Why does my cat pee outside the litter tray?
Discussion
I caught one of my indoor cats peeing on the sofa this morning. Occasionally she will pee on the bathroom floor which hasn't been a problem as I can just mop it up and it is easy to stop the cats from going in there anyway.
If she peed on the sofa though she could be peeing elsewhere in the house too.
What could be causing this?
The litter trays are pretty clean, although both are covered which could be an issue I guess.
Neither of the cats appear to be dominant and both get on really well with each other. She doesn't seem to be ill either? I couldn't really do anything about the bathroom peeing as it took me months to figure out which cat was doing it.
What do I do?
If she peed on the sofa though she could be peeing elsewhere in the house too.
What could be causing this?
The litter trays are pretty clean, although both are covered which could be an issue I guess.
Neither of the cats appear to be dominant and both get on really well with each other. She doesn't seem to be ill either? I couldn't really do anything about the bathroom peeing as it took me months to figure out which cat was doing it.
What do I do?
How old is she? We have an issue with one of ours pooing outside the box, our boxes are covered also. The vet checked him out and only found some apparent pain or discomfort in his hips. She theorised that he may find using the box for this task is painful and it's easier to go outside (just outside thankfully, in our case, never on the sofa yet).
The reason I asked her age was our chap is 8 and he's fairly large for a domestic cat so the vet suspected he may have the beginnings of arthritis in his hips.
The reason I asked her age was our chap is 8 and he's fairly large for a domestic cat so the vet suspected he may have the beginnings of arthritis in his hips.
I tried that but my housemate won't have it; he says it smells. Unfortunately there are a few problems which complicate things:
There are only two litter trays at the moment, both of which are in the same room. This is because both of the cats have to be locked in here at night. If they're allowed to roam the house, they'll either spend the whole night licking my face if they can get into my bedroom or they'll sit outside the bedroom door meowing and ripping the carpet to shreds.
The only option is putting another litter tray in a spare room upstairs but I don't see how this will help when they're locked in a particular room once per night.
I change their litter trays every day, maybe two days on a rare occasion with a 100% change of fresh litter. I do not have the time to clean them more than this.
There are only two litter trays at the moment, both of which are in the same room. This is because both of the cats have to be locked in here at night. If they're allowed to roam the house, they'll either spend the whole night licking my face if they can get into my bedroom or they'll sit outside the bedroom door meowing and ripping the carpet to shreds.
The only option is putting another litter tray in a spare room upstairs but I don't see how this will help when they're locked in a particular room once per night.
I change their litter trays every day, maybe two days on a rare occasion with a 100% change of fresh litter. I do not have the time to clean them more than this.
t school & is now "thinking outside the box"?
Galsia said:
Backseatdriver said:
Sometimes this will happen if the litter trays are too small.
It's possible. I'm using washing up bowls for litter trays because they stop the litter being thrown everywhere.
Cats are very fastidious, therefore litter trays must be scrupulously clean, moreover inviting.
Some cats like to dig, therefore you'll need to fill the tray with clean litter to a good 10cm.
Mobile Chicane said:
Well there you have it.
Cats are very fastidious, therefore litter trays must be scrupulously clean, moreover inviting.
Some cats like to dig, therefore you'll need to fill the tray with clean litter to a good 10cm.
Would it be better to get bigger trays and not change 100% of the litter every day then?Cats are very fastidious, therefore litter trays must be scrupulously clean, moreover inviting.
Some cats like to dig, therefore you'll need to fill the tray with clean litter to a good 10cm.
We clean our litter once a week, change it roughly every 3 weeks.
We tried Catsan, all the ones we could find in the supermarkets, clumping, non clumping and then found a walnut shell based clumping one at our local petshop, I annoyingly can't remember the name at the minute though. We went from using a bag a week of Pets at Home branded stuff to 1 bag every 3 weeks.
We have a large covered Simons Cat one we got from Pets at Home and you can't smell when they have been. The only time we had issues with going to the toilet outside of the box were when we used non clumping litter.
1 cat is 3.5 kilos, the other 8.5.
A washing up bowl really doesn't sound like a great place to go to the toilet, the sides seem too high.
Dave!
We tried Catsan, all the ones we could find in the supermarkets, clumping, non clumping and then found a walnut shell based clumping one at our local petshop, I annoyingly can't remember the name at the minute though. We went from using a bag a week of Pets at Home branded stuff to 1 bag every 3 weeks.
We have a large covered Simons Cat one we got from Pets at Home and you can't smell when they have been. The only time we had issues with going to the toilet outside of the box were when we used non clumping litter.
1 cat is 3.5 kilos, the other 8.5.
A washing up bowl really doesn't sound like a great place to go to the toilet, the sides seem too high.
Dave!
One of our cats pissed on my wife's leg this morning while she was putting on her make-up, incurring the sort of telling off normally reserved for me, and the cat is currently banished to the garden with the cat-flap locked. Unfortunately the other cat was in the garden at the time and he's now locked out as well, looking very puzzled.
Not all cats are that fastidious re how clean a tray is but it's a good practice to get into.
http://www.icatcare.org:8080/advice/problem-behavi...
I find the above site very helpful
Easier for me to show you the relevant page rather than try discussing it!!
http://www.icatcare.org:8080/advice/problem-behavi...
I find the above site very helpful
Easier for me to show you the relevant page rather than try discussing it!!
We've got 3 cats and 3 litter trays. The ideal is apparently # cats + 1 trays. We had a tray on each floor of the house previously but the one on the middle floor was almost never used, top floor very occasionally so we relocated the middle one to the utility room, sits right next to the other one.
This also seems to have resolved the very occasional random wees we found by the front door (three times) and in the bathroom (once).
All trays are uncovered and we use chicken food (Layers Pellets) as litter. Kills the odours completely and doesn't track around the house.
There are quite a few reasons cats will pee outside their trays from medical to social - if a room belongs to one cat then the other might well not feel comfortable going in there.
This also seems to have resolved the very occasional random wees we found by the front door (three times) and in the bathroom (once).
All trays are uncovered and we use chicken food (Layers Pellets) as litter. Kills the odours completely and doesn't track around the house.
There are quite a few reasons cats will pee outside their trays from medical to social - if a room belongs to one cat then the other might well not feel comfortable going in there.
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