My older cat is lifting her butt and peeing out the box!

[hippywife]

We've tried just about everything. We've gotten a large, high sided plastic storage box and cut a hole in the end for a door. She still peed out the door- would not turn around. Went back to a regular litter box, only larger, and that didn't help.

Yesterday, I got one of those very large area plastic storage boxes, the sides are high but not too high for her to climb over (older cat- 12) about 6". She did fine with it yesterday and then we found she had peed over the side in the middle of the night.

I would try the Boodha box because it would seem to force a turn around, but I'm thinking she'd be afraid to go in it. She just gets all of her paws in the box, not far enough in, and lifts her butt. I even tried putting a large black dot on the wall with permanent marker hoping it would draw her further into the box thinking her vision might be the issue.

She never did this before until very recently. We have two smaller cats under 1 year old that we got as rescues this summer and an open floor plan house so she can't have her own litter box. There's no way to keep the other two out of it.

I need to call the vet this week because I'm fairly certain she's become diabetic. She has begun showing all the signs: weight loss, constant thirst and need to urinate, back legs not operating properly. I've already switched them all over to a low carb wet food morning and evening, and leave only a little of a high protein dry with veggies for grazing through the day. She wasn't really thrilled with it at first but she gets hungry, she eats it.

Thanx for listening to my tale of woe and exasperation. :hi:

[huskerlaw]

1. My cats do that as well.

I've only found one thing that works without fail...buy a Rubbermaid tote and cut a hole in the lid. That sounds odd, and I was not at all convinced that they would use it, but I have 3 cats (one of which is scared of EVERYTHING) and none of them even hesitated to jump right in. Since your baby is older, you might need to give her a step, or some way to easily get onto the box. Good luck! :hi:

[hippywife]

2. I saw that idea when I was

Googling around for a solution and a step would help her get in, but I'm not sure what would help her get back out. Her back legs are pretty stiff.

Thanx for the suggestion, tho. I think we're just going to have to put some type of mat or something on the floor around the box and just deal with it. :hi:

[huskerlaw]

3. Perhaps some puppy pads?

You know, the little pads people use when they're training puppies? That would probably soak everything up! :)

[hippywife]

4. I was thinking of those

but I hate the waste. I think we're going to revert back to putting the lid it came with under it but sticking out several inches. We had originally done that with the storage box one thinking it would lessen the litter getting tracked out but it did a pretty good job at catching the pee and it can be reused rather than cause a lot of extra waste in the landfill and it's cheaper, too.

[radfringe]

14. our 22-yr old cat does same thing

we put down a sheet of plastic and newspaper under the litter boxes..

newspapers cheaper than pee-pads

[roody]

5. I have an old diabetic Tom cat. He was sort of wild in my (his)

yard when I moved into my house. He was diagnosed with diabetes last April, and I decided not to give him daily insulin. I was not that committed to him. I do feed him the best food available and baby him all he can stand. He has remained the same low weight and awkward walking since then. Since it is winter, I make him stay in at night, and he pees all over. If he does use a box, he misses. He likes to pee on a pile of dirty clothes, so I put a towel down and let him pee on that. He has peed into a couple of shoes left out. I have to be very careful now about what is on the floor. He eats a lot. At first I thought he was going to die any day, but he carries on. He likes to be outdoors. He is still king of the yard. All the cat visitors still respect him.

[Blue Gardener]

6. Recently diagnosed diabetic cat here

The vet put him on pills instead of shots and he's doing great. It's much cheaper, and much easier than shots. Ask the vet if you can try the pills first.

[bain_sidhe]

7. This worked for us

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755434



You can't see it from the picture, but the front "notch" extends out quite a ways and slants back into the box. It takes a pretty extreme contortion of the "squat" to get the business end of his butt past the end of the slanted notch. Ours has done it once or twice, though.

[tosh]

10. I have 1 of these...

my other 2 are the giant lidded ones but I got this for my 16 y/o for the same reason - she can't/won't squat anymore. It's the only box she uses now and it works pretty well.

I keep a (washable) cotton throw rug underneath it.

edit sp.

[bain_sidhe]

11. I put a disposable puppy pee pad underneath it

Yes, I know it's not environmentally responsible to use a disposable instead of a washable, but the one time I tried washing a cat-urine soaked towel (actually from a cat carrier, not the litterbox), it took me about six cycles to get the smell out of the washer. I figured the waste of water and energy more than off-set the waste of landfill space and paper. Plus, the pee pad had a deodorizer in it, so it could take a couple of "hits" before being tossed. Not so with the towel.

[japple]

8. I had a similar problem with an elderly cat.

When I took her to the vet to make sure she didn't have any urinary issues, the vet told me than when they get older, their joints get stiff which makes it painful for them to squat. Also makes getting into and out of the litter box difficult. Maybe a shallow litterbox with some sort of waterproof tray underneath. I have used a large cardboard box cut down to the depth of about 2" and lined with newspaper or plastic. Poor little kitty--it ain't easy getting elderly.

Edited for typo.

[emilyg]

9. This old granny understands your cat.

[hippywife]

12. Thank you, japple!

I think you've hit upon the very issue, dear! It's her joint pain not letting her squat! Brilliant! She is doing much better since I switched her onto high-protein wet food. Fewer accidents and she's putting some weight on slowly (I don't over do it.)

I think I will start her back on a half a baby aspirin a day. That may take care of it and make her feel better, too.

Thanx, sweetie! You're a genius! :hug:

[Butch350]

13. Get a bigger box.