By far, the most common cat behavior call that I’ve ever gotten is about cats not using the litterbox.  There are several things that you can do, hopefully this can help you prevent problems if you aren’t having any, and give some suggestions for helping if you are already having problems.

First and Foremost

 Make an appointment with your veterinarian.  Veterinarians are an incredibly talented and compassionate group of people, however, they are not mind readers.  Tell your vet that something is going wrong with your cat’s toliet behavior.  Medical problems can range from diabetes to urinary tract infections, and lots of things in between.  If your  cat has a medical problem, no amount of behavior modification will fix the problem behavior until the medical problem has been addressed.  

If your cat is not spayed (for females) or neutered (for males) he or she could be sending out the feline version of a personal ad.  Make an appointment for sterilization right away!   Many places offer reduced rates if money is a concern.

Once you’ve ruled out medical reasons, you can look at some other common reasons for cats to stop using the box.

Placement

Placement of the litterbox is vital.  Make sure that the box is easily accessible to your cat.  Don’t put the box somewhere that is too far out of the way, or in a place where your cat can’t get to it when nature “calls”.  If you have other pets (particularly dogs) make sure that the litterbox is in an area that’s a little more private or that the dog doesn’t have constant access to.  (As a side note:  Dog’s love to eat cat feces, LOVE it.  The best way to prevent this is to limit access.)

Once you’ve  chosen a spot for the litterbox, leave it there.   How would you feel if you woke up one morning only to find that your bathroom had been moved to the basement, or that the stove was where the toliet once was?  Cats like consistency and need to know that when they need to go, the bathroom is where it’s supposed to be.

Cleaning

People call me with this very problem almost every day.  And they always tell me that they clean the box “regularly”.  Cleanliness is truly in the eye of the beholder.  In your case, the beholder is your cat.  Remember, the litterbox has to be clean enough for your cat, not for you.  Some cats are more fastidious than others.  Some cats don’t care so much.  Some cats are ok with weekly scooping, others daily, still others must have a clean box for each, ahem, visit.  Think about this in human terms for a minute.  Would you use a toilet that was only flushed once a day?  How about once a week?  And what if multiple people used that toilet?  Which segues nicely to my next point…

How many boxes do you need?

The general rule of thumb is that you need to have one litter box per cat, plus one.  That means that if you have 3 cats, you should have 4 boxes.  I personally have 3 cats and 2 boxes, but I do a lot of scooping, or else I deal with the (messy) consequences.  So, if you don’t have room for the number of boxes you are likely to need, be prepared to scoop more often.

Litter choices

Choices for litter are more numerous than ever before.  You can get cat litter from recycled newspaper, from corn, wheat and plain old clay litter or scoopable and the choices of scents can be mind boggling.  Again, when choosing a substrate for your litterbox, choose with your cat in mind.  In general, cats prefer the sandier litters (scoopable) and litters without heavy scents or perfumes.  (Use a little baking soda and scoop daily to cut down on odors.)  Once you have a litter that your cat likes, stick to it.  Don’t keep buying different brands or types.  If you want to try a different type of litter, put an additional box with the new litter in it and see which box the cat chooses.  (Also, buy the smallest possible container of the new type.)  Stick with what kitty chooses.

Unfriendly roommates

Cats are very vulnerable when they’re in the litterbox.  If you have multiple cats and one cat attacks the other (or has ever attacked the other while in the box) your cat may be a little reluctant to return to the “scene of the crime”.  Make sure that the ability to use the box doesn’t result in a cat fight.

 If you need additional help, call a behavior specialist.   Cats are intelligent and wonderful creatures, but sometimes the only way they can tell us that something is wrong is by altering their normal behavior.  As their caregivers, it’s up to us to try to figure out exactly what they’re trying to tell us.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Dogs and Cats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.