# Help!Blind cat toilet training...



## LisaCat (Jan 23, 2009)

Hi everyone,new here 
About 4 months ago I saw an ad in the paper fro an abandoned blind kitty that had been found,and needed a home.It tugged at my heart strings,and I knew she was meant to be with me.I picked her up from the vet,and fell in love,called her Betsy.The vets seem to think she is around 6-8 years old,and aren't sure if she was born blind or not.(She is completely blind).I absoloutely adore Betsy,she is so loving,loves her mama,and has adapted very well,especially considering we have 3 other very lively young kitties.

One problem-I am still battling with the toilet training!!!Thing is,I am sure she knows where the litter boxes are-most of the time she makes her way there on her own.I never move them.But more often than I like,(but not ALL the time),she seems to just not care,and do her business right where she is.Like in the laundry basket,or on the bathroom mat.She also pees on me while I'm sleeping :mad2:.She never pees on my boyfriend,only me.This doesn't happen all the time,as I said,but that's what baffles me more!I often take her to pee,and she often goes by herself.I adore her either way,and even though I'm going through more laundry than a new mom,I can't be mad at her.If anyone can PLEASE help!!!!!!!Anything will do.


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## Siamese Kelly (Jan 6, 2008)

Hi and welcome Lisa to you and BetsyGod bless you for adopting this lady,i would have said MOT feline check at the vets,but since 4mths ago i assume she has been,i know kitts like soft things to piddle on as it absorbs,wonder if her sense of taste/smell has gone hence she gets confused because you take her to the loo regularly she associates you with piddlingI know strange,other than possible health issues to do with her urine i'm lost sorry,but hopefully someone else will be able to help


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

Bizarre as this sounds she may have a problem with her bladder/urethra, where her bladder 'full' sensors don't function properly (or a similar internal sensor problem) and doesn't always know in good enough time when she needs to go to the loo, and so goes where she is.

Try making a note of when she's been to the litter tray and when she pees in the wrong places. If she's peeing in the wrong place relatively soon after she's already pee'd in the litter tray, it's possibly the above, where there is pee left but she doesn't sense it while on the litter tray and leaves early and hence feels the need to pee without any warning later on (usually within an hour). This may also be why she pees on you when she's sleepy. She doesn't feel the urge until it's too late, i would hazard a guess she sleeps on you more than your OH and so doesn't do it on him cos she's not on him as much. 

Cat's are pretty intelligent as your blind kitty has shown, i wouldn't think she associates you as a good place to pee.  

I would take her to the vets and see if they can check her out more thoroughly (hope your insured) or have any other training techniques that might work better for her. As kelly said, kittens will pee on anything soft, try and make her peeing experiences on these unwanted areas as unpleasant as possible.
You could try scenting the litter trays with something smelly that she likes; like catnip or a cat calming spray (not the difuser as this will penetrate the whole area) and the laundry basket etc with something she doesn't, like citrus rind in a fabric bag. Something that she can associate with the right area to pee if her sense of smell is lessened.
Or keep a water spray handy, loudly say NO and spray her behind when she starts peeing in the wrong place. She'll soon associate this with an 'unsafe' place to pee and should stop.

Hope she manages to sort herself out soon, without costly vet help


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## LisaCat (Jan 23, 2009)

Thanks you guys,I have closed her out of our bedroom at nite,and removed most soft cushy items from the floor.I also get up at 2 am to take her to pee lol.I think she's just an old lady,she is still peeing occasionally,but I love her to bits,and if it comes with having her in my life,so be it,we'll keep working at it.She has been fully checked at the vet,i really think she is just old,and blind haha.

Thanks everyone:thumbup:


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## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

How many litter trays do you have? Golden rule is one litter tray for each cat plus one. Make sure she doesn't have to go far to go to a tray wherever she is in the house. Also try getting feilway plug inns and putting rescue remedy in her water as that will help to calm her down.
I would also get her checked at the vet as she may have a UTI cats with UTIS often don't go in their litter tray as they associate the pain they felt when going to the toilet with the litter tray and often prefer to go on soft things like your bed etc.


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