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MellyJellyBeans
elf_fu
02 April 2008 , 05:26 am
Old Kitty is Old. 
Now, I know the signs of a sick cat. Or a cat trying to tell me it's sick--and one of the biggest signs is why they decide to use everything but the litter box after several years of the same litter, the same box. The sudden change of behavior.

And that's the thing. Raven, our eighteen pound land beast, is still technically using the litter box.

Except...She's stopped squatting to pee.

Instead, she gets in the box, she stands there and let's it go. Which might be fine if we had an entirely sealed litter box. But we don't. So she stands there and let's it fly, and it goes all over the side and on the floor then puddles under the box.

As much as I bitch about it, as badly as I bitch about it, it's all hot air. I know she's old. I know she thinks in her mind, she's squatting and having a go of it and all is well. I know, too, that when I signed up to be a pet owner one of the first things that you have to understand is that your life will be filled with lots of crap. And pee. And more crap.

But after spending most of the night scrubbing the bathroom from one end to the other after our toilet exploded, only to have to take apart the just-cleaned litter box, again, and put everything back into the tub and scrub it all then mop the floor a fourth time has made me a little irratible. Not to mention miss out on sleep.

Has anyone had this issue, at all? Where the cat's behavior to their litter box is the same, (no significant changes in litter brand or box has been made in years) but for some reason they're not able to pee..inside of it?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

tl;dr version: HAI GUYZ. CAT PEE.
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Dr. Internet, Phd: brightest crayon[info]ehzoterik on April 2nd, 2008 09:42 am (UTC)
The lady who lives downstairs from me has had a similar problem. She has three cats. One of which is a very, very, very old geezer cat who is fat and lethargic and meows in a way that even sounds old. One of his top fangs even fell out, he's so old.

She has one of those hooded litter boxes. Has used the same litter for years, etcetera. A few months back he started stepping into the box but not turning around. So when he pees it shoots right out the window and all over the place. So if you ask me, I think it's just a matter of cats being capable of turning senile too.
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 10:10 am (UTC)
"She has one of those hooded litter boxes."

That's EXACTLY what we had too. We took the lid off to see if it would help because she was doing--to the precise letter of how you described it with her cat. She's stopped turning around to pee! We're so boggled as to why she's started doing that.

I've just spent most of my night scrubbing, it makes me twitchy. But what can you do? I only hope someday when I get old and senile, someone nice will be there to clean up my pee, too.

On a totally different topic: Thank you for including ASPCA day in M.E. newsletter.
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Dr. Internet, Phd[info]ehzoterik on April 2nd, 2008 09:25 pm (UTC)
On a totally different topic: Thank you for including ASPCA day in M.E. newsletter.

My pleasure! Truth be told, I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't seen it announced in your LJ here. So thank YOU for mentioning it. I'm a pet (cat) mom too, and I actually do have orange to wear. I figure a lot of role-players are pet moms and dads, and it's something they should know about.
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Becs[info]aikiariyen on April 2nd, 2008 11:47 am (UTC)
Be thankful it hasn't become:

Pee on the beanbag
Pee on the bed
Pee on the bathroom floor
Pee on the laundry floor
Pee on the loungeroom carpet
Pee in the garage
Pee in the garden

Pee anyfuckingwhere other than the litter. I know he's old, and sick, and was starting to go into renal failure as a side-effect of the medication, but I really wish he'd just stayed off fabrics, furniture and carpet. He's a lot better now he's no longer on the Neo-Mercazol, but he still goes for the laundry floor occasionally (and the garden).
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 12:00 pm (UTC)
I've had that already. Our last cat before Flora was Cleo, she had CRF. It was just a fact of life.

It's annoying as all hell, yep, but nothing that a little elbow grease and washing can't take care of.
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Becs[info]aikiariyen on April 2nd, 2008 12:03 pm (UTC)
Or in some cases, a completely brand new mattress (it's impossible... cat is male) and beanbag.
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 02:26 pm (UTC)
Ohhh, there's that, too. All of our cats have been female. While it's not a pleasant odor, nothing beats the smell of male cat pee :(
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Becs[info]aikiariyen on April 2nd, 2008 08:46 pm (UTC)
Yeah... Especially elderly male cat pee. Oh well - I needed a new mattress anyway.
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littlecatsfeet[info]littlecatsfeet on April 2nd, 2008 12:33 pm (UTC)
Youthculture's mom here...
Would it be possible to put the litter box in the tub? Won't solve the problem, but the clean-up would be easier. Also, I have been putting one of those puppy training pads (for adult humans :-)) under the litter box (we have cats who miss frequently for no reason at all). Helps with clean-up and protects the floors a bit.

It's possible that she's not squatting because her joints are painful. Maybe the vet can help with that?

Just thinking out loud...

Leslie
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dead dawg: baking oddities[info]youthculture on April 2nd, 2008 02:23 pm (UTC)
Re: Youthculture's mom here...
iawtac


also, hi mom. GET BACK TO WORK.
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 02:30 pm (UTC)
Re: Youthculture's mom here...
She can't get into the shower, otherwise I would move it in a heart beat.

Your suggestion of puppy training pads are a good idea, I talked to Shawn's mother and she has a few of them that the dog, Hoss, never used. I've got one placed near the "pee zone."

As for the stuff joints, we had her on cosequin (sp?) for six months. The vet said she may have that issue. We didn't notice any change in her behavior at all, but we'll have to see.

All the growths she had burned off were pretty pointless, since she's growing them all over in different places again.
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littlecatsfeet[info]littlecatsfeet on April 3rd, 2008 12:26 am (UTC)
Re: Youthculture's mom here...
One more thing I thought of (from my shelter days :-): what are you using to clean the bathroom? Anything with bleach in it sometimes becomes a pee magnet. It might help to clean with the same products that you'd use for cat pee in the rest of the house (Odor Gone comes to mind, or Simple Solution). If you need to clean the bathroom with harsher stuff, give a final once-over with one of those, and see if it makes a difference.

Cats are funny creatures to second-guess.

Leslie
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 3rd, 2008 04:12 am (UTC)
Re: Youthculture's mom here...
Thanks!
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Committing offenses against slash since 2003[info]zillah975 on April 2nd, 2008 02:20 pm (UTC)
Now that I read the other comments, I realize I'm pretty much just agreeing with everything [info]littlecatsfeet said. :)

I'd say take her to the vet and just explain what's happening and let the vet check her over. Maybe it's just that her joints are sore so squatting hurts? And if so, there might be something they can do to help - there's a lot of new treatments for pets now, could be made better maybe.

And in the meantime, the bathtub or a training pad might help.
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 02:32 pm (UTC)
Thanks! We had her on cosequin (sp?) for stiff joints but that didn't appear to help her during the six months we gave it to her, so stopped. We'll have to call the vet and see what else we can do.
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Kay[info]sadisticerrorpi on April 2nd, 2008 02:36 pm (UTC)
When I was given the kitten for my birthday this year, I also received a hooded litterbox that had a little swinging door. It went both ways, so that kitty can easily get in and out. Assuming that your old cat figures it out, this would make a completely enclosed pee space, which would solve the not turning around and creating a mess problem.

poor, poor baby. I am so sorry about your urine-related trauma this week.
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 03:02 pm (UTC)
The litter box is a covered litter box. She started not-turning around and peeing out the door or against the wall, which just trickled through where hood met tray.

Thank you though!
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 03:03 pm (UTC)
Forgot to mention: that's why we removed the top, to see if she'd suddenly made up her mind she didn't like the top.

I think it has a lot to do with she may be just too old/stiff to bother squatting.
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Kay[info]sadisticerrorpi on April 2nd, 2008 04:41 pm (UTC)
Right. I was trying to convey that there was a swingy door thing in the rectangular space where they enter, just like a rubber cat door that one installs for a freewheelin' indoor outdorr cat. Dunno if that'd make a difference. I, for one, would certainly rather deal with trickle on the outside of the box than spray that comes out every which way. Lesser of two evils and all that jazz.

Suggestion two: move to a place with little to no traffic and let kitty pee outside.


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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 2nd, 2008 05:35 pm (UTC)
I got that.

That won't stop the pee from escaping where the top meets the bottom, unless they make an affordable cat box that magically seals when the pieces are together. That's what I'm getting at. She'll still stand and pee, and it'll still trickle out from any unsealed parts.

Also, the cat is semi-feral and prone to being afraid of her own sneezes. I'm not sure how a cat door will do.

As it stands, the amount that escaped was about the same as the amount I clean up without the cover on. So it's a no-win situation so far, for us pee cleaners anyway :p
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Kay[info]sadisticerrorpi on April 3rd, 2008 03:33 am (UTC)
Let's miscommunicate more:

What's up with your llama again? Try a doormat!
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 3rd, 2008 04:12 am (UTC)
I like purple koolaid. Do you have a pencil?
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Kay[info]sadisticerrorpi on April 3rd, 2008 05:24 am (UTC)
I have four crayons. Don't drink the kool-aid. L. Ron has left the piazza.
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MellyJellyBeans[info]elf_fu on April 3rd, 2008 05:35 am (UTC)
The dog barks at midnight. I once knew a duck named Ron.

(In other news: Hi late night buddy!)
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