A question

[amethyst73]

A serious question, perhaps especially forjab2 :

How do you re-convince a cat that the litterbox is a wonderfully acceptable place to eliminate waste?

Comments

[jab2.livejournal.com]

heh. good question.

depends why they are eliminating elsewhere.

first plan of attack (for me): clean litterbox thoroughly, in case they are being randomly fastidious.
2nd: there are pet sprays to make the new place that they are urinating smell bad and inappropriate as a waste space
3rd: provide plenty of wet food and water over a period of time, because sometimes they are having urinary problems that can be resolved over a period of time.
4th: esp if it's a male cat and continues more than a few days, take them to the vet. urinary tract problems, such as crystals, plague male cats in particular (usually after age 6 but as early as age 2) but it's worth noting that they may be bacterial in origin. the vet is likely to provide pain relief for the cat, which will get them back in the litter box, and perhaps antibiotics.

feel free to email or post further questions--i've been through more stages than 4!

[meepodeekin.livejournal.com]

Seconded. Our cat was intermittently peeing elsewhere and we assumed it was #1 (on jab2's list, but actually he turned out to have both a UTI and crystals. One trip to the vet for antibiotics, and a future lifetime of low alkali food, and bam! No more peeing outside the box.