Strange situation

**trinity** · 07-05-2002, 06:08 AM

Ok I told my husband I was going to consult the "experts" on this one...a few weeks ago we discovered that Bouncer was no longer using the littlerboxes in the basement. For some reason she was using the floor instead. Fortunately it is an unfinished basement so clean up wasn't that big of a deal, just an irritation. So we take her to the vet. They tell us she has cystitus(sp) and give us antibiotics and tell us to switch her to a special cat food to help keep the problem from coming back. Fun stuff with a 20 pound cat....and we close off the basement and put the litterboxes on the first floor. Now the strange part...no accidents with the house like that. However when we reopen the basement thinking life is happy once again, as soon as she gets down there we find the puddles/piles again.I've removed all evidence of prior accidents so I don't think she is going on odor, but I am really starting to wonder. She is about 7 years old and I would hate to have to do anything drastic to get thru this...do they make diapers for cats? HELP!!!!

**wayne0214** · 07-05-2002, 10:50 AM

Trinity, welcome to Pet Talk, I hope that you find the friendship and education on this site that most of us have experienced.

Concerning Bouncer's problem, I am certainly no expert on this, but is there something about her litter material that she does not like? Or did you change brands in the mean time? This is about the only thing that I can think of that would cause her not to use the litter box. How often do you change the litter material, perhaps you might change her litter box, to something else, like getting a new one or making one yourself.

(later) Is Bouncer an only cat? That if she is afraid of the basement or doesn't like the smell down there, this could be the root of the problem. If she is content to litter in another area of the house, then I would accommodate her desire.

..........wayne

**NoahsMommy** · 07-05-2002, 12:13 PM

Trinity,

Not too sure why, or even about the diagnosis....but go to Vet Info, there is a lot of good information there...

Let us know how Bouncer is doing.

**trinity** · 07-05-2002, 02:21 PM

We actually thought about the litter box not being to her liking but its the same litter box, litter that we have been using. Then we thought maybe it wasn't clean enought so we made doubly sure to clean it everyday but that didn't seem to do it either. Like I said the weird thing is that she is using the litterboxes when they are moved out of the basement.

**MissMeow** · 07-05-2002, 06:06 PM

I read in one of the COTD bio's that someones baby requires them to walk her to the basement to use her box. Maybe something spooked her down there and it's clever kitties way of telling you he doesn't want to use that loo!

**krazyaboutkatz** · 07-06-2002, 12:19 AM

Yes,it sounds like she's afraid of the basement. Maybe it's too dark or smells bad so this makes her nervous and she pees all over the floor instead of using her litterbox. Can you allow her to use the litterbox upstairs? Good luck and please keep us posted.

**trinity** · 07-08-2002, 06:12 AM

The fear factor may be a very valid kind of thing...the litter boxes we now use are all the enclosed ones. I was getting tired of cleaning up litter from 20 feet away. However, I took the top off the litterbox that is still in the basement and she has been using it all weekend. Hopefully that was the problem.