cat not using litter box

U1D2C3

She's indoor, about 9 years old! I have her 4 years myself.

She doesn't use her box anymore, unless its just freshly clean! But once she uses it once she wont use it again! Its not as if she's weeing all over the place, but only in one other spot. I've put vinegar and orange peels down where she goes and that deters her for about a day, but now I think she's immune to it and goes anyway even if there is vinegar there! This started about 2 months ago! Never had litter box problems before! There has been no major change in the environment. She does her number 2's in the box no problem, its just number 1's are in the exact same spot! I'm a student and cant afford to take her to the vet, she's not sick as shes eating and drinking the same and no other change in behaviour or movements, and her poos look healthy (sorry !!!)

I bought her catnip toy ( thought it was frustration) but shed no interest, I bought litter box freshener, no use! She doesn't play and has no interest in playing for as long as I had her, and I have tried!

The only difference is is that I have been using the same brand litter about 3 years now, about 3 months ago I got a different brand, used that for a week or so and went back to the original litter, and it started not long after that!
I switched back to it this week to try her and it worked for about 2 days and then this morning, she went in her other spot!

I'm at my wits end with her as practically every morning I have to get up to cleaning cat wee! Its just disgusting and so unsanitary and smelly! She only does it really at night or if she's on her own in the house if I'm out! And again its not as if she's going all over the house, I read that to be more common with stress, its just the one other spot! Help me!

Rancid

It does seem like a very specific change in her habits, alright.
The new spot she has chosen, is it on carpet or tiles?

Usually with any change in litter-box habits the first recommendation is to get her checked out by the vet, especially as she's well past the kitten stage at 9 years old!

In the short term, you could try putting a new litter box in her chosen spot to see if that corrects things in her opinion.

U1D2C3

Rancid wrote: »

It does seem like a very specific change in her habits, alright.
The new spot she has chosen, is it on carpet or tiles?

Usually with any change in litter-box habits the first recommendation is to get her checked out by the vet, especially as she's well past the kitten stage at 9 years old!

In the short term, you could try putting a new litter box in her chosen spot to see if that corrects things in her opinion.

Thanks for reply its actually wood floor (not real wood, some kind of plastic wood). And also have tried to put her litter box where she goes and she just went right beside it! 😩 she is strong willed and quite a strange cat anyway haha and has ne completely wrapped around her paw! I cant even shout at her or spray her with water when she does it cos by the time ive found out she's done it its too late, and I know cats don't respond to punishment like say a dog would!
I suppose a trip to the vet is the only answer, but have looked it up so much I'm afraid the vet will only tell me what I already know with no solution and endless trips and that'll cost me, but suppose ill just suck it up!

Rancid

U1D2C3 wrote: »

Thanks for reply its actually wood floor (not real wood, some kind of plastic wood). And also have tried to put her litter box where she goes and she just went right beside it! 😩 she is strong willed and quite a strange cat anyway haha and has ne completely wrapped around her paw! I cant even shout at her or spray her with water when she does it cos by the time ive found out she's done it its too late, and I know cats don't respond to punishment like say a dog would!
I suppose a trip to the vet is the only answer, but have looked it up so much I'm afraid the vet will only tell me what I already know with no solution and endless trips and that'll cost me, but suppose ill just suck it up!

Hi. Next time she does it check with a piece of kitchen roll to see if there's a pinkish tinge to the urine which could indicate some blood in it. It's not unusual for cats with cystitis to seek out different places to pee, and they very often go for smooth cold places such as tiles or shower tray, or even possibly wood flooring.
If that's the case, she'll need to go to the vet.

Otherwise, try cleaning the area with biological washing liquid to totally remove the scent and keep an eye on her.
Did you put a new litter box in the spot so she now has the option of 2 boxes?

U1D2C3

Rancid wrote: »

Hi. Next time she does it check with a piece of kitchen roll to see if there's a pinkish tinge to the urine which could indicate some blood in it. It's not unusual for cats with cystitis to seek out different places to pee, and they very often go for smooth cold places such as tiles or shower tray, or even possibly wood flooring.
If that's the case, she'll need to go to the vet.

Otherwise, try cleaning the area with biological washing liquid to totally remove the scent and keep an eye on her.
Did you put a new litter box in the spot so she now has the option of 2 boxes?

Haven't noticed any pink colouring when cleaning it since she started! hopefully its not the case tho! It could be but she just mightn't be bleeding!

Also will buy a new box, that's a good idea to try anyway to see if it works! Didn't know that the washing liquid will get rid of the smell, been using antibacterial spray Milton! Have to face it that I've to bring her to the vet I think! She won't like that! Haha

Zapperzy

First port of call is the vet. I had a cat that regularly got urinary tract infections, how we'd know was she'd start peeing on my bed. With her it was nearly definitely stress that would set off the physical problem (a UTI), so we needed to treat both. Cats are very prone to urinary tract infections and all sorts of bladder problems, their way of telling us is inappropriate peeing.

Aside from getting a vet to look at her you need to clean the area thoroughly with something that will break down the proteins in the pee otherwise they keep going back to the spot. Biological washing powder (has to be bio as opposed to non-bio as it contains the enzymes to break down the pee), or a specific animal urine cleaner from a pet shop will do the job. A blacklight will show up any missed patches if you can get your hands on one. Hopefully the pee hasn't soaked in under skirting boards or down between floorboards otherwise you've a bigger problem. Add another litter tray or two scattered around the house to give her options, you may have to confine her to one room or area at times until this is sorted.

If it's stress caused you'll have to look at ways to reduce stress. Vicky halls has some brilliant books on cat behaviour, really gives a fantastic insight into why they do some of the things they do and how to fix them. Aside from pinpointing the cause of the stress there's loads of sprays, plug ins, food additives and gels that contain various pheromones and what not to reduce stress. Feliway and zylkene are probably the most common, some people swear by them others don't but definitely worth a try if it's stress caused.

Hope you get to the root cause of it. When cats decide to pee all over the house it's not nice, very stressful on us and them. In my case it was my bed my old cat chose, I kept the local penneys in business from all the double duvets I had to replace, spent Christmas night in a sleeping bag one year after a late Xmas eve accident she had. Baffled the vets too on many occasions.

Zapperzy

U1D2C3 wrote: »

Also will buy a new box, that's a good idea to try anyway to see if it works! Didn't know that the washing liquid will get rid of the smell, been using antibacterial spray Milton! Have to face it that I've to bring her to the vet I think! She won't like that! Haha

Milton contains ammonia which smells identical to cat pee to a cat. Your cat probably thinks another cat is coming along marking the spot so she marks over it, you clean with Milton, she sniffs it and thinks another cat has gone there again so she pees again! Avoid any bleach based cleaning products

Nody

U1D2C3 wrote: »

Also will buy a new box, that's a good idea to try anyway to see if it works! Didn't know that the washing liquid will get rid of the smell, been using antibacterial spray Milton! Have to face it that I've to bring her to the vet I think! She won't like that! Haha

You need a proper cleaner for cat pee; while you think you've removed the smell for the cat the smell is still there. You nneed bio washing powder or a proper anti pee break down spray (can be bought in any pet shop for under a tenner) to remove the protein.

U1D2C3

Zapperzy wrote: »

First port of call is the vet. I had a cat that regularly got urinary tract infections, how we'd know was she'd start peeing on my bed. With her it was nearly definitely stress that would set off the physical problem (a UTI), so we needed to treat both. Cats are very prone to urinary tract infections and all sorts of bladder problems, their way of telling us is inappropriate peeing.

Aside from getting a vet to look at her you need to clean the area thoroughly with something that will break down the proteins in the pee otherwise they keep going back to the spot. Biological washing powder (has to be bio as opposed to non-bio as it contains the enzymes to break down the pee), or a specific animal urine cleaner from a pet shop will do the job. A blacklight will show up any missed patches if you can get your hands on one. Hopefully the pee hasn't soaked in under skirting boards or down between floorboards otherwise you've a bigger problem. Add another litter tray or two scattered around the house to give her options, you may have to confine her to one room or area at times until this is sorted.

If it's stress caused you'll have to look at ways to reduce stress. Vicky halls has some brilliant books on cat behaviour, really gives a fantastic insight into why they do some of the things they do and how to fix them. Aside from pinpointing the cause of the stress there's loads of sprays, plug ins, food additives and gels that contain various pheromones and what not to reduce stress. Feliway and zylkene are probably the most common, some people swear by them others don't but definitely worth a try if it's stress caused.

Hope you get to the root cause of it. When cats decide to pee all over the house it's not nice, very stressful on us and them. In my case it was my bed my old cat chose, I kept the local penneys in business from all the double duvets I had to replace, spent Christmas night in a sleeping bag one year after a late Xmas eve accident she had. Baffled the vets too on many occasions.

Thanks very much to all of you for your replies! I'm lucky she's not peeing on my bed :O
Just an update, brought her to the vet, he said she's in generally good health and stress seems to be the only reason! He gave me zyklene and she's been on it 5 days now, and no change whatsoever yet, she's still not going in her boxes, I got hers new box too!

I've looked up disciplining cats before and I read that they really don't respond to our kinda disciplining, there was one day recently I shouted at her just before she was about to go, she went running, weed somewhere else, then did a number two and then vomited! Ha I think I really stressed her out over that! Since she's in good health and I'm trying to help her destress with the zyklene, is there anything else I can do? She's 9 so discipline isn't likely to work in my favour haha! I do admit though, she has mw wrapped around her finger!! I have another 2 weeks supply of zyklene for her, does anyone know how long it takes to kick in? thanks!

Nody

Try to get at least three different types of cat sand:

1) normal unscented clay litter
2) Wood pellets (buy the burning kind, not pet version as it's the same stuff for 5x the price, aim for 5mm or smaller)
3) Corn husks or similar (it looks like small corn flakes basically or big sawdust pieces)

Put them into three separate toilets (or rotate if you don't have enough) and see if she takes to any of them. It could be she dislikes the feel for some reason and the three above are all very different in texture and may help you find one she'll use.

Secondly you say she is stressed; do you know what's driving it? Does she have hiding places in every room, ways to be up high and keep an eye on things on shelfs, book cases etc. that she can access? The reason I ask it's very common to be territorially stressed and this in turn can be helped by enabling your cat to have high spots and routes around rooms etc. to make them feel they can control "their" territory by observing while being "out of reach".

lubie76

You have got some really good advice in this post, I just wanted to add that I found zyklene very good for a stressed cat form first couple of uses as it seems to be similar to their mothers milk but also try the feliway diffuser and try and keep the cat confined to the room where you have it plugged in with the litter trays.

I went to a pet psychic about a very stressed cat before (crazy I know) and she told me my cat could sense a spirit of an old man form a farm in the house and I could comfort the cat by singing. I'm ashamed to say I did and it did seem to help believe it or not! I am the definition of a crazy cat lady!

U1D2C3

Thanks again everyone! Yea some really good advice! The zyklene seems to have started to work and totally never copped on about the ammonia products!!!! Haha!! She's using the new box and I put it where she normally goes! But its not hooded like her other one so the litter goes everywhere , but hoovering up the little bits of litter is so much easier ! Ha! I'm delighted! She has just about 11 days of zyklene left so hopefully shell keep it up when she finished her course! Have a shopping day planned for Wednesday for the pet shop!
The weird thing is is that I do kinda sing and talk to her (when its just the two of us) haha! So glad I'm not the only one! she's driving me mad now looking for wet food, following me around and meowing ha! I have to give it to her so shell take the zyklene, its never ending with cats !!! Haha