male cat overspray

by Linda
(Long Island, NY)

My large male cat is very fussy and the litter box must be cleaned often or he will not use the box.

He has started to over spray the box even when the box is clean.

He urinates toward the side of his deep covered litter box and the urine goes out through the area where top and bottom meet and down the sides.

What can be done for this?

My Thoughts:

Hmmm... that's a tough one simply because unless he's using this as marking behavior, or has a medical problem, you're really talking about fine tuning how your cat uses the box.

I have nothing in my literature (or that I have found on the web... yet) that addresses behavior modification at this level. There are numerous notations about cats changing litter box behavior, as well as general changes in personality and so forth due to medical issues, but I assume you've ruled that out.

Several other thoughts come to mind, however, so I'll spit them out. First, if he's a big cat, and it's a covered box, this may be an issue for him. Even if it wasn't an issue at one point, it may be now.

So, you could try two things. One, remove the cover (thoroughly cleaning everything obviously, with fresh litter, etc.) and see if his behavior changes. Two, get a larger (if they make one larger than the one you have now) litter box and try it both covered and uncovered.

They do make "litter box furniture" that will house a box for you. It takes up space, and this may not help but I thought I'd mention it since it would keep the box out of sight at least and you could keep a pan underneath the box if needed.

Also, since these pieces house the box, they have a ramp up to them for the cat, and that means that you might be able to have a much deeper box. I haven't looked at the dimensions on any of them, but a deep plastic container could, in theory, be used here and that would keep everything inside the box. Just a thought.

If he's using this as marking behavior, then that's a bit different. This is something cats do to feel more secure. If he's stressed by other animals or something in the neighborhood or house, that might be the reason.

If that's the case, then reducing the stress and making him feel more comfortable is the way to go. Perhaps some Feliway spray or a diffuser might help. I know there have been some reports of it helping with marking behavior.
-Kurt