Cat advice?

[thistlechaser]

I'm out of ideas, but I'm posting just in case my lovely flist has any good ones.

My cat is very old (17-ish, my vet says she's "ancient"). She has a hard time walking around (poor girl sometimes falls over while walking, her back end gives out). I decided to buy her a new cat box. The old one was "normal" in that she had to lift her legs way high to get in and out, the new one is for handicapped cats -- the front is maybe an inch or two high, the other three walls are normal sized. It has a cover on it. (Her old box had a cover as well, I've always used covered boxes.)

Problem is, she's taken to standing inside the box, but sticking her butt out the door so she's peeing outside the box. She poops in the back corner (she used to do both in the back corners), I have no idea why she's turning around to pee.

Today she had three paws inside, and one back paw outside the box when she peed, so she peed on the edge of the box (and floor, of course).

I've started putting "weewee pads" (those puppy training pads) outside the door of the box to catch her pee, but that requires me to change them a few times a day.

Any idea on how to get her to go back to peeing inside the box/turning around to facing the opening? I don't want to bother or disturb her too much when she uses the box, the last thing in the world I want is her deciding the box isn't someplace she wants to use anymore.

The box is very slightly smaller than her old one. The cover is different in that the old ones were rectangle but this new one is curved. This is the box and this is the cover. I could try removing the cover, but then I'd worry she'd both pee and poop over the edge...

Comments

[trickofthedark.livejournal.com]

She has a hard time walking around (poor girl sometimes falls over while walking, her back end gives out).

If she's got cat arthritis, maybe try liquid glucosimine. http://www.synflexamerica.com/pet/synflex.php

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Cat arthritis, yep. Glucosamine's on my list to ask my vet about! She's on a few different meds, so I don't want to toss anything new on on my own without being sure it won't interact.

[trickofthedark.livejournal.com]

The liquid glucosamine is supposed to work way better than the pills. The glucosamine vitamin pills worked for a while for our cat though and were fish-flavored, so she thought they were a treat.

Our vet had not really heard of glucosamine and put our cat on Metacam (http://www.metacamkills.com/), which destroyed her organs. I only found out about liquid glucosamine after our cat died. I guess it depends on how up to date your vet is, and maybe where they are located. I've now got the strong impression we are out in a backwater. *shrugs*

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my cat is on Metacam, but we had to talk about taking her off or not. It can really harm the kidneys (of which she has only one left!), but the problem is her quality of life without it. :/ We reduced her dose and we're going to do frequent blood tests on her to keep an eye for damage.

It's kind of "funny", I called the vet asking if we could up her dosage on the same day the vet got the info on its bad side effects.

I'm sorry to hear about your cat though, your vet should have had the info to share with you. *snug*

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

Hm, even though it's slightly smaller, that may be what's tweaking her out, especially if the old box had a more opaque cover and it was darker, so she couldn't see how small it was.

I would try taking off the cover and see if she does poo on the sides (leave the puppy pads around just in case), but it may be that she had the same problem my cat did - my cat was very small as a young cat, but grew up big, and once she got a certain size, she was convinced she COULDN'T turn around in the box. Does she back out of the box when she leaves, or turn around inside the box after going on the floor? If she backs out, I would bet she thinks she can't turn around inside, and maybe leaving off the cover would make her change her mind.

This was the problem with my brother's cat, too! Hope it helps!

Also you are a good mom for trying to help her kitty arthritis by making her door lower.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

When she poos, she enters and turns around, her head out the door and her butt to the back. When she pees, she enters and just stops and squats. In the old box, she did the same thing for both (in, turn around, go).

I think I'll try taking the top down just once and see if it helps. I like it being covered for my own reasons, but I'd rather see the dirty box than clean up the floor all the time!

<3

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

Oooo, I missed that part! Has she been to the vet lately? Does her pee smell or look worse/oranger?

I ask because my cat was pooing in the box fine, but peeing outside the box, and it was because she had a urinary tract infection and I didn't realize the difference in her pee - I only notice it now that she is cured, and it smells a lot less strongly and she goes in the box again. So if she hasn't been to the vet recently, and taking the cover off doesn't work, maybe also have her checked for a UI. I totally thought I would notice when mine got one, but I didn't. I AM THE WORST MOM EVER.

<3

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

You're not a bad kittymom! People don't generally pay that much attention to cat pee! I have to say, mine doesn't smell too bad. I'd almost think it smelled too weak (but she has only one kidney, so that might have to do with it).

We're due to go back to the vet after Christmas (she has to go in every three months), so I'm going to run all this by her, too.

[kaelash.livejournal.com]

Dunno what could be the issue, might just be a smaller box than she's used to. My uncle has a circular one for his cat, it has a ramp to go up into it and... lemme see...

http://www.amazon.com/Booda-Dome-Cleanstep-Cat-Titanium/dp/B0002DH8L4

It looks like that one, but it's not that exact one. His boy was having some floor issues, too, and that seemed to fix it. :x

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, I looked at that one! I was tempted, but it was much bigger than the one we have now, which means I'd trip over it and stub my toe on it and stuff. (It's right across from my toilet, I have to step around it to get in/out of my shower -- apartment life!)

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

perhaps you could switch back to the old box, but give her an easier way to get to it, like maybe a couple wide steps made of stacked flat cardboard or a folded towel?

I suspect the step up is harder than the step down (since the level of the litter inside is a couple three inches higher than the floor outside. But having a little bit of step-down might give her the cue that the edge is there.

Also, maybe try the new one with cover off... the cover may be confusing her or making it harder to turn around.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Good thought! That's what I had been doing before switching to this box. I went to Good Will (or one of those places) and bought a bunch of big hardcover books to make a step out of. Turned out she wasn't very steady on it, though it did help. I think if I switch back to the old box I'll somehow make a ramp instead of a step.

I took the cover off last night, and she peed in the back twice! This doesn't mean it's fixed for sure, but it's a good sign! If we go a week without her peeing in the front, I'm going to call it fixed.