My cat gets in the litter box and pees outside of it!

by Denise
(California)

It's the weirdest thing! We have the litter box that looks like a globe and it rotates. So, he will get in and turn his bottom towards the inside like he is supposed to do when he poops. But if he is going to urinate, he gets in with his head towards the back of the litter box and his bottom sticking out the front and urinates all over the front and on the floor!

He did have a urinary blockage but I can't seem to get him to turn around in the litter box to go properly and it's driving me nuts!

Any suggestions?

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My Thoughts:

Crazy cat! It's possible that even though he's over his urinary tract problem, he still associates some unpleasantness with urinating in the litter box. So, my guess is that he's trying to give it a go, but can't quite do it.

Do you have a regular litter box (preferably one with high sides)? I would see if he would retrain with a regular box, set up so that he has little choice but to urinate inside the box. He may not associate the pain with a regular box and that might get him back on track.

As always, make sure your boxes are squeaky clean.

You might try using Feliway. It doesn't work in all cases, but it has been known to reduce anxiety and curb behavior problems in many cats. Some cat owners have reported that litter box problems disappear when using the Feliway dispenser.

You might also try adding Cat Attract to the litter. This again is a hit or miss product, with some success stories and some reports of no results. Cat Attract is designed to bring cats to the box. Since your cat is already making it to the box but pointing his equipment the wrong way, I'm not sure this is the right product for this problem. I thought I'd mention it though in case nothing else works.

Try to exercise him more than usual with several short play sessions. Several short sessions are usually better than one long one, and the extra exercise should help him to burn off steam and release some stress.

I hope that gives you some ideas. Please let us know how he's doing.

-Kurt