Why does one of my cats pee on the back of the cat box instead of directly into the litter?
Monday, March 8th, 2010 at
7:06 am
She is a 3 yr old girl & she has been doing this off & on for the last 3 months. Is there something wrong with her, does she need more attention? How do I get her to stop? I have a big box & have used the same litter for over a year. I immediately have to clean off the side. So I am constantly cleaning this box. It doesn’t matter if the box is freshly cleaned or if it is a little dirty. I can’t figure it out.
Filed under: Cat Litter
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My cat (who was male) started to slowly stand up as he peed, thus spraying onto the back of the box and sometimes outside the box onto the wall. So we bought a box with higher sides and a lid and just had to routinely clean it with wetwipes or rinse it. It started because the cat had a urinary tract infection (which we treated but he never stopped peeing that way). So Perhaps you should contact a vet and ask, or bring the cat in to be seen to make sure she’s alright. If it’s not a UTI or anything she may just have decided she’s more comfortable urinating that way rather than squatting. Animals all have different personalities and behaviors. Good luck!
did you start using a new type of litter or a new litter box 3 months ago? some cats don’t do change well. if she did it all the time, i’d suggest taking her to the vet to be checked for a urinary tract infection. if it were a uti, maybe she just didn’t make it into the box in time, but as she does it on and off for the past three months, i think it’s probably one of the first two i mentioned.
good luck. ask your vet what could be the problem.
How many cats do you have? Maybe she does not like the smell of the other cats urine and wants to do her business further away. I have 3 cats and one box, but they do love a clean one, as soon as I clean the box (daily and nightly) it’s a race who gets to use it first. My ‘middle child’ won’t even wait for me to put the hood back on. I had to get one of those hooded ,covered boxes coz the youngest likes to kick the sand everywhere. So who knows why they have their ‘quirks’.
Maybe you could try using two boxes instead of one big one? I would too, but my bathroon is really small.
Sounds like it’s an anatomical thing to me. But just to be safe, have her checked for urinary tract infection; it’s very common and easy to cure.
Well, you say she is only three, so it probably isn’t arthritis yet. I have some old boys who have arthritis and have trouble stooping. We just got some really deep cat boxes with lids and cut the tops off the lids. That way, it didn’t go out over the top of the box, and they weren’t afraid to go in it because of the lid. If she is going over the top, maybe something like this would work for you.
You should take her to the vet to make sure she doesn’t have a UTI or anything. Make sure the litter box is clean and you have more than one. If you’ve changed anything (box, litter, etc) that could be it. Otherwise, she might just be missing the box. My female cat used to do that so I just bought a box with higher sides and she’s fine now. She just liked to back up against the back of the box which made her miss the box.