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Little Bibine, 3-4 months, has just been adopted by the son of Christine, a colleague of Claire. And Christine addressed our domesticated because her son has the following problem :
Bibine has two boxes for her alone ; she once uses a box, once the other one, then makes the rest in the bathtub and in other places of the apartment. She is healthy, has the opportunity to climb, to scratch, to look outside, and her humans play gladly with her.
Why does this ladycat not pee in his litter box ?
We asked Claire to pass on the following questions to Bibine’s human :
- Is the litter box in a quiet, accessible, and clear place ? We appreciate certain peace to do our business (just like you !), and we have to have the possibility of running away in case of danger.
- Is the litter box covered ? Some cats don’t appreciate at all a stuffy space.
- Is it far enough from the food ?
- Is there a thick enough layer of litter ? We must be able to scratch, dig, then cover : if there is not enough litter, it’s not possible, and moreover, we have paws height of it !
- What kind of litter is used ? We like clumping litter : it avoids that urine spreads in all the box(when we scratch, and makes the litter box maintenance easier. It also absorbs the smells better. You will find a post about our favorite litter here.
- Speaking about smells, is the litter perfumed ? Our sense of smell is 14 times more developed that that of humans, and these flavors assault us, just like the smell of our excrements if the maintenance of the litter box is neglected. We prefer a not perfumed litter in a regularly emptied box.
Bibine’s human had several points to be improved : we hope that it will be enough for letting the little Bibine come back to the litter box.
How to clean after a cat wee-wee ?
At once : mop with some paper towels.
Then : clean with a rag soaked with the following product : 1/3 white vinegar, 2/3 water, 1 soup spoon of bicarbonate of soda for 500 ml. When you add the bicarbonate, leave the bowl open until the chemical reaction stops. Rinse well with water, then wipe with a rag soaked with product again.
This mixture is natural, ecological, and biodegradable.
If the smell of urine persists, clean the place with an enzyme cleaner.
Do you have other suggestions ?
We love to answer your questions about cats : do you wonder why your cat does this or that ?
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Those sound like good ideas for getting a cat to use the box.
Maybe give the cat praise whenever she uses the box.
Bibine is very cute 🙂
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure and JJ
Great post and what a sweet kitty!
Purrs xx
Athena and Marie
I think those are all excellent questions, you seem to have covered every issue. When they say she is healthy, did they actually get her urine tested? Or is she just acting healthy?
so long as they are sure it isn’t medical, also check the location. we had a kitten returned for not using the box only to discover that it was placed right next to the noisy laundry machine
there is also a product out there called Cat Attract (though we aren’t sure availability overseas)
These are all good suggestions (including what Random Felines said) – I hope Bibine’s problem is solved soon!
Little Bibine is such a cutie! We hope they find the solution quickly! I’ve had several people ask me similar questions and they are always surprised by my answers (which are almost exactly yours) 🙂 For whatever reason, people aren’t learning the basics of cat care – like avoiding litter box issues. Which is sad of course for all the cats that are surrendered to shelters because of these problems.
We love Fullers Earth clumping litter as it does as it says and clumps making the trays much easier to use and for Mum to empty and top up again.
Excellent recommendations from all so far! We also discovered we need our litter boxes themselves cleaned often. Litter should be cleaned at minimum once a day and the box itself once a week. Our dad is a very good scrubber and once a week, it’s like we have brand new boxes. There’s no other cat smell at all!
We sure hope that sweetie gets back on track soon!
That cat does not look happy. There are many reason cats pee out of the box. I’ve written about this extensively over the years. You did not mention if she poos in the box. Sometimes UTI infections go undetected and I’d suggest a second test and vet exam first. I’ve had good results with a flower essence called “Flow Free.” for added support.
Yes, she poos in the box. She makes one or two deposit in each box, and then outside. We asked her human after Ellen’s comment to know when she met the vet (the know she already met him). Purrs
Maybe she wants an open litterbox, because she is afraid to be closed in. You could give her a Bach Remedy to solve the problem. Good Luck Pawkisses 🙂 <3
bibine; we troo lee hope ya doez knot haza medical issue; from pixie & zorro N everee one elsez answerz, we hope yur mom haz de info she kneadz & yur bak ta usin yur box like ewe shuld ♥♥♥
We hope those will help her to use the litterbox! Our angel sister Arwen used to pee in the sink sometimes (but only in the sink). It turned out she didn’t like covered litterboxes – she liked having an open one. So once we bought some non-covered, large litterboxes, she stopped using the sink!
Of course, the sink was better than any other possible choice (easy to clean, after all), but we were all glad when she went back to using the litterbox (after being given a clean bill of health by our vet).
I hope Claire’s advice helps and Bibine uses her litter boxes every time. I have 3 in the garage which I access through my own little doorway in the passage, so I have complete privacy there.
we use a vingar mix too, when a yellow river happens inside :o) Easy always tries to use the bathroom like a human, but I have some doubts if he really understands the concept of a toilet LOL
Those are all great ideas. We do hope she starts usin’ da pawdee box again and soon. It really does sound as tho she might have a health purroblem. Could be urinary or constipation. In other words, sounds like somethin’ hurts and she’s blamin’ da box fur it. Without knowin’ what areas needed to be improved we really can’t give any more suiggestion, but we’ll send purrayers fur all.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
Bibine is not alone! There are a lot of kitties that don’t want to use their litter box for one reason or another. Sometimes it takes a lot of guesses and trying one option and then another. I ended up putting a litter box right inside my front door because it solved the problem for Manna. Before we placed a little box there, Manna would randomly go potty in the corner near the door. No matter how much we cleaned, she still continued with this behavior (and used the other litter box as well). I finally decided just to put a litter box there and she started using it instead of the corner near the door.
Bibine doesn’t have one favorite spot ; she’s healthy, and we rather think that her kitty world organization doesn’t fit her for the moment. Purrs
Great suggestions!
Have a terrific Tuesday…
Noodle and crew