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Well, it's a habit now. Cats are creatures of habit. It will take some time and work to break the habit.
Keep cleaning the boxes daily, and use an enzymatic cleaner, (clean the spots every day for a week) on the soiled areas. Block him from the room if possible.
You may have to resort to re-training....which is keeping the kitty in a small space with just enough room for litter box (kept almost obsessively clean) food and water dishes and bed.
You might try Cat Attract litter first though. And add a third box.
Ok, catsmom, it's looking like I'm going to have to retrain my cat. How does this process work? Do I add Cat Attract and shut him in the basement or somewhere? How long should I initially keep him in there? A day? Two? He's starting to drive me nuts. I found pee on the bathroom rug this a.m.
Just wanted to share, I had a very hard time a few months ago training an elderly cat to use a newly installed cat door. I spent two weeks doing every behavioral technique I could imagine and it just was going no where. I located a cat behaviorist who does phone consults.
After filling out a 20 page questionnaire, we did an hour phone consult, she gave me a plan, and then we had weekly email follow up for 4-6 weeks.
Her suggestions completely worked and 3 weeks after her consult, he was using the cat door consistently on his own every day (I moved his litter box out on to a patio).
Anyway, I asked her what the number one problem was that people called her for, regarding their cats- she said she has done 7,000 consults for litter box problems in the past 10 years.
If anyone wants her contact info, please PM me. I was very impressed with her and felt the consult was worth the cost.
I had a cat peeing on and relentlessly soaking the dining room carpet. Then it looked like such a good idea to the other two cats that they joined in. I took the cats to the vet and the one that started it all had a urinary tract inflammation of some type and was peeing blood. The other two were healthy. The sick one has been put on Buspar for anxiety, Dasquin for cats supplement for anti-inflammation, and off/on Buprenex for pain. She went back to using the litterbox after she was put on the meds.
The carpet was salvageable. I had to call commercial cleaners, who peeled it back, cut out the padding, treated the floor with enzyme, then painted the floor with Bulleseye sealer, put down new pad. They sprayed the back of the carpet liberally with enzyme. Then they put the carpet back down, and enzymed the top side, and followed that by steam cleaning and deodorization and sprayed some more enzyme, which they let to soak in and dry. it was a big job. But the carpet looks fabulous and it doesn't stink now.
Just wanted to give a little update. We're still a work in progress here. Little man peed in the bathroom this a.m. and left one tiny poop pebble (or whatever) in the hallway upstairs, and he was laying outside the closed bedroom door waiting for me to get up.
I bought some petzyme and a black light, and I have gone over every pee or vomit area I could find. I also bought him some Cat Attract. If it continues, we will take him to the vet. He was just there a month ago with acid reflux or some stomach issue, which is why he was vomiting all over the house. There were no kidney stones or kidney abnormalities at that time, but I know they can develop without warning. I think we're dealing the behavioral, not health, issues, but I will have the vet eliminate the health problems.
Hopefully, this will work. We just got all our furniture today from out of state, and I'm hoping that will make him feel more comfortable. I will keep you all posted. I appreciate all the advice.
Has been a long time since I had a cat. I'm 80 and learned a method from my mother who always had a cat in the house. Getting married...wife and I also had a cat or two.
We always had a litter box and if/when they first started to stray from the proper box usage we would rub their nose in the mess...scold and spank their rear end. They would run and look back at us and stare knowing they did wrong. After a couple of spankings they learned NOT to do any mess on a rug or floor. Keeping the box/paper changed was the solution. I used a cut cardboard box that was disposable and easy to replace since I had worked in the grocery trade at the time.
um, yeah you can tell it's been a long time. that's really not an advised way of dealing with any pet! You could easily injure them. more likely they looked back, staring, wondering why you hated them suddenly. Cats and dogs live mostly in the 'now' and really don't associate reprimands like that with unwanted behavior.
Yep...I may be old with old ways of doing things but they work...all a matter of training. They never walked on the kitchen counter or table or furniture for that matter compared to some posts I've read in the past.
Current;y have two dogs...father is 12 and his son 6. They both know there limits on where they can be allowed in the house and/or what rooms. When each was a pup they got spanked with a rolled up newspaper for doing the wrong deed and where it was done. They remembered so it works. All I have to do is mention the word "paper" and their ears go back and freeze standing/sitting still the same time. Same goes with giving them food via the hand. I say the words "be nice" and they will take the food gently w/o grabbing and biting my finger with their teeth. Place their food dish in front of them and they will sit until I say the word "okay"...all a matter of disipline/training.
Sure...I'm old but younger people have a lot to learn which comes with experience.
What actually happens is times change and we learn a bit more about what is and isn't a reasonable way to treat our pets. Used to be common to keep a dog outside only (even in winter) with a doghouse for example; now that's seen as cruel.
Cats especially can't respond to a swat as a reprimand; they only sense it as aggression, an attack. When they looked back at you, they were saying "Why the eff are you hitting me?! I thought you were my friend."
For the purposes of this particular thread, the key thing is cats don't not use a litter box just because they don't feel like it. This is a mystery to be solved (sometimes a medical issue even!), not a problem to be beaten out of them.
cats are so little! how could you hit them!!! talk about abuse.
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