Cat help?

[dottyblue]

Moonbeamlove, I am glad to hear there is hope.

We NEVER punish him. I have caught him a couple of times mid-pee and I have picked him up and plopped him in the litter box with some encouraging "this is where we pee" comments (LOL), but he never gets yelled at, hit or nose rubbed in it. Praise definitely works better for behavior modification; it's how we got them to use the scratching post instead of my couches.

I'll have to think about the privacy thing. They have a nook in the bathroom that is open, but I have a curtain hung over it for privacy. It is not a high traffic area, BUT he only has one escape route. He will usually bust in if I'm going to the bathroom in there and he pees in the box while I'm around, so I don't know that he's shy about it.

[TrickyBob]

Jul 9, 2013 12:32:45 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Jul 9, 2013 12:24:17 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

13 years, it took me 13 years to figure out that his problem was needing to be left alone in an area that no one goes into. And to also not punish him for peeing outside of his box and to patiently/impatiently put up with it.
Do you have an area that you could maybe make private and not disturb? See if your cat uses it then?

However, I DO still put puppy pads down around the boxes. He's a fat cat, even the large boxes leave him room to hang his ass over the edge at times.
ETA: I feel it was the not punishing him for peeing else where, plus giving him his own little safe heaven to do his business that helped. At my parent's, someone would be mean to him if I wasn't around to protect him. So he hated the litter box, he never felt safe. 

Yes. The worst thing you can do is punish. I forgot about that. I did it one day out of anger then read about it. It was awful.

About fat kitty, mine has the same problem. That's why it was suggested we forgo expensive traditional litter boxes and opted for the larger under bed storage containers to try to stop the over the edge stuff.

Some cats are weird. Sometimes ours like, waits until we get home to poop in the box right in front of us. Some of them care about privacy and others just don't.
If he does this, we pretty much are forced to scoop ASAP because he does not do very well at covering. We also have a candle. Lol.

We tried the giant under the bed storage container once. He pushed all his litter to one side and slept in the box. Then peed on the floor. Kitty went back to large normal litter boxes after that. 

[dottyblue]

Jul 9, 2013 12:49:16 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

Jul 9, 2013 12:32:45 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Yes. The worst thing you can do is punish. I forgot about that. I did it one day out of anger then read about it. It was awful.

About fat kitty, mine has the same problem. That's why it was suggested we forgo expensive traditional litter boxes and opted for the larger under bed storage containers to try to stop the over the edge stuff.

Some cats are weird. Sometimes ours like, waits until we get home to poop in the box right in front of us. Some of them care about privacy and others just don't.
If he does this, we pretty much are forced to scoop ASAP because he does not do very well at covering. We also have a candle. Lol.

We tried the giant under the bed storage container once. He pushed all his litter to one side and slept in the box. Then peed on the floor. Kitty went back to large normal litter boxes after that. 

LOL.  I'm not sure if sleeping in the litter box is funny or pathetic.  A little of both I guess.  Poor kitty!

[TrickyBob]

He loveeees boxes. You cannot have an open box near him or else you WILL have a giant tub of orange goo sitting in it. Doesn't matter if there is stuff in it or not, if he fits, he sits.

[sydney02]

He will usually bust in if I'm going to the bathroom in there and he pees in the box while I'm around, so I don't know that he's shy about it.

okay this right here is getting to the root of the problem. He's peeing with you there because he feels safer. For whatever reason, real or imagined, he doesn't feel safe in his box when you aren't around. Does peeing next to the box make sense? No. But look at all of the things people with anxiety do that doesn't make sense. (I can practically have a panic attack over a spider like it's going to kill me. Makes no sense but there it is!)

I know people will say cats don't like change, but I've found it to be the opposite. Most of them love a nice new box, new litter and a new location. It's like a person pooping for the first time in your bathroom after it's been remodeled. That's a good poop, amirite? lol

Try either cleaning out the current box or just getting a new one, some Cat Attract litter and a new location.


It's not the cat being dirty, misbehaving or trying to get back at you though but you know that so I'm glad. That's why punishing them never works. It would be like hitting a person to help them get over their anxiety.

[urbancowgirl]

People have given you great advice. Just wanted to echo the suggestions for Cat Attract, Feliway and, as a last resort, Prozac. I also wanted to mention that we cannot have any sort of mat in front of the litter box b/c my problem cat will pee on it rather than in the box. It sucks to sweep the scattered litter every day, but it's better than cleaning up pee.