Cat Litterbox Problems: Waterbottle Used, Abuse, and Broken.

[Kuya]

Wow, not one mention of the meme about that french canadian guy and his stupid cat.

[Ratatapa]

Hi

[Senji]

This pan solved a lot of problems, holds 30 lbs.



Best litter ever.



Probably need to mix in the multiple cat neutralizer crystals.

Or

Spoiler: show

You tell her to deal with it.

[Ragnus]

Cat diaper is amazing I might look into it if it gets worse. Honestly, I'm probably going to go back to the cheap litter that the other cats will use and just get some floor pads for the fussy one. Rub the pad in his smell before cleaning the carpet and see if that works.

[aethyr]

Not to necro but... the diaper won't work. They just fall over. I tried it with one of our girls who wouldn't stop peeing all over. Got her spayed and she hasn't missed the box since. Surprised nobody asked you this already: Has he been neutered?

[Pikarya]

http://musingsfromasahm.com/wp-conte...Litter-Box.jpg

Privacy mang.

[Soupbowl]

(Quick FYI for anyone who actually knows Soupbowl - This is his wife, Niacin, posting on his account cause I'm too lazy to make my own account.)

Sounds to me like you need to get your cat checked out for any potential problems. I am a certified Veterinary Hospital Assistant and up until recently had 3 cats, one of which we lost to cancer. So it's goes to say I have an understanding of cats and dealt with similar experiences.

Firstly, as it's been said already, it's possible your cat has something wrong with it. If it's pooping outside the litter box it could be constipation or something called inflammatory bowel disease. If it's peeing outside the litter box it could be urinary tract or bladder infections, which honestly can lead an animal to both pee and poop outside the box. What happens is that your cat doesn't feel well and it hurts to go to so they start to associate pain with the litter box and find anywhere else to go, usually somewhere that they feel more comforting. The answer can be as easy as changing diet along with a course of antibiotics or as complicated as surgery but your Vet would have a much better idea. A year old cat shouldn't have these issues, however, he could be one of those unlucky guys.

Secondly, is he fixed? Male cats, particularly, are extremely prone to urine marking if they are not fixed. The problem with this issue if your animal is not fixed BEFORE they start marking sometimes they don't stop even after they are fixed because they just continue to do what they've always done.

Thirdly, you mentioned having multiple boxes. This is good, couple questions, are they in secluded spots? Are they spaced out from each other? How many boxes do you have? You should have 1 box for each cat and then 1 extra (ex. 3 cats = 4 boxes). The boxes should be spaced away from each other, I personally have 2 boxes in different closets across the house (just put a cat door into the closet door and showed them how to use it) and a box in a less used bathroom. Funny thing about it is, my cats will urinate in one and poop in the other, so they definitely pick their own box and what they use it for. Also, some cats like a really deep place to dig, a nice deep box might also help.

Failing all these things, I would try locking the cat in an easy to clean room (ex. bathroom) with a clean litter box and fresh water/food, when you can't supervise him. See if he uses the box regularly. This may help to narrow down if it's an issue with the animal using the box because of "privacy" reasons (needing his own box or spaced away from others more) or because of an aversion to the box itself (can be pain associated with using the box).

My biggest advice is to get your cat checked by your vet to rule out any underlying issues.

A bored cat is an unhappy cat, and they are like dog's in the sense that they will act out if they are bored and don't get enough exercise. I really recommend playing with the cats for about 1/2 hour a day to help expend some of that negative energy that might be pent up. Indoor cats are notoriously under stimulated and while many times there are not problems it can turn into an issue. He's a young cat and may not be getting the amount of stimulation he needs. Cats are not considered adults until they are over a year old and if he's anything like my 3 year old cat, may take quite a long time to "grow out of it".

There are some pretty neat toys for cats out there in the world and you can find them online for pretty cheap. Here are a couple links to one that are pretty neat on one of my fav websites.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e17e/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9c2/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9c0/


Sorry for the long post, but I hope some of this helps, good luck!

-Niacin