# Blind cat won't use litter tray



## Kat859 (May 15, 2014)

My boyfriend and I own a blind cat, Tara, and she is 12 years old.

Problem is she has not been using the litter tray since she lost her sight about a month ago.

Basically she used to live with my boyfriend's mum in a bungalow until last year then when his mum moved out she couldn't take Tara with her so she went to stay with a friend of ours in a small house which did have stairs.

She stayed inside the whole time (she had been an outdoor cat) but loved it and was very affectionate with the people she was with.

Just before she came back to us however she stopped going in the litter tray and started bumping into stuff.

When we got her back we took her to the vets and they did loads of tests on her blood and deduced that she has either had a stroke or has a brain tumour which is affecting her sight. Doesn't look like it is going to come back either.

I know it takes a while to get used to the new house but she still bumps into things all the time (her whiskers don't seem to be stopping her before she hits the wall) and has actually got worse using the tray. At first she went next to it (she knows where it is) but now she just goes wherever she wants in the kitchen and sometimes in the living room.

It has got to the point where we are picking/wiping it up and cleaning the floor once or often twice a day and it is getting us down.

Today I got another litter tray and different litter to see if that works but I'm at my wits end.

Does anyone have any ideas that have worked for you? Please help, we love her and don't want to give her away but it is becoming hard to cope with.


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## Blackcats (Apr 13, 2013)

Poor girl. She does sound like she is going through a difficult time. I know it must be hard for you too but I really hope you don't mean it when you say you'd get rid of her because of an issue with using the litter tray, which really isn't her fault.

Imagine if you suddenly lost your sight. It would take some time for you to get used to it, especially when you have had your eyes and sight for a long time. Nobody would get rid of you, would they?

They'd help you so your poor girl needs some help too by the sounds of it.

Have you tried placing her in the litter tray after she has had a meal and a drink? And then at certain intervals?

She may have lost her sight but she still has her nose to help guide her. She is still coming to terms with not having her sight though. Have you tried putting litter trays around the house. I don't know if there is a way you can really make some form of a smell for her in the litter tray that could allow her to be guided to it by herself.

What about standing where her litter trays are and try and guide her by talking to her. You could try this a few times and see if she will follow your voice without walking into things. Or a lead may work. She may pick up on the pattern in where to walk.

In regards to her brain tumour? You say your vet thinks it may have happened because of a stroke or it is possibly a brain tumour. Are they doing scans, tests to rule out the second? A brain tumour should not be left untreated and if they suspect that, then it needs looking into.

Somebody else will hopefully come along to answer too.

Best of luck.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Blackcats said:


> Poor girl. She does sound like she is going through a difficult time. I know it must be hard for you too but I really hope you don't mean it when you say you'd get rid of her because of an issue with using the litter tray, which really isn't her fault.
> 
> Imagine if you suddenly lost your sight. It would take some time for you to get used to it, especially when you have had your eyes and sight for a long time. Nobody would get rid of you, would they?
> 
> ...


Agree with Blackcats,it must be really upsetting and confusing for this poor cat who suddeny has lost her sight ,not only that but has it would seem lost her owner and move home at least twice fairly recently
It may help if you soak up any urine with a tissue and squeeze it into her trays same with her poo so that she can be guided by the scent.
The one thing you must realise is that she is not being awkward or lazy,she needs you to help her come to terms with the loss of her sight .


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## Kat859 (May 15, 2014)

Thanks for your help although I did say we don't want to re home her.
We have no intention of doing so, my point was that we just don't know what to do and feel like we've tried everything.
I have tried putting wee/poo in her tray but she didn't go near it. Everything I've read also says cats are very clean animals and don't like dirty trays so I don't think this would work much anyway.
We have also tried putting her in the tray, at random times and when she starts going to the toilet. She just walks out again. 
I know the moves have been a lot of change for her but she seems happy otherwise in the home e.g. eating, sleeping, wanting cuddles.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Cats like a clean tray, yes, but cats also need to know where their tray is, and smell is the best way to get them used to that. Try Clean n Tidy kitten litter. It has an attractant in it that encourages them to wee. Whenever you clean your tray, I'd also do it with bleach. The smell of that can also encourage cats to wee. Don't just give her one tray. Give her multiples, with one in each room that she has access to. When you're showing her where they are, don't pick her up and plonk her in them. She must walk to them herself so that she can map out where they are in the room. if you just take her to them and put her down, she won't know where she is, and thus, where the tray is in relation to everything else. Instead, tempt her over by chatting to her, making noise, crinkling a treat packet etc.


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## ForeverHome (Jan 14, 2014)

Poor love what a lot of changes for her. This changing people and places can both be stressful times for a cat, and stress can provoke distress behaviours like inappropriate peeing. And that's in a healthy cat. And she is not young. 

This is not to say you've done anything wrong at all, just that for Tara there's a lot going on and it's probably pretty scary. On top of this she suddenly can't see any more. You say she knows where the litter tray is - so if she knows and at first she went next to it and now she goes just anywhere, then what you have is a behavioural, anxiety and stress behaviour - and I personally don't think placing her in the tray or making it smell of her is going to help, because she already knows where it is and what it's for. 

Whiskers are very sensitive and can detect tiny air currents, but they are not like a shark's electromagnetic field sense. In other words, whiskers alone won't stop her walking into things. This must be distressing for her as much as it is for you and I hope that if you can help her learn her environment better, her stress level will reduce and her toiletting will improve. 

Would it be practical to confine her to one room for a while? I'm thinking the room where you spend most of your time, so that she is with you. Let her get used to her new disability in a limited and safe space. This would also limit the area that needs wiping. You're not using bleach to clean it up, are you?

You will need to keep her space exactly as it is, not move anything. Could you put some padded rags all around to protect her nose, and maybe put a very light spray of catnip over the safe places and something like citrus smell on the things she needs to avoid? If she can associate smells with good and bad experiences (being able to walk or bumping her nose) she might be able to make a mental map of the room and learn the safe paths to walk. You could then use the smells to guide her round the rest of the house as you gradually expand her space, maybe. 

However - you don't know if whatever affected her eyesight also affected something else and the toiletting is not to do with stress or loss of sight but maybe something in her memory or sense of smell that isn't working? 

Our Sarah spent the last year or so of her life almost blind, totally deaf and senile, and she stopped using the trays and went just anywhere. My ex (I'd already moved out by then) just kept putting piles of newspaper where she went, and cleaned up. We kind of accepted that we were not going to fix the problem, and as long as she was happy and not in pain there was no reason to have her put to sleep. But your Tara is a lot younger so I'm not suggesting you give up like we did!


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## Kat859 (May 15, 2014)

Thanks for the advice Carly and Forever Home.
We do keep her in just a couple of rooms at the moment yes, because she doesn't seem confident to use the stairs, not that we'd mind if she went upstairs.
We do clean with bleach yes, and white vinegar because I've read that they work to get rid of the smell so cats don't keep going in the same places to wee. Should we not be?
Also she always goes in the kitchen where one of the litter trays is (we got another one for the back door area as well but don't think she's used to this one yet) but doesn't always go near it.
We'll try some sprays to let her know where is good and where isn't. We wouldn't ever put her down, not unless she was in pain which she isn't.
In fact my boyfriend built a sort of run around area in the garden for her and we put her in it when we get home every night which she seems to like, so she still gets to go outside.


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## ForeverHome (Jan 14, 2014)

Oh don't take mine as advice, I have no experience, just ideas! 

Bleach attracts cats to pee there again, so that might be making your problem worse. Hopefully someone will let you know better products, I have read something about the best thing to use but can't remember what


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

Clean with biological soap powder to remove smells so she doesn't go there again. Must be biological though! You can buy sprays but that works just as well.

I was wondering about the litter too, thinking she might not like the feel of it. So do try the one Carly suggests.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

no, bleach is an attractant, so will actually encourage her to wee in that spot. Clean with something like Urinoff or Simple Solution to get rid of the smell and the stain.


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## Ang2 (Jun 15, 2012)

Have you tried puppy training pads? Maybe getting into the litter tray is daunting for her now that she has lost her sight. You can get them in poundland - a pack for £1. When my old cat was really poorly, he couldn't get into the tray, so I used these and he took to them like a duck to water


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