# So Ophelia has decided that the litter tray is a poor substitute for the hall floor



## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

Ophelia (girl), by far our quietest and dainty cat who is about 11 month and 3 weeks old has recently decided that the litter tray is no longer a place for deposits. We have two others, Yoda and Spock (boys) and all three have been "done" at 6 months. Until the last week or so she has used the tray just fine. The litter hasn't changed in over 7 months.

Since we got her at 9 weeks there have always been a few instances of her peeing on my clothes that have been left on the bedroom floor. She has stopped but that is simply down to us not letting her in the room which isn't an ideal situation as we do have the other two.

About a week ago I noticed her pawing at the ground at the open door to our downstairs cupboard where the tumble dryer lives. Knowing that she does that after she's eaten and been to the loo I looked in and sure enough we have a poo sitting in the corner which is quite secluded and hard to get to (possibly why she chose it?) while sorting that mess out I found a ball of tissue in there soaked in wee which once removed seemed to get rid of the bulk of the odour.

Yesterday I noticed a stain at the bottom of the hall lining paper (not had the time to decorate it yet!) and when I pulled the carpet back I nearly passed out from the stench. An area a good meter square right in front of the front door is soaked down either side.

We have tried to work out what is causing her not to use the trays (located in the hall about 3m away from the front door where she now pees). Possible reasons we have come up with are:

She was disturbed by one of the other two while on the toilet and now doesn't like it.
She feels that the trays are in too open a place.
About 10 days ago I started putting a little milk down which I know she has been drinking likes it's going out of fashion. While her stools are not showing signs of diarrhoea I am wondering if its either having an incontinent effect or if she was simply drinking far too much. 

Possible solutions we have thought up are:
Get another tray that is covered, maybe she is looking for seclusion
Allow them outside in the hope that she does it less indoors (at this point only Yoda has gone out and that was by mistake. When we realised he'd been out for 4 hours and was cowering under my car on the drive, we know the different views on the subject and took ours)
Stop putting down milk (since realised that they shouldn't really have it anyway)

The biggest problem with it all is that because we cant trust her not to pee wherever she wants at the moment we have to shut certain doors in the house. That in turn is keeping the other two who we have never seen do anything anywhere from roaming around.


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2011)

How many litter trays do you have as the suggested amount is one per cat plus one spare, but yes it could be that she doesn't feel safe or secure in the litter tray, have you cleaned the areas where she goes with a proper cleaner to break down the urine, I would get a feliway too to she if thats helps.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Just a random thought .In the link to cheap cat litter you say you have been using chick crumb for past 6 weeks.Could this have a connection.You state you have not changed litter in 7 months but one contradicts the other


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## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

GreyHare said:


> How many litter trays do you have as the suggested amount is one per cat plus one spare, but yes it could be that she doesn't feel safe or secure in the litter tray, have you cleaned the areas where she goes with a proper cleaner to break down the urine, I would get a feliway too to she if thats helps.


We had 2 and as i said they have been fine. I have picked up another and there is already a fourth on the way. In total two will be covered and two will not.

Thus far we have done

a) fit collars to get them used to them. If they must go outside to prevent the issue then at least they will have something to show they belong to someone (already chipped)
b) ripped up the hall carpet, cleaned the floor and skirts (concrete floor is a blessing for once!)
c) fitted new laminate flooring which will hopefully add to the deterrent (since it'll just pool at her feet) and also looks much nicer.
d) put one of the open litter trays in the cupboard that she was using. That instance definitely wasn't spraying as it was also poo. She's already used that tray which is a good sign. Its out of the way and so its of no inconvenience to us if that's where she wants to go.



buffie said:


> Just a random thought .In the link to cheap cat litter you say you have been using chick crumb for past 6 weeks.Could this have a connection.You state you have not changed litter in 7 months but one contradicts the other


That thread is a little old now. I started it in July! But we are still using chick crumbs. and excellent and cheap litter!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Sorry read the link ,didnt notice/pay attention to the date.


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## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

buffie said:


> Sorry read the link ,didnt notice/pay attention to the date.


No worries 

We'll shes been using the tray in the cupboard which is great. She deffo did a poo (she has never ever covered a poo up with litter so we know its her. usually the boys come and cover it up with little gas masks on!) and I saw he wee in it too.

There was a small patch (about 2p sized) of pink goo on the laminate floor this morning where she used to wee. There wasn't anything else around it so i'm not sure if its a bit of blood from her weeing there again, or if its just one of them bringing up a little bit of food or something. The wife is calling the vets today though just to make sure she is healthy.

So far so good though.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Darrent said:


> No worries
> 
> There was a small patch (about 2p sized) of pink goo on the laminate floor this morning where she used to wee. There wasn't anything else around it so i'm not sure if its a bit of blood from her weeing there again, or if its just one of them bringing up a little bit of food or something. The wife is calling the vets today though just to make sure she is healthy.
> 
> So far so good though.


Sounds to me as though some one ,most likely your girl has a UTI.I would try to find out who was responsible and make an appointment for a vet visit pretty soon.keep us updated.


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

I would agree with Buffie here. Sounds like she may well have a UTI. I'd also stop giving milk. The additional litter trays may well help, but depending on how long it's been going on you might have to start toilet training from scratch!


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## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

The wife phoned today and said she saw another little pink patch on the floor. Looks like its where she is sitting down after having a wee. 

She's been using her tray since we put it in the cupboard though so that's a plus. She's in at the vets on Monday to check her out.

Milk has stopped since we found all the wee.

She seems as playful as ever so we're hopeful that she's not in too much pain or anything. She isn't making any noises while urinating either so hopefully we've caught it early. I'm sure the vets will tell us exactly what the deal is.


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## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

The vet thinks its most likly cystitis and has given her an antibiotic shot that will apparently last a couple of weeks as well as give us some anti inflammatory liquid which we can either drop in her mouth of put on her food.

Also suggested she only has wet food for a while and if possible add more moisture to it. Also suggested if we are cooking any fish then to put the water that comes out into their bowl as they are more likly to drink it.

Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Thanks for the update,hopefully she will be feeling better soon and back to her old self.Definitely up the fluid intake and wet food it will help a lot.


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## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

Well its day 4 since the vet. She's not pee'd anywhere bad (as far as we can tell) which is great. The hall and cupboard floors/walls were scrubbed before laying the new laminate so hopefully she relationship with them and her bladder is gone. She's been using the litter trays every time and it seems to be about the same amount as the boys.

totally unrelated but to do with trays, i ordered a new covered tray from zoo plus without measuring it. It turned up and if it had a lockable door we could use it to transport all three to the vet! its massive but they all seem to use it so we can't complain too much.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Glad all seems to be well.Just as well you have found a cheap litter ,by the sound of the new tray it will take a bit of filling :001_smile:


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## Darrent (Jul 14, 2010)

buffie said:


> Glad all seems to be well.Just as well you have found a cheap litter ,by the sound of the new tray it will take a bit of filling :001_smile:


It took probably a good 6kg to get it to a reasonable level! fortunately because you only have to scoop out the balls of wee and droppings you don't go through too fast.

She's been going in the 4 trays every time since the vets and we've been giving her a chicken or tuna treat (can't remember the brand, essentially dry powdery lumps of flesh) every time we see her doing so. If negative reinforcement doesn't work I'm not sure why positive would but she seems to be coming to the kitchen expecting a treat whenever she has gone and we are out there.

Last night they spent the night on our bed for the first time in probably a month with no noticeable signs of problems. Still keeping them out in the day when we are not in there just in case.

Also while I've been off this week with the glorious weather I've been letting them go out into the back garden (not forcing them, just leaving the door open) for short periods while I'm out there. The first time it was only 5 minutes and it took them 5 minutes to walk about 5 human paces. Spock quite resolutly sat by the door in the dining room just looking as if he was saying "i'm happy in here" until the other two were about 4 feet away and he finally took a step out.

Yesterday while putting the washing out they had all ventured the length of the garden sniffing everything.

It all looks good!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

All sounding positive :thumbsup:.Sounds like the same treats my Meeko loves "Thrive" they are not cheap but the cats seem to love [email protected] do a similar one Purely Scrummy chicken chunks at less than half the price.


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