Help my cat stopped using the litterbox!

Step 3a. Kitty did NOT use the box while confined (skip to 3b if he did)

Kitty may not like the type of litter, the depth of litter, or the style of litterbox. Try one of these changes for a couple of days, then try another one if that didn’t work. Yes, this takes a while, but there are so many options! In this order, try:

1. A brand new litter box – as big as possible, uncovered, with the lowest sides possible.
2. A different type of litter – unscented, clay, pine, clumping, etc.
3. Use plain dirt. Potting soil is often irresistible.
4. A different depth of litter (shallower, deeper).

Some cats have a painful association with going inside a box. So if all the above fails, cover the floor with newspaper-  every square inch! If Kitty was going in the tub, put the newspaper in there. Most cats will go in one spot on the floor. Gradually pick up the newspaper where the cat is not going (one or two sheets removed a day). When you are down to two sheets where Kitty is going regularly, take a sheet that has some urine on it and put it on top of a flat piece of cardboard box, or on a cookie tray.

Now there should be newspaper only on top of the box/tray, and none on the floor. If Kitty continues to go on the paper on the box/tray, try a brand new low-sided uncovered litterbox (so it won’t smell anything like litter) in the same spot, and put some urine scented newspaper in it. Then the next day, try putting a handful of a new kind of litter in it, that doesn’t smell anything like their old litter. So if they were using clay litter, try the pine dust or ground up corn litter. Often with baby steps you can have them graduate back up to a real litterbox with litter, but sometimes you may have to stick to newspaper or dirt. Its better than your laundry basket! If at any point during the re-introduction process they revert to going on the uncovered floor, do not panic. An accident or two may happen. But if it’s more than once or twice, you should take a few steps back and proceed more slowly. If the cat was really traumatized, it can take weeks. But a few weeks in a bathroom, while not fun, is worth the chance of getting your cat back to using his litterbox (and it’s a lot nicer than returning your cat to the shelter).

Step 3b. Kitty DID use the box while confined

• Location issue. If that is not where you had the litterboxes before, try letting the cat out and leaving the box in the bathroom. If they continue to use the box there, that means they did not like the other non-bathroom locations. If you don’t want the box in the bathroom, try a 2nd box in other new locations (not the old location) until they start using the 2nd box, then take up the bathroom box.

• Stress. He could be upset over a change in his routine, by someone or something new in the house, or something you can’t figure out! Whatever the cause, you can try these three stress-fixers:
  1. Daily dose of the homeopathic remedy Rescue Remedy, available in most health food stores (it’s for people too) and some pet stores. Effects are immediate.
  2. A spray on or plugin that has helped many litterbox-avoiding cats is Feliway www.feliway.com
  3. Your vet can prescribe Kitty the cat version of prozac while you “retrain” them to use the box. This generally takes a couple of weeks to take full effect.
• Stress over your absence. If he only does it while you are gone, it might be your absence that is causing the stress. The cat may need bathroom time (close him in the bathroom with a litter box, food, water and a bed) even if you only go out for five minutes. Also try the remedies in the above ‘stress’ bullet point above.
• Cleanliness. Your old litterbox may not have been kept clean enough for him. Continue to keep the box super clean, with weekly scrubbing.What are you cleaning up with?  If the old smell is not removed, he may continue to go on that spot. There are articles and articles on getting cat urine smell out of household items – a lot of finding one that works for your cat is trial and error. We’ve hear that a biological laundry detergent with water soaking the area for 24 hours and then flushing it can remove it. With carpets, often the only solution is to remove them. Clean all the areas where your cat has gone and then rub a soft cloth over his cheeks, then rub the cloth where he went to the bathroom. This spread the cat’s pheromones and scent onto that surface, and should stop your cat from feeling the need to put them there himself.
• Smell. There may have been something the cat smelled it was trying to mark or cover up. If the cat is urinating in a particular place it could be new smells it feels must be covered up, such as a garbage bin, a door leading to the outside, laundry, a new bag of groceries, even a new family moving in next door whose smells are now coming into your home. If this is the case, you can either wait it out, confining the cat to a smaller room where the urinating will not be as much of a problem (a bathroom), or medication from your vet might help until he gets used to the change (a few months) or is confident his old routine is established.
• Territory. Does Kitty go on the door, or the rug by the door?  It could be territorial marking. Try blocking off where Kitty can see/hear/smell any other cats or dogs outside.