Help! Cat going outside the box

[pnance]

I'm hoping someone might have a suggestion for this. We have 2 female spayed cats, Mau Mau and Emma who share the same litter box. We've had Emma for about 4 years now and Mau for about 8 years with no litter problems, other than Emma sometimes forgets how long she is, even w/a jumbo litter box. About 1 1/2 mo ago I invested in an automatic litter box. Since Emma is an extremely nervous/skittish cat, I put the new box in and left it off for over a week, so she could adjust, figuring she'd follow Mau's example, which is exactly what happened. Again no problems. I turned it on and we went for about 3 weeks without any problems, both cats using it. About a week ago I came home from work and found 1 of them had pee'd in my laundry basket and pood just in front of the litter box. I'm 99.9% certain this was Emma as Mau would absolutely never go outside the litter box, it's to undignified and she absolutley loves the new litter box, she'll come running when it goes off just to watch. My thought was Emma had walked in after Mau went and been in there when it went off and freaked out. So I turned it off again for another week, and again no problems. This past Friday I turned it back on and no problems until this morning. When I got up I found pee in my laundry again (this time clean...:( ) but she'd just pood in the litter box so I have no idea what to make of it. She healthy, eating, drinking, using the restroom normally. I thought it was she was scared, but it can't be that since she pood in it. So now I'm stuck...

[kittycats_delight]

Try the simplest thing first get another (regular) litter box. Maybe it has gone off and scared her and if it has done that a couple of times Emma may not want anything else to do with it. This is my primary suggestion. I am sure some of the other more experienced members will give you more advice too. Keep us posted and good luck.

Michelle

[pnance]

I was hoping not to have to go back to a normal litter box, the automatic makes my life a lot easier and at this point it's to late to return it, but I agree that, that's probably what I'm going to end up doing. :( I was just hoping maybe I was missing something.

[kittycats_delight]

It's worth a try. I know the automatic is easier but if Emma is using on the floor it's not of much use to her at all. You can continue to use it for Mau but you may have no choice for Emma. Maybe I am wrong but I figure it's worth a shot and if it works then good. I mean it can't be as much work to scoop a box as what it is to have to clean clothes all over again because Emma has used them for her potty. And besides I think one litter box is just not enough for 2 cats.

[pnance]

I know I was just fighting the inevitable, and I agree 1 litter box is normally not enough for 2 cats, and originally I had 2, but they always went in the same one, neither ever used the other one so I just got rid of it. Thanks.

[Bunni]

I know what you mean My bunny did too. What you have 2 do is when it's using the bix, give it praise. it worked for me!

[tvt]

This is just a suggestion, but it may not be a bad idea to have your cat checked for a bladder infection. She may also be peeing in other places you haven't found yet, and that is how they tell us they have one.

[moosmom]

I'd have your cat checked by the vet first, to rule out any urinary problems.

I inherited my Dad's Littermate (way back when it first came out). I didn't like it because it made too much noise and my cats were also afraid of it.

Once the UTI has been ruled out, you're probably better off getting another litterbox. I know what a pain it can be, but that automatic litterbox will really be of no help if they don't use it.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

[pnance]

I thought of a UTI, but the vet checked yesterday and she's healthy. I've turned it off for now (it looks like she'll go in it as long as she see's Mau going in and it doesn't go off) and this weekend I'm planning to switch back to their old one. I thought the auto was a good idea, but she seems to have other ideas.:( Now I just have to tell Mau, she'll come running to watch it go off as strange as that sounds:) , but Emma won't use a different litter box so I'll have to switch them both. Thanks everyone!

[tvt]

If the other cat is so enthralled by the automatic catpan, you could put it in another room (where the regular catpan is not) and leave it on for her amusement. I wouldn't think that would harm anything. Anything to make our pets happy.