Cat Suddenly Wont Use Litter Tray

[iloveglee]

We have a 10 year old, rehomed cat. she was the subject of a previous post where she went out and wouldn't come home. after 4 months we managed to get her to go into the house of the lady who had been feeding her in the garden. we knew she was there, but she ran away every time we went to try and get her. she has been home for several months now, but has to be an indoor cat otherwise i feel sure the same thing would happen. she has always been trained, without problems, to a litter tray, ever since we got her. suddenly, out of the blue she has taken to refusing to use it, peeing and pooing on the rug, or doormat instead. she is well, eating and drinking, and weeing and pooing, just not in the right place. the only thing different is we have some new (well second hand) cane furniture. the cushions smelled as though the previous owners had been smokers, and we are not. we have removed the covers, and fumigated the cushions and it smells much better now. the two things happened about the same time, but could something so simple have caused this behaviour and what can i do about it. i have cleaned up the rug using the recommended substances, and have not put some food down in the place she marked it. now though she has decided to use the doormat. there is nothing different about the litter we use, or in the place we have kept it, which is in a downstairs bathroom. she is very easily spooked but can't think of anything, or anyone different who has been in the house who has never been here before. suggestions very welcome because i can't think of what else to do.

[wolf63]

Cats are weird animals.

Is there any way that a neighbours cat has spooked her when she was at the loo - looking through the window?

Could a human have gone into the bathroom when she was there?

Is her food served far away from her bathroom?

Smells are also something that upsets them. But you have considered that.

Have you tried Feliway to help her feel calmer?

I can't thing of anything else ~ good luck!

[Islay]

Have you had her to the vets? Even though she is still weeing she could have a water infection.

[iloveglee]

there is no possibility of any other cat spooking her by the litter tray, but a human may have done without our knowing. also the washing machine is in there, and could have started to spin while she was in there. having said all that, she has been using that litter tray in that location all the time we have had her, 2 and a half years, minus the 4 months she was missing. the furniture is the only different thing. i suppose its just possible the previous owners had a cat or dog. she is definitely mooching around a lot, smelling at things, not just the new furniture, everything. its almost as though she has been moved into a completely unknown space. and yet when we got her, which was a complete change of home for her, she never did this. she hid a lot we saw little of her for weeks, but she always used the litter tray right from the start. i cant see how she could be more unhappy that she was then. i plan to get some feliway to see how that works, and after the holiday i guess i shall have to speak to the vet. my husband caught her on the doormat, and he said she didnt seem to be in any discomfort or straining.

[wolf63]

I thought UTI too but she is looking as well.

[stuey]

Sorry to butt in. Wolf63, I can't seem to be able to open that link again that you posted about the British Museum...Could you post it again please?

[Hopkirk]

I suspect it is her way of complaining about not being allowed outside.

Unfortunately they tend to use the same area for toileting, and the smell of previous visits will attract her and be extremely hard to remove.

They don't like to eat where they go to the toilet. Is her litter tray near her food?

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe the tray's now full.

[Islay]

Don't clean the area using bleach or anything using ammonia as that attracts the cat to using the same area use soap powder and very hot water.

Do the same with the litter tray and then reintroduce the cat to the litter tray making a fuss every time tell her what a good girl she is.

[iloveglee]

thanks for the suggestions. so far, i have cleaned the inappropriate areas using no bleach just wash powder and hot water. she doesnt seem to be ill at all, eating and drinking ok, and have had a good firm feel all around her abdomen and she doesnt complain. she is definitely behaving downstairs as though she doesnt recognise so i am beginning more and more to think its the new chair. i have now draped it with some of my husband's worn clothes (he being her favourite person in the house), so that it starts to smell of something she likes rather than doesnt. her safe zone is upstairs under a bed, so i have moved the litter tray into the upstairs bathroom, where there is less traffic anyway, and she doesnt have to come down at all except to eat. i have put some food (she has dry), in all the inappropriate toileting areas, and also have a litter tray in the old place as well as the new. vet is now away until tuesday so i'll see how things go and if theyre no different will have to take her just to check her out. if anyone has any other suggestions extra to the ones tried i'd be grateful

[Islay]

Try another tray as well.

It sounds like you have done everything, if this continues get her checked out. But as has been said - she could be having a strop because you are keeping her in!!!

[iloveglee]

I am pretty sure its not the keeping her in. she has been a housecat for 18 months now and has never done anything like this before. I have now got another cat litter tray, so we now have one in each of the bathrooms!! i have bowls of catfood in every place she has used a toilet to try to prevent her going in those places. there is now a limited number of places for her that arent either a feeding place, or a sleeping/hiding place. i hope this is going to tempt her back to the litter tray. i am still fairly sure its the new chair. today since i draped my husbands clothes on it, she has been mooching around and smelling things less than she was. hopefully once she gets accustomed to the fact that the chair is now part of the household she might be less worried. if in fact this is the reason.

[wolf63]

This site is excellent and, usually, reliable. It might be worth a read

http://icatcare.org/advice/problem-behaviour/soiling-indoors

And this is the website for the monthly magazine "Your Cat"

http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Cat-Advice/Cat-toileting-issues/

They are very annoying and frustrating animals - but you just can't help loving the little b's

[iloveglee]

those links were useful thank you. we did use a plastic liner although we have been using them for a while without any problem. i have now removed it though to see if it will make a difference. we have bought another litter tray, bigger than the one we had before, and now have one upstairs and one down. i have also strategically placed bowls of food around the places she has used, so restricting the 'other' places she might go. we have tried to rub her face with our hands, then rub the new chair so as to import her smell onto it. she is definitely not behaving so anxiously now. however, she must be going somewhere as she has not used the tray in more than 24 hours. problem is i don't know where. the only place i havent searched carefully is a bed in a spare bedroom that she likes to hide under. i would have thought she would not want to foul in a place that she sleeps in and i cannot smell anything in that room. she only eats dry food though, and her waste products do not seem to smell dreadful (to me anyway). next step is to speak to the vet when they get back from the easter break, but i have had a really good feel around her, kidney and bladder area, and around her chest and she doesnt cry as though she is in pain. she isnt acting as though she isnt well, in fact other than the litter tray problem you would not think there was anything different.

[Eve]

Have you been using any new cleaning materials with any kind of odour cats don't like such as a citrus smell?

If she continues to be anxious I'd heard that Feliway can be good at helping cats to calm down. It has a calming aroma.

http://www.feliway.com/uk

[iloveglee]

The only different smell is the furniture. but we had some smokers in the house yesterday (not smoking inside but recognise the smell). the furniture definitely smells of tobacco, suggesting the previous owners were regular smokers. it is cane furniture, so have sprayed the cane part of it with furniture polish, same one as i always used. have also got a little soft cloth and rubbed it against the cat's face, then onto the cane. the cushions have now to be washed and rinsed in fabric conditioner, the same as i always used. since removing the cushions and temporarily replacing them with some i already had, and the other measures, the cat has seemed much less anxious, and after moving the litter tray into an upstairs bathroom, and putting food bowls down where she has toileted inappropriately, she did use the litter tray last night. she hasnt been again since, so fingers and toes crossed, touch wood, maybe the habit has been re-established. the fact that she has used it confirms to me there is no medical problem, but this is behavioural. she is anyway a very skittish cat, easily disturbed. god knows what will happen when we have some building work and decorating done which is to be later in the year. i was going to buy some feliway but if the problem is sorted will maybe leave it until the builders/decorators move in. i am actually wondering whether she may be better in the cattery while they are here. having read all the advice, and the links provided, can't think of anything else, hope it all works.

[iloveglee]

well, after a week of washing the cushions of the new chair and trying to give it a more familiar smell, placing food in the places she pee'd before, after the cleaning process of these places, and also moving the litter tray into the upstairs bathroom, she is now back to using it. although i have left the one in the downstairs bathroom and she is not using that one. so ...... has something in there spooked her? strange it never happened before but as she has found somewhere she likes we'll leave it at that. i'm just pleased she doesnt have a health problem. i just wish she could go out, but i'm sure she would run away, like she did before, because of the semi feral cats next door.