Thinking INSIDE the box!
by Lee Chambers
When a cat who normally practices good litterbox habits starts eliminating elsewhere in your home, it’s very challenging to know how to respond. We asked Dakin’s Feline Success Coordinator, Alanna Regan, for some pointers.
According to Alanna, step one is to contact your veterinarian and set an appointment to rule out a medical cause (urinary tract infections, for example, can be the culprit and are treatable). If there’s no medical reason, consider how often you are scooping/cleaning the litter boxes in your home, and if it’s not daily, it should be. Cats are fastidious about their hygiene, and a messy litterbox will often make them head elsewhere to heed the call of nature.
If that still doesn’t do the trick, you can follow this helpful behavior plan:
-Confine the cat to one room in your home. There should be 2 litterboxes (yes, two), food and water in this room. Keep the cat confined for as long as he needs which can be 1-2 weeks
-Make sure both litterboxes are uncovered and have unscented clumping litter
-Be sure there is at least 2 inches of litter, but no more than 3 inches, in each box at all times
-Scoop the litterboxes daily
-Be sure the cat is using the litterbox 100% before letting him roam the rest of the house again
-Keep house litterboxes in easily accessible areas away from loud appliances
-In a typical household set-up, there should be as many litterboxes as there are cats plus one, so 2 cats equals 3 litterboxes, etc.
If this behavior plan doesn’t correct your kitty’s problem, be sure to call your veterinarian for further consultation.
We want your kitty to start thinking “inside” the box!