Solve Your Litter Box Blues with These Tips

Case study:

Adopting a new cat can be so much fun, until it isn’t. There can be all sorts of issues when adopting a new cat, especially when you have an established ecosystem of cats (or just one other cat) at home. Usually, there can be some hissing and spitting to be expected for a few days or even weeks, but sometimes things get complicated.

Here is a story of one such kitty…

Late last year my hubby and I found an adult seal point Himalayan-esque beauty we named Kenny. Sadly, he had been abandoned by his previous owners when they moved away. They simply picked up and left him outside to fend for himself, awful. The little guy just sat outside of the house waiting for his owners to return, rolling around on his back in the dirt. We fed him off a paper plate and waited 5 days for his owners to come back before picking him up. The local stray cats, would creep up to eat his food if we walked away and he would back away to let them eat. He was a docile pile of fur. Everyday he we drove by he would be either sitting looking at the house longingly or sleeping on his back with his paws in the air. I will never understand how people can be so cruel.

We eventually decided that no one was coming back for him, picked him up and took him to our local veterinarian. I knew his striking good looks and silly personality would win someone over quickly. After a thorough health check including blood work, removing some matted fur from his belly, dental cleaning, removing a tooth, and vaccines he was ready to show off. A friend of mine runs a local rescue group and allowed me to bring him to an adoption event where he was the center of attention; laying on his back making air-biscuits, and letting anyone and everyone run their hands over his partially bald belly, purring the entire time. Amazingly, at the end of the day he went home with the most wonderful family, gaining a new mewmmy, pawppy, three hooman big-sisters and three kitty siblings.

It was a dream come true. Many cats have to wait months to find a new home, for some it never happens, but Kenny, now named Fezzik (named after the giant in the movie The Princess Bride) got a home in mere hours. That evening the family sent beautiful pictures of Fezzik in his famous stretched out, belly exposed pose surrounded by his new family.

They were doing everything right, keeping him in a room by himself to slowly introduce him to the other cats. All was well until later that week when they let him out to have free run of the house. He began using the bathroom in all sorts of places other than the litter box (insert BIG SAD FACE and poop emoji). He would go just about anywhere, both urine and feces. Once even urinating in their dryer! There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the accidents, except that it seemed like he wanted to use the litter box, as he would often go near it, but not in it. The new owners were more patient than I could have hoped for and were willing to try to figure out what was going on.

Silver-bullet litter box solution?

I will provide lots of detail on things that could be causing your cat to go outside of the box later in this post, but I am one to cut to the chase, if you are using the Tidy Cat Breeze Litter System, try something else. It may be convenient, but I have heard from several owners that their cats were having accidents until they changed to “regular” litter, be it clay or other granular/pellet style litter. Cats are finicky. If they aren’t perfectly happy with their litter (and everything else in their life *rolls eyes*), they may choose to “go” somewhere else besides the box. Generally speaking, and we will get there, it isn’t just the Breeze system, but any litter set-up can “piss” off a cat. That said, I have gotten used to asking “are you using Breeze?” when someone says they have litter box blues. It seems to have a tendency to upset some cats. Give your cat the option to go to the bathroom in something else. You don’t have to toss out your system, but you may find that your cat is happier using a different kind of litter box.

In the short time I have been writing this blog I have written a few posts on litter boxes. I guess I am just as particular about litter boxes as my cats! I have been rather lucky and haven’t had major litter box issues, but at the same time I am also very sensitive to my cat’s wants. So what are some other things to consider when you are having litter box problems?

What’s the problem?

You first have to assess your personal situation.

Is this a new behavior? Are the accidents feces, urine or both? My first recommendation if this is a new behavior is to take your pet to the veterinarian immediately if they are straining to go or visiting the box frequently. You could be dealing with a urinary tract infection that could turn into, or already be a blockage. DO NOT WAIT, STOP READING, CALL YOUR VET. Yes, I am yelling, the caps are on purpose. A blocked urethra (more common in males) can lead to permanent damage to the kidneys or worse, death.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way…if this is a new behavior and you have already gone to the vet to rule out an infection or blockage let’s consider the 5 L’s: Lot, Location, Litter, Limitations, and Liking.

Lot

Consider the group. How many cats do you have? Do you have enough litter boxes? Many cat gurus like to say one box per cat, plus one. So if you have three cats, you should have four litter boxes. I don’t follow this rule as I have two cats and two litter boxes. My rule is, have however many it takes to make everyone happy! I find the main thing that is important is to be sure that the boxes stay clean. Having more boxes means each box is used less (unless they have a favorite), therefore each box stays cleaner longer. Be sure to clean your litter boxes a minimum of once a day and you should be able to avoid most problems.

Location

Where is your litter box located? Is it in a private yet easy to access location? Have you recently moved the box? Have you recently put something new near the box?

No matter if the box has been moved or not, if your cat is having accidents leave the old box in place and add another box in a different location. Try a different room and environment. If it is a laundry room or near something that makes noise, move the box to a quieter area. Your cat could be getting spooked by something.

Litter

This one is pretty obvious. Try another litter. Go very basic. I like non-clay litters for many reasons, see my post on my favorite litter. It’s a pellet style litter, so opt for the regular granulated style instead. If you choose to go with clay litter make sure it’s unscented. Remember cat’s sense of smell is much stronger than a human’s, so what is pleasant to you is like a slap in the face to them.

Limitations

Consider your cat’s limitations. Is your cat old and arthritic? Is your cat overweight?

My personal preference are top-entry boxes because they prevent litter scatter, but they are not optimal for cat’s with mobility limitations. A litter box with a low entry area and higher sides can accommodate a cat that can’t easily get over an edge, and at the same time reduce the chance of urinating outside of the box because of not being able to squat low. My cat’s favorite box is the Kitangle Modern Cat Litter Box - Corner. You can find my three favores in this post.

Liking

Yeah, this L is a stretch, give me a break. It’s hard to come up with this sort of thing! Hear me out. Your cat could just be stressed. They don’t like something. It could be the previous Ls, it could be a whole ‘nuther letter of the alphabet. It can be hard to tell what they like and don’t like even if you are listening and watching closely. What can you do when it’s hard to tell what they don’t like? Try a little stress relief. This one falls to the very bottom of the list for a reason. Just like you shouldn’t rely on a glass of wine at the end of the day for stress relief, supplements and medications should be a last ditch effort.

I like to start with pheromone type treatments. There are plug-ins, sprays and collars. To me, collars are best because you don’t have to spray your entire house and you can open windows without having a breeze waft away the plug-in goodness. It treats at the source, your pissy-kitty. There are a variety of pheromone collars available, just be sure what you buy isn’t heavily scented. Pheromone treatments can safely be combined with any other treatment.

Oral supplements are the next line of attack. I have seen fairly good results with Vetoquinol Zylkene, and have personally used Jackson Galaxy’s Stress Stopper on my cat that was having difficulty adjusting after a move. There are a lot of different formulations on the market. Be sure to only use one at a time, you don’t want to double up and over-dose. Plus you won’t know which treatment is working and why waste the money. If your cat has any preexisting health issues check with your vet before giving them any supplement. In reality, you should check with your vet before giving them any supplement, but if it’s make for cats it is probably safe. Do your own diligence though, be sure you are confident in what you are giving your pet.

Lastly, if nothing else succeeds in soothing your kitty, there are prescription anxiety medications. It is very rare to not be able to get a cat to chill out, but if you’ve given everything above a good shot and a couple of tries. Talk to your vet to see if prescription medication is right for your cat.

Give the 5Ls a try and see what you can do to make your cat a little happier to see if they start using the box. If you are dealing with an old habbit, you likely need to do a deep cleaning to get rid of the embedded smell. I plan to write a post on cleaning up after pet messes, so be on the lookout for that post soon!

But what about Fezzik? What happened to his poopy-pee-everywhere self? His wonderful owners went through a myriad of solutions, including some stress relief supplements (Zylkene), a probiotic/prebiotic, a regular ‘ol litter in a low-sided litter box, and tons of patience and love seems to have satisfied this little guy. I’m happy to say that there is a happy ending for this sweet baby. In fact, it’s not an ending, it’s a start of a beautiful friendship with his new family.

Have you had kitty potty problems? How did you solve them? Let me know what worked for you!