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If your cat suddenly stops using his litterbox, choosing instead to deposit his “gifts” behind the sofa, in the bathtub, or under the table, your overriding concern is going to be how to get the cat back into the habit using the box.
The most common recommendation is to immediately rush your cat to the veterinarian, since urinary tract infections are a common cause of litterbox problems. Before you spend that extra money, you should take a few minutes to track down other possible sources of the problem, which can be corrected quickly and inexpensively. However, if your cat is urinating in many small, frequent puddles, the most likely cause is an infection and he should be taken to the vet immediately.
The first thing you need to decide is if your cat is actually urinating in an inappropriate spot, or if he/she is “spraying”. There IS a difference. Urination is characterized by a puddle on the floor, while spraying is accomplished by the cat backing up to the target, and spraying a stream of urine on it. Males and females will both spray; though it’s more common in the male. Spraying is the feline way of marking territory. A cat can be driven to mark his territory by a variety of influences, ranging from something as simple as a dominance dispute with another feline member of the household, to catching sight of a “threatening” neighborhood cat outside the window. Though you may know that the neighborhood cat isn’t gaining entrance, your cat isn’t taking any chances; he’s marking his territory inside the house now.
Spaying and neutering greatly reduce the incidences of spraying, as does playing “peacemaker” with a pair of feuding felines. Lots of petting, reassurance and treats will go a long way towards helping the two get along together, though they may need to be separated temporarily until you get it worked out. As a last resort, you may need to get a mild tranquilizer from the veterinarian to ease the sprayer's anxiety.
Once you’ve established that your cat isn’t simply marking territory, the next step is discovering the cause of the inappropriate behavior. Cats are creatures of habit, and some cats are much more resistant to change than others. Have you changed the type of litter recently? A cat that is used to a coarse litter may not like the feel of a sandy, scoopable litter, and one that is used to the fine textured scoopable may turn up his nose at that bargain brand clay litter you just put in his box. In this case, simply refill the litterbox with the kind of litter the cat is used to. If you’ve decided that you’d rather use the type of litter that the cat has rejected, simply begin mixing the new litter in with the old. Over the course of a few scoopings, the old litter will gradually be replaced with the new litter, and by the time you need to completely change the litter, the cat should be quite comfortable with the new kind.
Have you changed the litterbox’s location? If your cat is using the floor where his litterbox used to be, it’s obviously not a medical problem. The cat is letting you know he doesn’t appreciate having his bathroom relocated. If the location isn’t important, just put the box back where it was. If you must have the box in a different place, make the change gradually. Put the box in it’s original spot, then over a period of days, move the box closer to the new location. Always keep it in the line of site from its last location, so when the cat goes to the place where it was, he can see it in the new spot. A cat prefers a private area, out of the line of traffic. Try to locate the box in an out of the way corner that is easy for the cat to get to. Sometimes simply using a hooded litterbox will be good enough for the cat.
Seemingly inconsequential things like the depth of the litter can annoy your cat. Did you put in more than usual to cut back on the amount of cleaning required? Did you run out of litter before it was filled to the normal level? In this case, simply add or remove litter until the regular depth is reached. Two inches of litter in the box seems to be the norm. Cats tend to like to dig all the way to the bottom of the box, dragging the litter up and over the waste. A deeper level of litter will make it too hard for your cat to reach the bottom of the box. Too little litter, and the cat will have to dig and scratch in too many locations in the litterbox, causing him to give up in frustration and decide that next time he’ll just go behind the couch.
Clean the litterbox at least once daily. Cats dislike trying to cover up their latest addition while having to evade past deposits. This is especially true in multicat households. Their own is bad enough, but cats will draw the line at having to dig through a housemate’s deposits in order to do their business. Some cats are so picky that if they’ve urinated in the box just once, they consider it too dirty to use again, which leads to defecation in inappropriate places. The most common seems to be the bathtub. The logical explanation for this seems to be that the bathtub is cleaned immediately upon discovery of the “gift”, and the cat can count on that area always being clean and fresh enough for his easily offended sensibilities.
Once you’ve ruled out any of the above as a probable cause, it’s time to take the cat to the veterinarian, where a simple urinalysis will determine if the cat has an infection. Infections will cause a sudden, painful urge to urinate, and the cat will listen to that urge wherever he happens to be at the moment. A treatment of antibiotics will clear up the infection, and your cat will resume his litterbox usage a day or two after treatment begins.
Once you’ve made sure the litterbox is private, suitably filled with the proper litter, and in the right location, keep the cat away from the area he’s been using. If you’re unable to close off that room easily, you’ll have to keep the cat in a limited area. Use an odor neutralizer to remove all traces of the urine or defecation. A freshening product will NOT work, as it just masks odors. If the odor is not completely removed, the cat will continue to use that spot whenever it is convenient for him. Once the odor has been removed, slowly allow the cat access into the forbidden areas, praising him when he continues to use his litterbox. Within a few weeks he should be completely re-trained in proper litterbox usage.
If you remember that cats, like people, prefer to do their toileting in a private, clean facility, and take steps to provide that environment, then your cat should once again willingly use his litterbox with no objections.
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