GOOD EVENING EVERYONE! I have a question if anyone else has been through this! My cat has been going outdoors for a week now and he's now refusing to use his litter tray. When he's in the house he just meows to go out, even though he never had any issues before!!!
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I also have a cat who has stopped using her litter tray since she started going outdoors. Because I used to shut the cat flap at night—and I have a gorgeous 22-month-old Bengal with quite a personality 🤪🤪—she started doing her business in the garage, so I eventually gave in and started leaving the cat flap open all the time. This winter, after a bit of a throat infection, I kept her indoors for about ten days, and she still kept going in the garage even though her tray is always kept spotless and is right near the cat flap. I don't understand it because Opium (that's her name) was perfectly litter-trained before she started going out........
Coco
Hi everyone! I’ve got a question – has anyone else dealt with this? My cat has been going outside for a week now and he’s suddenly refusing to use his litter tray when he’s in the house. He just meows to go out, even though he never had any issues before!!!
- Clean the trays more often (you should scoop out the poop every day and do a full change once to three times a week with mineral litter, depending on whether the cats go outside as well or just use their trays. I tend to do it by eye as soon as I see the bottom layer of litter is too soaked with urine. I don’t know much about silica crystal litter or how often that needs a deep clean, though).
- Put a few drops of bleach at the bottom of the trays before refilling them with fresh litter.
- Covered trays? Take the lids off.
- Covered trays with a door? At the very least, remove the flap.
- If you can, try adding an extra tray (ideally in the bathroom... ideally... for Tigresse, but if that’s not doable long-term, just try to find a quiet spot away from high-traffic areas).
- You could also try switching to a different type of litter.
- Don’t rule out a health issue either; a trip to the vet might be necessary (give your vet a ring to see what they think).
To stop any more accidents in the bathroom (but trust me, better the bathroom than the bedroom... ^^): clean the area with white vinegar (or bicarbonate of soda) to get rid of the smell as much as possible, and avoid using bleach-based cleaners in the bathroom while this is still happening.
Anyway, sorry for the two-part reply, I had a bit of a nightmare with my browser :/
It looks like Tigresse is showing she's unhappy with her litter tray or having to share it with Canaillou.
Have there been any recent changes at home?
Has she been happy sharing the trays with Canaillou until now, or did the problem start when he arrived?
Is the bathroom usually a "safe space" for her?
Apart from these questions (which might help give you a steer as to the cause of the problem), you're going to have to do a bit of trial and error, and it might take a little while to understand and try to sort it all out:
We have two cats: a nine-month-old neutered male and a two-and-a-half-year-old neutered female. They get on like a house on fire... especially when it comes to play-fighting. If one of them isn't in the room, the other one goes looking for them. They have access to the garden from morning until night, but we keep the doors shut at night for safety reasons. We have two litter trays with silica crystal litter—one upstairs and the other in the dining room. The little male (Canaillou) has no trouble doing his business; he just uses whichever tray is closest to him depending on where he is. The problem is with the female (Tigresse), who has stopped using the litter trays even though she used to use them normally. Now, she’s going in a corner of the bathroom (she wees in the shower tray and poos in the corner). Please give me some advice. What’s going on with her?
Hi, it’s quite normal really. Cats prefer going outside in nature rather than in a box, and now that he can go out, he’s asking to go to do his business... Try putting the litter tray near the door.
