Ever since we adopted our cat, she always has peed on the edge of the litterbox. This was ongoing for 6 years. On a whim, I bought finer litter and she stopped this behaviour immediately. Just thought I’d share.
Ever since we adopted our cat, she always has peed on the edge of the litterbox. This was ongoing for 6 years. On a whim, I bought finer litter and she stopped this behaviour immediately. Just thought I’d share.
Huh, one of our cats does this too, just sticks her butt out the entrance and opens the flood gates. She’s not showing any signs of medical problems so we’re kinda stumped. I’m going to buy finer litter and see if it helps!
Mine started this and then slowly over months started peeing in my shower and in front of the litter box. Turns out she has arthritis in her back (she’s about 20 now!). So days when things hurt more she would find alternate ways to pee. Now she’s on a shot for the arthritis and no more peeing where she’s not supposed to.
The other cat though, he just enjoys being half in the litter box. He’s a little bit weird though.
Solensia?
My previous cat had arthritis too and it resulted in similar problems, so I did consider it. But this cat is very young, and not showing any mobility issues. However, she is definitely a bit weird, lol.
Cats can have litter box issues for so many reasons it’s crazy.
Like, my vet was telling me about one where the cat would piss on the floor if the family left the laundry they were folding on the couch.
Sometimes they do it just because they’re pissed at you.
Our newest kitten will shit on the bed if I take too long to go into the bedroom to play with her at night. Still trying to figure out how to correct that behavior apart from giving into her demands. (Vet says she’s perfectly healthy, told me the laundry story)
The best thing I can recommend is only changing one thing at a time. Litter is a very easy thing to change, and there are a bunch of different materials out there now.
We had a cat who liked to adopt a wide stance that always ended up putting her tail off the edge, so we got her a larger litterbox and that problem ended. Another time, we had an old cat that started peeing outside the litterbox. We had her checked for medical issues (UTI, diabetes, etc) and none of the usual suspects. But she did have arthritis. So we got a slightly larger box with a really wide but really low front lip so she could get in and out easier. The problem stopped immediately.
Yeah, I actually wondered about arthritis because my previous cat had that problem. But this cat is just 2 years old and she’s not showing any other signs of having mobility problems so I don’t think that’s it.
My girl was doing this. We started her on Solensia for arthritis and it stopped immediately. Turns out it was hurting her to squat down.
Exact same situation here. My old vet was useless. New one recognized it as soon as she saw her walk.
Had a similar experience with our dog. His toe swelled like crazy and we didn’t want to take him to my vet because we have more pets than the city allows, and my wife’s vet went off into MAGA land.
So we took him to several other vets, spending about $1500 with no answers except a shrug and “try giving him benadry” l, before we finally took him to my vet.
Took all of 60 seconds for him to say, “oh, he tore a tendon and has arthritis.” Gave him an arthritis shot and he was fine in a few days.
I need to talk to my vet about Solensia (I sound like a commercial). My cat will be 15-16 in November (don’t exactly know, we estimate he was 2-3 when my wife ripped him from the streets), and the vet thinks he’s got some arthritis, and he’s definitely slowed down a bit, and has trouble cleaning certain spots on his fur, which has led to matting. They gave us a pill that we could open and sprinkle on food, but he hates it, even when I cut the dose in half, then in quarter. Refused entire meals because of it. I’d never heard of Solensia, but the idea of a monthly shot is intriguing, so worth the conversation.
What’s the pill? Lyrica? Meloxicam?
If you’re in the US try Greenies pill pockets for cats. They’re highly flavored little dough things, not super expensive. My cats love them and now they’re a very special treat (for when a very special treat is needed the most).
Pro tip, though: don’t try to put the capsule in the pill pocket like in the picture. It’s a fool’s game. They say you can but it’s a waste of time, even when it’s not cracked or banged up, which is rare.
Your best bet is to ignore the “pocket” altogether and flatten the whole thing into a thin, even, round pancake (maybe 1" to 1.25") with your thumb into the palm of one hand, dump the contents of the capsule in the middle, and then carefully bring up the sides like you’re making dim sum. Pinch the top around the med to close completely and then roll it gently around in your palm.
This method also lets you use all the broken ones in the bottom; just squish as many as you need all together. If they’re a little dry add a tiny bit of water and they’ll mash together as if new.
If there’s too much med and you can’t close it, use two, or however many. I had one pill from a vet that was far too big to just shove down his throat to start with, and I had to quarter it into four to use the pill pockets, but they worked.
They can be a pain in the ass, but as long as no material escapes from the pill cover I make with them I’ve never had a cat refuse one. I have, however, had every cat I ever owned tell me to fuck ALL the way off with anything sprinkled on their food. It’s worth a try if you already have the meds.
Pilling a cat is a skill but one worth learning. I had two elderly cats who each needed pills and both hated it in their foods. I hold the kitty in my lap, pull back their head and poke a finger between their front teeth and release the pill down their throat. Then stroke the throat gently and release, and give them a high value treat right away. First time is rough but it gets better and becomes routine for everybody. If the cost ends up being a big difference it’s something to consider
They make a pill holder thing with a plunger that works extremely well. You don’t have to do the throat rubbing thing if you get it past the tongue bulge at the back of their mouth, they’ll reflexively swallow it.
I believe it’s called the Pill Popper
I’ve tried it, but personally I wasn’t able to handle it, the cat, and holding the cat’s mouth when trying to use the plunger. It was just way easier for me to hold the pill in the same hand holding their head and just drop em in.
Highly recommend signing up for the zoetis pet rewards if you go this route. Get some money back. Side note, thanks for reminding me to submit my invoice!
Cats don’t like their tails touching anything when they go. So if you have an enclosed litterbox where the only way cat doesn’t feel like their ass is confined and touching stuff, they’ll stick it out the door. So you can try taking the lid off, or try taping a washcloth over the opening blocking 1/2 of the top so that the cat butt will touch that in hopes that this is more disagreeable than just being all the way in the box.
We tried taking the lid off but she would do the exact same thing, so that didn’t work unfortunately. And we already got the biggest litterbox we could find. If the finer litter doesn’t work I’ll try the washcloth though.