My cat stopped using her litter tray even goes ouside it or in the house 3 months any ideas?
Answers:
Hi Cherie.there are several possibilities which would cause a kitty to innapropriately soil outside the litter box. They could be change of litter brand, location of litter box, not being cleaned more frequently, competition for the box if there are multiple cats in the home, changes in the home recently which is causing stress, not enough litter boxes accessible as some cats like to defecate in one and urinate in another or a medical problem such as constipation or an urinary tract infection as well.
Here's a brochure by Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine about the causes of house soiling problems: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures.
Sounds mad but do you have a cat flap? My cat did the exact same thing a few years back and it came to light that a tom cat and a squirrel (!) had been visiting her tray....
Regular cleaning of the tray is good. Maybe let her out, and punish her when she do-do's out of the box.
clean the cat litter and make sure the litter is okay for the cat it might not like the litter you are using
thank you
hi my aunt had this problem with her cat dolly 5 months ago and her cat is 12 years old.she had never done this before. we then realised that another cat had been coming into the house and spraying every where (weeing) so dolly was spraying on top. it took 4 months to realise what was happening so check for other cats but beware they are very crafty.
also have you changed the litters brand, sometimes they don't recognise the new smell and wee every where else?
if your cat was using its litter box and stopped, ask yourself----
is the box clean?
am i using different type of litter?
has anything changed from when it was using the box?
cats are very sensitive to any change----
odors
location
is the cat constipated?
I had the exact same problem with my two cats. I contacted the local vet and spoke with them over the phone about it.
I was told that it could be one of four problems:
+ Their not liking the brand of kitty litter we had
+ Not being able to get to the toilet (there are two kitties in my house, and they dont share wsell)
+ The toilet being in an inconveniant place
+ It not getting cleaned enough.
We changed kitty litter a few times, made sure the toilets were cleaned out once a day, and even got a new litter tray. Sounds like a
lot of hassle I know, but try doing little things first and seeing if they make a difference. Our cats used to use our bath as their toilet and now they don't. It was worth all the effort just to save myself a shock when going to run myself a morning bath =D
Do you keep it clean and fresh? Cats often learn that the neighbour's garden is the best toilet!
You don't give any details about your cat.
If it is young and male (I expect not because you say "her")
and not castrated, he may be marking his territory. Get him castrated.
If she is old then it may be she suffering from brain aging (senility) which can cause such problems.
However, the most common causes of inappropriate urination are medical. She may have a cystitis or problem in her bladder. Take the cat and if you can, a urine sample, to the vets to rule this out first (get a urine sample by using a non-absorbent substance in the litter tray, cut up plastic bags or fish gravel are both good).
If her urine is clear of blood is it worth asking yourself all the questions above. Have you changed the litter substrate? Is there a new cat in the area? Are there builders in the house? Have you a new baby or a new cat? Is there more than one cat in the house? Is the litter tray cleaned regularly?
If it is simply stress you can try Feliway diffusers to calm your cat.
Phone your vets and see what they suggest but I expect a urine sample would be the first step.
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