My cat won't use her litter tray no more

yellowbrickroad

Hello everyone

I hope someone can help me, a few months ago I got my 14 year old cat a littler tray, she slowly started to use it, and was doing great, until I ran went to buy the same litter stuff for it but the shop hadn't got the one i was using before, so i thought it be no harm getting another brand, my cat wouldn't use the litter tray after this, so i went back and found the one i was using at the start, but now she just won't go back and use it, i didn't clean the litter tray just changed the litter stuff in it, i was afraid if her scent went off it she wouldn't use it, but do you think she won't go into it because it smells bad, i don't think it smells that bad, but is it like a human using a toilet thats smells terrible, we wouldn't want to use it? I 'm just confused, I thought i got by the hard bit by getting her to use it in the first place! can someone help?
thank you

tormented

Hey there, I've think you've just answered your own question-humans wouldn't use a loo that smells so animals won't either! I would advise weekly giving the tray a wash in warm water with a little washing up liquid then refilling it with clean litter I think this will make a difference. Cats are clean creatures but like us humans if the toilet is whiffy they'll go elsewhere to do their business!

star-pants

Cats can be fickle creatures, I too would prefer a clean place to go to the toilet.
Try cleaning the litter tray and putting in the kitty litter she liked.

Is this the first time ever she's used a litter tray? (just that you say she's 14)

w@ll3gurl

i'd say its the cleanliness issue, cats are very fussy. wash trays out every day would be my advice.
as other post-er said, i wouldn't want to use a dirty toilet either...;)

The Sweeper

The trick to litter trays is to make your life easy and your cat's life comfortable. Through trial and error (and no small expenditure) I've discovered the following:

1. The bigger the tray, the better. Standard supermarket litter trays - the little open top ones with low sides and a 10cm wall height - are useless. The cat kicks the litter out of the tray, and they don't position themselves over the centre of it, so you'll often have poo outside the tray and litter scattered all over the floor around it.
2. The more trays the better - at least one per cat, and preferably one per cat and one extra.
3. Recycled paper product litters are just the best if you have a large number of cats. They are low-dust, low-weight, excellent absorbancy for urine and can be disposed of through composting or mulching on the garden instead of having to put them in the bin. They also don't track as much as granulated litters.
4. The best way to combat odours is to pick the poo out and change the litters more often. No amount of perfumed cat litter will do the same job as just getting rid of what's making the smell.
5. Deep litter is your friend. With paper litter, if you can fill a tray with litter to a depth of at least 10cms, you'll find the urine flows through and solidifies the lower layers, while the top layers stay dry for scratching about in.
6. Covered trays can be excellent - especially if you can't poo pick the litter every day. It's better if you can, but if you can't, a covered tray with a charcoal filter in the lid will reduce the 'presence' of the dirty litter.
7. The most important aspect of cat litter cleanliness is round FCoV - the Feline Coronavirus. FCoV is highly contagious and infects virtually every cat that comes in contact with it. FCoV has a number of possible effects, including enteritis or even no obvious symptoms - but it can also mutate into FIP, feline infectious peritonitis, and that is always fatal. The Coronavirus is shed in cat faeces, and the environment of a litter tray creates conditions in which FCoV can survive for longer than it would when a cat defecates outside and buries their poo. It's possibly not relevant to the OP, who has one cat using one tray, but it's something to keep in mind for anyone with colonies, especially where some or all of the cats go outside.

yellowbrickroad

Thanks Everyone for all your answers, how stupid was I, I thought that if i washed out the litter tray her scent would go off it and she wouldn't use it anymore, but after washing it out she went back into it and is happy pooing away, yeah she's 14 but before we used to have an old shed out in the garden so she used to jump from the bathroom window, onto the roof of the shed, and then up onto a wall that leads out onto the street into an old empty factory so i guess she used to go there, but then we got rid of the shed so she has no "step" up onto the wall, i was thinking of getting her a tray with a hood and a flap, but ever since i took her to the vets last year in her carrier she won't go near anything with a hood, I don't know what happened there or is she just a parcular cat, I just want her to be happy and comfortable whether she's sleeping or pooing!

The Sweeper

If you can't get her to use a tray with a hood, look at buying a storage box - one of the plastic under-bed ones - instead of a normal sized litter tray. The higher sides will stop her kicking litter out of it. Think laterally - all you really need as a litter tray is a washable, watertight plastic tray, so tubs, storage solutions and buckets are all options.