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Cat Lovers.....need help!

egret
egret Posts: 4,179
edited November -1 in Off Topic
Our dear beloved cat of 9 years has stopped using her kitty box for reasons unknown.......we find the deposits in various locations, all of which are not acceptable! Any suggestions other than the obvious.......I mean, she is a part of our family!!

Comments

  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,677
    John,, ours did that at the start of a urinary infection ,, hope yours is as simple as different litter
  • hornhonk
    hornhonk Posts: 3,841
    In the past I have had cats do this. There is something about her box that is bothering her.
  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
    have you changed litter?
    you might have to get a new box and try a diff litter. and a vet check might be in order. is it #1 or #2 (LOL) you are finding? is she using it at all?
  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
    copied and pasted from another site

    Medical issues
    If your male cat stops using the litter box, spends a lot of time trying to go or licing his genitals, get him to the vet immediately. This may be a sign that he has a urinary tract infection or much worse, a blockage. These cause pain when urinating which he may associate with using the box, causing him to avoid it. Some cats will even urinate and cry right in front of you or go in the bathtub or sink to let you know something's wrong.

    Urinary tract problems can be very serious, especially in male cats because their urethra (the tube that empties urine from their bladder), is narrow and is more easily plugged than a female’s wider urethra. A cat whose urinary tract is blocked can die within hours or suffer irreversible organ damage from the buildup of toxins in his system. Don’t wait around thinking it will clear up by itself. And don’t be fooled into thinking that your cat is constipated. It could happen, but it’s more likely to be a urinary problem.

    If your kitty gets a clean bill of health from the vet, his problem is all in his head.
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,677
    Julie,, that was exactly what happened with ours. Had to switch him over to a special food
  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
    That was the first thing I thought of Pat but he has a little lady cat and it is a bit rarer I think with them. those nasty boys!! LOL our guy had to have special diet. it is $$ but they eat less and are healthier. and the little box is used less too LOL
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,677
    ours weighed 28 pounds but did not look fat
  • egret
    egret Posts: 4,179
    We recently did some remodeling, but, everything was fine for several months. We haven't changed the type of litter for years now. The vet has been called for a check-up, and, I added a second litter box in the last few minutes upstairs where the problems have been occurring. As far as I know it has been #2 but not sure about that! We're keeping our fingers crossed and I thank you all for your help/support......
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    John,

    It can be a sign of a feline cognitive disorder that is similar to Alzheimer's.

    I'm sure your vet can offer some ideas or testing to determine if this is the case.
  • First step is a complete physical including lab work. If the cat is stooling in the upstairs of the house not urinating then more than likely an event occured that deterred the cat from using the litter box, it stooled upstairs, and since cats are creatures of habit they begin to repeat that behavior. I have 3 girls. Litter box duty is a daily event and is not optional. I use a sifter pan, very high grade premium litter (Fresh Step Premium) and use two sets of 5 gal home depot sealable buckets and rotate the soiled and clean buckets through sterilization processes including fresh air drying. I did have a problem at first with their boxes (I was using two sifter boxes after the 3rd electric box broke after 2 weeks) and now I have no problem at all. No "accidents" anywhere. And with the carpet in my new house costing $45 a sq yard that is a good thing! Now if I could just figure out how to overcome the shedding. I have an American Domestic Long Hair, an Azimuth Tiger (long hair) and an American Domestic Short Hair. The short hair sheds 3x as much as the long hair! But the Tiger leaves little clumps of brown and black hair everywhere!
  • Mainegg
    Mainegg Posts: 7,787
    keep us posted John. and I think I would be headed to the vet this am if you can get in. Hope everything is OK. our little girl is 20 this fall and sleeps most of the time. But she still loves to sit on the hot tub ad watch/torment the hummingbirds!