I need help please! Cat problem

[Wicky]

This is the first time I am spending winter in FL. I have two male neutered 4.5 year old Cornish Rex cats (my Devil Cats) and brought them down with me. In MA I have two litter boxes - a Litter Robot that works most of the time (Grrrrrr) and a large covered plastic bin (https://www.chewy.com/petmate-top-entry-litter-pan/dp/132928) that they have to jump on and go down into. I bought the second one because this Litter Robot does not work as reliably as the original design, which I loved. In MA the cats always behaved and peed appropriately.

In FL I have two boxes. One is the same model covered box as in MA, in the hall to the garage. The other at the moment is a 70 L plastic bin (a large storage container without the top), in a shower stall. I started with a lower box, like a tray, but one of the cats (Clack) began to pee in a strange fashion - he begins squatting, and as he pees he begins to stand so that the pee ends up hitting the inside of the box and dripping down. I thought that the pee that I began to find on the outside of that box was appearing because he was taller than the side of the box. So I bought taller boxes. Now, I am finding pee that is clearly from a cat peeing outside of the box. I have washed the outside of the box, and the shower stall, and still find cat pee outside of the box. I have not seen Click (cat number two) pee ever, but I suspect that he is the culprit, not the cat that stands while peeing.

Their diet is the same as before - some canned food twice a day and a mix of diet dry food and oral care dry food. They are drinking FL water, and enough of it I would say. The water is the only thing that has changed. They do not cry when they urinate. The boxes get scooped once or twice a day.

Suggestions on what I can do? I am very nervous about closing the cats out of the shower stall, because I am afraid that they will pee outside wherever I put the box. I did try a covered box in the shower stall, and still found pee outside of the box. Maybe he just wants a Litter Robot.

I will make an appointment with the vet, too.

Help!

[shiloh]

Love your cats’ names.

I have a cat who pees outside the box. She will get right next to the box and pee on the training pad/mattress protector but not in the box, unless it is absolutely pristinely clean. In order to keep her happy I would literally (no pun really) have to clean the box every few minutes which is not possible when I am sleeping or at work. The other cat has decided that she does not like being pounced on by Baler when she gets in the box. (She is the only cat he does this to. Go figure…)

Is Clack bothering Click on the box? Is there another place you could put a box? I understand completely how annoying this is. I have just decided to keep box as clean as possible when I can and have training pads and even a tarp up the wall with a training pad taped to it for up the wall boy (I have one of those, too.). Maye the high-sided box is too hard to get into for the other cat.

[TKR]

Not to steal this thread, but I have a similar problem with a spayed kitty, Pixie Dust, who lives in our master bedroom and bathroom without any other cats since Calvin Ridley passed. She lost a hindleg before we got her and she has been with us for over a year and no problems at all. However, recently she is peeing on the tile floor in the bathroom at the doorway. She has her own litter box and it is kept clean. She poops in it and I keep her water dish and food dish clean. She has a clean bed along with our bed and this is recent and the only place she pees. I don’t think she has a problem, the pee is very normal and I’ve seen her going and she is not straining - all normal. I put some catnip up there - no help. I sprinkled some eucalyptus oil today on the floor in that area, so we’ll see. Any other ideas? TIA

[Simkie]

First step for kitties peeing out of the box is the vet to rule out infection and kidney disease. Sometimes it’s worth an antibiotic trial even with a clean UA and culture.

Next, it’s sterile cystitis. Adding cosequin to their food can help, as can pain meds. Kitties often develop chronic sterile cystitis with anxiety, so anti anxiety meds, like prozac, can be helpful.

If they STILL continue, then working with a cat behaviorist can be worthwhile.

Good luck! Cats peeing out of the box is such an awful issue

[OzarksRider]

@Simkie

First step for kitties peeing out of the box is the vet to rule out infection and kidney disease. Sometimes it’s worth an antibiotic trial even with a clean UA and culture.

Next, it’s sterile cystitis. Adding cosequin to their food can help, as can pain meds. Kitties often develop chronic sterile cystitis with anxiety, so anti anxiety meds, like prozac, can be helpful.

Ditto what Simkie said. I’ve had more than a dozen cats over the years, and every time one has had an issue peeing out of the box it was due to either an illness or sterile cystitis. Wickie, your cats may be stressed from the new litter boxes or the new living arrangements, and that could trigger sterile cystitis. I’ve had two cats with stress-induced cystitis, and both were treated with a short course of pain meds. Both cats recovered, but they had occasional episodes during their lives. The interval between episodes was years, not months. Take your cats to the vet and see if you can get some help for the little fellas.

[avjudge]

@OzarksRider

I’ve had more than a dozen cats over the years, and every time one has had an issue peeing out of the box it was due to either an illness or sterile cystitis.

I actually have a cat who pees outside the box and it’s pretty clearly a marking behavior - but she sprays vertical surfaces, triggered by the presence of any other cats. (She became fine when she was an only cat for a while, resumed when we got some kittens; now doing ok as a barn cat though she’d rather be in the house cuddling with us. Drugs have never helped.)

But the description of neither @TKR’s nor @Wicky’s cat sounds like marking. A puddle on the floor is classic litter box avoidance so I agree the vet is the first stop.

[Hippolyta]

Sometimes with pain they like to pee on smooth surfaces like a tub. The shower may hold a lot of appeal.

It is so weird, I don’t see how it is related, but they do it. You would think the splashing would be a negative association, but they are such bizarre creatures.

Good luck, from one cat lady to another, I feel for you.

[Wicky]

One cat (Click) seems fine. Vet found struvite crystals, high pH, and evidence of bacteria in the urine of the other (Clack - the one that stands up while peeing). Now I have new food, which Clack turns his nose up at. Clack also got a shot of antibiotics, and some stuff for his ears. Poor kitty.

I scrubbed the shower yet again. And bought puppy pads, for under the box.

Thanks to everyone!

[TC3200]

I had an elderly cat who’d recovered from a stroke but was left with some mobility issues. He sometimes peed outside the box because he just couldn’t move himself fast enough. I bought a galvanized metal drip tray from Advance Auto and put either newspaper or pee pads on the tray, under the litterbox. The tray was oversized (25 x 47 or so) and definitely caught any pee that missed the box. Cleanup was a breeze. https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/wcsstore/CVWEB/staticproductimage//N3321/large/9016759_ftl_11430mi_pri_larg.jpg

[CanadianTrotter]

@Wicky

One cat (Click) seems fine. Vet found struvite crystals, high pH, and evidence of bacteria in the urine of the other (Clack - the one that stands up while peeing). Now I have new food, which Clack turns his nose up at. Clack also got a shot of antibiotics, and some stuff for his ears. Poor kitty.

I scrubbed the shower yet again. And bought puppy pads, for under the box.

Thanks to everyone!

You’re very fortunate that the crystals hadn’t formed into stones!

When Ralph almost died from his stones he had showed no irregular litter box behaviour until just before he was rushed to the vet.

I hope poor Clack feels better soon!

[shiloh]

I wish Clack a speedy recovery!! Jingles…

Check Ebay for mattress protector pads. I have to buy a case which lasts awhile. They fit perfectly under the litter box. I, too, have Mr Stand up while peeing and I have one of the pads taped to the wall. makes things so much easier to clean.
100 Super Adult Disposable Chair Incontinence Bed Pad Pee Underpads 30X36” 689739476449 | eBay

[Brown_Derby]

Some cats do not want any dust, litter, or other irritants hitting their private parts. I had a very elderly cat who would only pee on puppy pads. I switched to Dr. Elsey’s litter for arthritic cats and he resumed using his sandbox. Sandbox was placed in a room separate from the other boxes so that he was safe from the younger cats ambushing him.

Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract litter can be very helpful for marking/insecurity issues.

[Pezanos]

I had a cat once who could not tolerate even one bite of dry food. If she ate any at all, she immediately began peeing outside her box. It was too bad because she loved dry food but it didn’t love her. On 100% wet food, her urination habits went back to normal.

[Kyrabee]

Washer pans also work fabulously to set the box in. The raised rays keep the box from sitting in a puddle of pee.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Eastman-30-in-x-32-in-Washing-Machine-Pan-in-White-52525/206188631?
Jingles for Kitty and hope the meds resolve the issue.
Susan

[Wicky]

Well, not unexpectedly (given how life is going these days) it turns out that the cat that pees outside of the box is NOT the one with crystals! I caught him (Click) on a game cam going into the box, turning around a few times, and then jumping out and peeing outside the (just cleaned) box… I saw him twice following his brother into the shower, where his brother Clack went in and peed and then left, and Click then peed outside of the box. So I will try no dry food (it is the urinary dry food), only the urinary wet food. I have put two Feliway sprayers in the house.

I was thinking of the washing machine pans for when I get back to Boston.

Good thing Click is adorable! Or he would be swimming in the pool…