip to the vet could be in order. He might have a
problem unrelated to the construction that just came up at the same
time, or he has truly been traumatized. There is kitty Prozac that
might help him. Getting rid of him I hope is your very last resort.

This story has a sad ending. The cat seemed to have recovered from the
construction episode, and he resumed his normal eating and litter habits.
He seemed perfectly fine. Then last week I had a contractor in to fix the
screen on my back patio. Before the contractor got here I took the cat and
placed him in my master bathroom, which is very large and I provided him
with all of the comforts. Everything was fine until the contractor turned
on his boom box. It was country music and barely audible inside the house.

I went in to check on the cat and he was crouched in a corner and he was
growling like a tiger and his hair was standing on ends. I reached down to
pat him and he swiped his paw at me and scratched my left wrist, leaving a
big gash. After the contractor left I let the cat roam about wherever he
wished. On Wednesday he would not eat. He began to eat again on Thursday
and seemed more relaxed but was otherwise very docile. I woke up Friday
morning and found him on his side with his eyes open and completely limp.
He was dead.

He had used the litter box twice overnight. This doesn't make sense to me.
The little guy was abandoned during Hurricane Charley here in Orlando and
the two subsequent hurricanes that hit later all caused him great
discomfort. The cat was treated very well by all in my family, and he was a
very loving and friendly cat to everyone except contractors for some reason.
I guess the stress did him in.

I see all of these cats in my neighborhood that do nothing but live outside
and roam all about the neighborhood, and they live long lives. This cat
just couldn't handle any kind of disruption.

Anyway, rest easy Groucho the Cat. The world is a might bit lonely right
now without you.

G

"GES" wrote in message
m...
"Brandy Alexandre" wrote in message
Failing that, a trip to the vet could be in order. He might have a
problem unrelated to the construction that just came up at the same
time, or he has truly been traumatized. There is kitty Prozac that
might help him. Getting rid of him I hope is your very last resort.

This story has a sad ending. [...]
I see all of these cats in my neighborhood that do nothing but live
outside and roam all about the neighborhood, and they live long lives.
This cat just couldn't handle any kind of disruption.

Anyway, rest easy Groucho the Cat. The world is a might bit lonely right
now without you.


I wonder if he had a blockage. Did you take him to the vet?

On 2005-10-22 19:08:33 -0500, "GES" said:

"Brandy Alexandre" wrote in message
Failing that, a trip to the vet could be in order. He might have a
problem unrelated to the construction that just came up at the same
time, or he has truly been traumatized. There is kitty Prozac that
might help him. Getting rid of him I hope is your very last resort.

This story has a sad ending. The cat seemed to have recovered from the
construction episode, and he resumed his normal eating and litter
habits. He seemed perfectly fine. Then last week I had a contractor in
to fix the screen on my back patio. Before the contractor got here I
took the cat and placed him in my master bathroom, which is very large
and I provided him with all of the comforts. Everything was fine until
the contractor turned on his boom box. It was country music and barely
audible inside the house.

I went in to check on the cat and he was crouched in a corner and he
was growling like a tiger and his hair was standing on ends. I reached
down to pat him and he swiped his paw at me and scratched my left
wrist, leaving a big gash. After the contractor left I let the cat
roam about wherever he wished. On Wednesday he would not eat. He
began to eat again on Thursday and seemed more relaxed but was
otherwise very docile. I woke up Friday morning and found him on his
side with his eyes open and completely limp. He was dead.

He had used the litter box twice overnight. This doesn't make sense to
me. The little guy was abandoned during Hurricane Charley here in
Orlando and the two subsequent hurricanes that hit later all caused him
great discomfort. The cat was treated very well by all in my family,
and he was a very loving and friendly cat to everyone except
contractors for some reason. I guess the stress did him in.

I see all of these cats in my neighborhood that do nothing but live
outside and roam all about the neighborhood, and they live long lives.
This cat just couldn't handle any kind of disruption.

Anyway, rest easy Groucho the Cat. The world is a might bit lonely
right now without you.

G

That is very sad. He may have had a heart condition and with each
stressor things just got worse. That is truly sad.