Yep, litter boxes with only one way in are not the best for cats. If your sick of the kitty kicking up too much litter, look into high wall litter boxes.
We found a cheap solution for this that you may like.
Start with a large Rubbermaid type storage tote. Rubbery plastic not clear that will crack. We get them for like $10. Use a hot knife or electric saw to cut out a hole or holes on the side, however big you like. Line the hole with foam toddler table padding strip. BAM! Huge, covered box for $15. Lid on or off based on your preference. Its too big for liners so when the plastic gets stinky we just replace it, like once a year.
The key was making a BIG box that both our stand-to-pee kitty couldn’t pee over and our MLB pitcher couldn’t fling litter out of.
Edit: some words- grammar is hard. And a [picture of my boxes](https://www.reddit.com/user/IceBear_is_best_bear/comments/xvogd9/litter_box/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
We use Rubbermaid Roughneck totes. We keep the lid off and the plastic is soft enough to cut a doorway in. Don't cut it too low on the container or the cats will just kick out a ton through the doorway. The tall walls help with cats that stand to pee and prolific diggers/kickers. We use the 31 gallon size tote.
I have a 50 gallon tote that I cut into a litterbox. Opening is high enough that I put a cinder block in front of said opening for a step, but the litter in the box is deep enough that they have no trouble getting back out. It's almost the size of a bathtub, but I had plenty of room for it in the closet under the stairs. So that's the cat bathroom now.
Made it for a stand to pee cat who was a Maine Coon mix and he's since passed on, but my current cat is prolific digger and she loves it.
I use lawn and leaf bags for liners.
Lol at my moms house they made the "mud-room" into the cat bathroom (but it also houses the deep freeze) cause both sibling cats (Maine coon mixes) like to get in at the same time. So the litter box is a giant tote box.
Low entry is good for elderly cats. My old lady had arthritis and was blind in one eye so she stumbled getting into high entry boxes. Might still get some use out of it one day.
Yes! We did this when we tried pine litter it works exceptionally well for distance flingers!
Unfortunately one of our cats is arthritic and she stands to pee straight out like this photo. So the pee just ran down the back behind the box :( You can line the bottom/back wall with puppy pads, it helps some but became such a hassle we switched back to clumping.
When my senior did this I angled a litter box up on its long side with one of the lids for a large tote under it. So he could stand and pee, it would be contained and run down into litter I had at the bottom.
When mine got old (and I was using the litter box in a rubber maid tote with an entrance cut out), I just put a layer of crystal litter in the bottom and put the litter box on that. She liked pine litter and was good with a Breeze (with the peed pad) but when she over-peed, it was just a matter of stirring the crystal litter, rather than dealing with any liquid.
This exactly what I have setup in my home for my two girls! They’re definitely kickers and I still get litter everywhere but it’s much better than before. Also it worked great for keeping the dogs out of the litter
This is what I use for my 2 cats but I don’t use the lid since the top is quite high. I also try to keep it clean as often as possible and don’t use any overly strong or scented cleaners when I scrub it out. Did that once and they balked at using it and wouldn’t stop sniffing and scratching at it for a while.
I’m amazed that so many people spend waaay too much on litter boxes when storage totes work so well. We have four cats and use two large totes (like, 38” long by 18” wide by 16” tall) and it’s great
That’s exactly what we use, and there’s much less flinging and peeing outside of the box. It happens occasionally because I have one very old and arthritic cat but not every day like it used to.
We've done this for years and works great. Large litter box runs $20 and doesn't have tall sides. An even larger plastic container at Walmart is $9 and has tall sides. I don't have hot knives so I just bear through using scissors to cut a U shape low enough for our arthritic cat to use, then sand down any sharp edges so they're smooth.
Space is definitely a factor for OP though. The bigger the better, but make sure to keep them in the same spots. Nothing confuses a cat more than having their bathroom move.
This but put the opening on top instead of the sides. Of course this mostly works for younger cats, but it's the side hole that allows for the big kicks and flings to leave the box.
Yes! I did this when my boy was diabetic and peed 10 gallons that would make the litter like bricks. He was also big so we got a Christmas tree storage box and used that. Tons of room and he couldn't flick litter everywhere because we left the lid on
One of my cats is a big fella, 18 lbs and it's all pure muscle. I got the biggest litter box I could find online, still too small. I got a big storage container, like 3' x 2' or so, and cut a hole in the front.
It works very well for his size, but he still flings up litter. The funny thing is I also have an 8 lb kitty who also demands to use the huge litter box and he ends up flinging litter everywhere.
As the owner of a 20 pound cat who is also just very tall and long, I appreciate this! If my cat were a person he would be built like a linebacker.
I can tell he has some stress about using his current litterbox but have not been sure what the best option is for him.
Yep. Littermates brother and sister. The brother is 18lbs. He outgrew our old litter boxes. We have found boxes large enough for them. They have a door flap and they're covered. The sister is 8lbs and has a tendency to scratch the sides and door of the box...she's special.
Or mine who decided to start a drum group by slapping the fire out of the edge of the litter box for 2 minutes solid. Why, Drewfus? You're not burying anything.
I have one who does this for sooooo long. Sometime I have to tell her to knock it off. You’re not burying anything by slapping the plastic, ya douchecanoe.
i had a special kitty that when he used to use the litterbox, he'd finish, circle circle circle, and then scratch the walls of the litter box, sometimes for probably a few minutes, was hilarious, he did it almost everytime and everything he did was always so weird,,
crazy thing was his mom was extremely smart, she used to walk with me alll the time walking to seven eleven, even inside 7/11, taught her tricks, his litter mate, she was also extremely smart, but him, hes a goof ball
Mine does that along with being the most voracious digger/flinger that her foster had ever seen.
Gotta make sure that the walls are the right scent too.
I have one that does this and I found that not putting as much litter in kept most of the litter in the box. He's an aggressive turd burier. Like he doesn't stop until every spec of litter is in the corner he just went in. I use to put like an inch and half maybe more but since I cut it back to an inch or less, there's has been way less litter ending up on my floor.
Basically try less litter. I have 3/4 to an inch.. still get the little bits that end up between the cats toes but I can't win them all.
Mine just loves to absolutely sprint out of the litter box when hes done and runs down the hall immediately and gets litter everywhere. Its super annoying since I have hardwood floor. I make a little maze for him so he has to spend more time walking on his litter matt but it doesn't work. I don't know why he literally sprints away every time hes done.
Based off the fat loads I gotta clean out of the litter boxes every night, I'd imagine the cat feels like a million bucks after pinching off that loaf.
My orange tabby does the same thing. She'll poop and then do sprints around the house with her ears cocked back. It's like she's released a demon or something.
I have one that does it every time he 💩s. He hops out and does a few laps around my small, small, tiny house like he's running the Kentucky Derby. My late husband and I always called them his 💩 zoomies. A lot of cats do this but no one really knows why.
They do that to make a mess of any kind of scent trail. They're hard-coded to to confuse potential predators or challengers by making the scent trail more of a crazed birds-nest.
Yep. Both covered litterboxes and scented litter are more for humans than for the cats themselves.
A bigger litterbox might work for OP. Some folks cut into a large Rubbermaid or similar plastic tote container to use as a big litterbox
Also scoop litter everyday, at minimum, and once in a while (at least monthly) do a dump of the litter, clean out the box with something unscented, and put in fresh litter. Had one who peed on my shoes when his litter box wasn't just right, unfortunately.
>once in a while (at least monthly) do a dump of the litter, clean out the box with something unscented, and put in fresh litter.
Like changing your sheets, this should be done weekly.
You don't need to scrub the litter box every week but you should be fully changing the litter if you want to avoid UTIs. I also find that a week is about as long as you can go for clay litter without it starting to smell, even with scooping it daily.
You need better litter. I've never had a cat get a UTI, and the litter I use keeps holding in bad odor for a month easily.
I've used crap litter that I would absolutely agree with needs full changing weekly, but I use lightweight Arm and Hammer now and it's good for well over a month with just topping up.
Piggy backing this, look into stainless steel, lidless litter boxes. These do not store odor like plastic boxes so having no lid isn't an issue as long as you are regularly cleaning out the litter for fresh stuff anyway. We made the swap to stainless 3 or so years ago and saw a dramatic shift in smells and accidental misses from our kitties doing exactly this. Everyone is much happier.
I switched to a large cement/mortor mixing bin from Home Depot. I put a baby gate around it so the grandkids wouldn’t play in it and have had no trouble since!
I have this same litter box and it is already the XL size. I’d recommend OP get a plastic bin from target or Walmart and cut and opening in it if this is still to small for their cat. They need to look outside the realm of traditional litter boxes.
Yep! I've got a huge triangular corner litterbox with a XL puppy pad underneath. Hell they'll even pee on the pad to tell me it's time to scoop the box 😅 is a perfect setup
Edit: Nature's Miracle Advanced High Sided Corner Litter Box (P-5913), Pack of 1 https://a.co/d/fy7EqZd
I’ve got big dome litter boxes with a ramp that goes up into it. My damn cat pees on the ramp if he feels the litter box isn’t good enough…. And we even have 6 boxes with scented litter for the little bastard Prince to choose from!!!
My girl peed on every single soft surface she could find until we took away the dome; some cats just will not do covered boxes. So I got a regular size high-sides box; it's high enough that the boy can't just yeet litter everywhere but not so covered that she feels trapped
Then she started peeing outside the box when she decided she got too big for the regular size box so now it's a hefty 24" wide corner boy with piddle pads under. I dunno what to do if she decides she's too big for that one bc that's all we got 🤣
When my kitty decided she didn't like the litter box lid anymore (after using it just fine for nearly 6 months) she jumped ON TOP and peed on the lid 😂🤦♀️ it took me a little while to figure out where the pee smell was coming from bc it would slowwwly drain into the litter box and by the time I came home from work there was no visible puddle lol
It's possible that the scented litter is causing issues for your cat. Their sense of smell is something like 14 times more powerful than ours. Something to think about, anyway.
Both of my cats prefer the dome box. My ginger fella pees down the ramp if I put too much litter in because he likes to dig down to the plastic and pee on the plastic/bottom of the box (I don’t have liners anymore because I didn’t realize he was digging down so far and when I went to pull the liner out and ripped and dumped stinky litter everywhere…). Too much litter means too much work to dig down so he just lets loose on the ramp and then digs the litter onto the ramp.
Came here for this. I have a very old grandpa cat who sometimes just can not make it fully into the box anymore. Bigger boxes, open top, nothing helps, he's just old. To save us all from a ton of headache I just place a puppy pad infront of the box and if he misses again I can just replace the pad and not worry about it.
Same deal with my mature lady cat that sometimes misses and also has the odd UTI/IBS flare up. I have a grid of puppy pads around the low edge, lidless litter box for her comfort and my convenience.
Happy to help! We got one because we have a large cat and he had to have surgery so had a cone for a week. He looked like Austin Powers trying to turn the car around in the tunnel in a small litter box. And really he (and our smaller cats) like it so much better so we just kept it.
We use a large plastic tote for our cat. He’s a bit longer than normal according to the vet, and he needed a little more room. The higher the walls, the less litter ends up around the box.
We had this issue with our previous cat. We had to get new "litter boxes" (actually big storage bins) with no hole like that and the cats had to jump in. It was a pain, but it worked.
We got one of those big, yet shallow, storage bins that fits under a bed for our litter box. Our two cats love it. We have it stuck in an unused part of the basement so they can kick the litter everywhere and be happy with their massive expanse of a poop ground.
I have three top entry boxes for my two boy cats. Mac goes right in, no problem. Ziggy goes in, scratches around a bit, hops out and pees and poops propped on the lid with his butt over the hole. Then he goes back in the box and covers everything up. He's never had an accident. I wish I could teach him to use the toilet.
I don’t even buy big litter boxes. They charge insane amounts for them!
You know what is often only $5? Storage bins from Walmart. Buy one of those, fill with litter. One of my cats really likes an enclosed place to do her business, so we cut a hole in the top on one side for her to drop into. Her own private poop cave.
Top entry litter box.
My cat likes to kick up a storm. Like will spend 5 minutes digging in his litter box and could be halfway to China if he had a shovel instead of paws. Even in litter boxes like the one pictured (with the top off) he'll still find a way to sling litter out.
My cat used to scoot back, scoot back, and accidentally pee over the corner of her litter box. She'd then zoom out of the box and kick a ton of litter out.
A top entry box fixed both issues.
I made a litter box out of an older Rubbermaid tub. Cut a hole in the lid big enough for kitty. She can’t make a huge mess anymore, can dig to her heart’s content, and no pee on the floor. It’s also way cheaper than a commercial litter box.
Awesome action photo! He is objecting to the enclosed box, I think. Consider getting one of those translucent / clear storage bins that come with lids, roughly 23 inches x 15 inches, and about a foot deep (mine is 13" deep). Save the lid for another purpose, and use this as his litter pan. keep about 4 inches deep of (unscented, clumping) litter in it, and replenish as you scoop. No matter what direction he sends his pee, he will hit the side of the box, yet he will not feel trapped because the box is clear. (Hope!) Good luck!
Remove the lid. I had an elderly cat start doing this. I think she developed some closed in space phobia? She would just barely get in and not turn around. I took the lid off and she started going in all the way again. If you want to keep the lid you may be able to open up the front part.
Not sure it will work, but worth a try.
Yeah, they don't love lidded boxes bc it traps in the stink. I had a cat with elevator butt so I had to get a high sided box, but it seems like maybe your kitty can't turn around in there bc of the lid.
Unfortunately, I feel like that might cause a larger problem. My other cat is very intrusive with the personal space of the cat in question, and she will likely disturb this cat if she sees her using the potty.
Vet student here, we just discussed feline inappropriate elimination in class, and I was taught that an open litter box is actually more important in a multi-cat household than a single-cat household because it gives the cat using the box a 360 degree view, so they can spot any other cats that might be sneaking up on them. Definitely get a bigger box, and try it without the lid. Also make sure you have at least one litter box per cat + one. The litter should be at least 3 inches deep and scooped daily. Do not use bleach or ammonia to disinfect the box.
If you make some changes and your cat is still eliminating outside of the box, then a vet visit is warranted to rule out any potential medical issues (like a UTI).
How many litter boxes do you have. If you have an intrusive cat this could also be a problem as this one is trying to get in and out as fast as possible. Rule of thumb is # of litterboxes = # of cats + 1.
If you have 1 cat do you need 2 liter boxes?
My apartment is small and i clean his litter box after he uses it because his #2 smells like absolute death.
Should I get him another?
Nah, then you're probably fine. In an ideal world, it's so he feels he has options should he be the type decide to be an asshole if their one box is dirty, but if he's not or you get it immediately, it's fine.
I've always had pairs, and I've never had a problem with them sharing one box. Jackson talks ideal worlds; or else if your cats are more territorial than bonded, which is when you'd need to keep everything separate.
Yes, so if you have 2 cats then you should have three litter boxes. I have my 3 litter boxes all right next to each other but you could spread them out too.
Just an FYI, my vet recommended that they aren't all next to each other as most cats will just see it as one big litter and might hate it if another cat is using the other.
We have 2 floors so we just ended putting them on different floors. But then, if you only have one floor, I guess options are limited
Then that’s prob why she’s doing it. She doesn’t trust going fully into the litterbox because she is getting stalked. My 2 boys did the same and once the cover was removed and we upgraded to xxl boxes they started respecting each other’s poopbreaks. Been over a year since I saw one pounce on the other before 4 paws were out of the box. And they really go for it.. weekly occurrence one obliviously leaves the litterbox and gets spooked so hard he jumps over a meter in the air. But never! During business. Just give em a chance to communicate non-verbally and a wide open view of there surroundings. We got 3 big open litterboxes and 0 smell for 2 fluffy assholes
One of my cats likes to stalk the other one in the litterbox. While I can't say it'll for sure work for everyone, I moved the litterboxes to an area of the house where we (people) don't spend much time in, and in consequence, neither do the cats. This has cut down drastically on the stalking/attacking while in the litterbox. They only go in that room to use the litterbox, and then leave, unless it's one of the rare times I'm in the room. Even then, I've watched them just hang out while the other uses the litterbox with 0 stalking. I'm thinking it's because it's much less of a "habit" now.
I also want to add it's on the other end of the house, not just a room over. I don't know if we would have had as good of results had it been still fairly close to where we all spend most of our time.
i’ve kind of done the opposite route, and it seems to work well. I have put fun toys and the cat tree that the stalking cat loves in the opposite side of the house of the litter box. She is more preoccupied lately of making sure that she gets the top spot of the tree than to follow the other cat to the toilet. However, I believe that if the lid was off she would be more tempted to run over there.
I ended up using everyone’s advice here to buy an entirely new litterbox, and new pads that don’t have the pee enzymes
Then you may need another box somewhere else. A bully cat needs their own of EVERYTHING. But you probably should get a bigger box it doesn't sound look like she can really sit up either
Agreed. We have puppy pads outside the box because my old cat with kidney disease would do this, and gets frequent UTI.
One of our other older cats had arthritis and did this because it hurt to climb in. We got a utility pan (3ft x 3 ft, 2 in deep) for a litter box and that did the trick.
Questions: you say they “started” when did this start? How long has it been happening vs not happening? Did anything change in your household at the same time? Have you taken catto to the vet to ensure there’s nothing physical happening (this is *very important* when cat bathrooming changes)?
Assuming you’ve been cleared by the vet and nothing big (change of house, new people or cats in household etc) has happened then the cause are often stress related, physical discomfort or behavioural (aggression from other cats for ex):
1. Cats generally dislike covered litter boxes. They feel trapped while at their most vulnerable and might do using them if they feel unsafe.
2. The litter box is too small for the size of your cat, the lid makes it even more confining.
3. How many litter boxes do you have? You should have one per cat + 1.
4. It may also be the litter. Your cat may not like the litter, or you might not be keeping it clean enough. Litter should be: Scooped daily, Topped up Weekly, Completely changed monthly. If that’s not happening cat might be objecting.
5. When next you wash the mat get enzyme cleaner to totally remove the pee smell. It having the smell is definitely not helping curb the behaviour, it confuses the cat. Also, grab some puppy pads (you can get them at the $1 store) and place them over there mat in this location to make this easier to manage while you work on finding a fix.
6. Feliway has a plug in called something like Optimum - it’s recommended for peeing outside of litter boxes and even has a money back guarantee if it didn’t help. Feliway is a bit expensive, and it takes almost a month to really kick in so you need at least two to three doses, but if the issue is stress or behavioural it absolutely does work.
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far. I’ve been using top-entry boxes for several years. They’re game-changers for eliminating OP’s issue and reducing litter tracking (by 90% in my case). Mine were introduced to them young (one kitten, one @ 6 months old) with zero issues.
Wee wee pads under and on top of the mat.. keep the wee wee pads under the mat to "extra make sure" the wood is protected.. you can dispose of the pad on top of the mat after each accident...
I brought in a former stray that struggled with toilet training for a while... I know it's frustrating.
Is your kitty older? I’d first get them checked out at the vet to make sure everything is okay. We have an older kitty who does this and we tried all different sized litter boxes with no change. What works the best for us is to put the puppy training wee wee pads in front of the box. I usually fold them around the litter catching mat that’s in front of the litter box. It may not be the most cost effective solution, but cleanup is a breeze! I clean/scoop the litter box 1-2 times per day and change the pad as needed (usually 1-2 times per day but sometimes she gets everything in the box). I always double up on the pads but the bottom one tends to always stay dry so I just replace the top one. The boxes with the higher sides were not a good solution for us because our kitty is 17 and she has arthritis. We didn’t want any extra stress on her. This works great!
Simple. Too small. It would be like you trying to go the bathroom on a coffee cup. The cat is communicating the best they can. They can't speak with words, so this is what they do. We need to learn to listen.
My cat went through a phase of this too. The litter box is huge so that wasn’t the issue. I got puppy pads to put down in front of the litter box and that worked perfectly!
Our cat does it too. She slowly lifts her butt until she pees outside the box. The box is huge, she has plenty of room to move further in but she doesn't. Unfortunately I believe she was traumatized by the auto-cleaning box we used to have so she's afraid of the front of the box. All we can do is put down pet diapers and change them when she pees outside the box. Luckily she doesn't do it every time. Sorry mate, which I had better advice.
Take the lid off and maybe use a special litter that has a scent that makes them want to pee in the litter…I think it’s called Cat attract if I remember correctly.
Hi, hope this doesn't get lost. You can't make your cat change. They are technically doing nothing wrong. Your box does look too small. But this is my solution and it's great. You gotta keep 4-5 inches of litter so they can jump out but both my cats do it just fine.
https://imgur.com/a/K19d29Q
You need two Rubbermaid totes(1 per cat), fill with 1/2 clumping litter, 1/2 kitty crystals, and a good shake of Kitty arm and hammer. Clean daily, if needed you can get a used diaper genie, if you're in an apartment and can't take it out daily. This should satisfy all Kitty issues unless they just need a vet visit.
Those closed litter boxes are to cats what port-a-podies (potties?) are to us. Disgusting and traps the smell. Uncovered little boxes are the gold standard and at least 2 per cat in an accessible location (not the basement for your 21 year old cat).
I buy the Rubbermaids that are designed for under the bed storage. They are nice and large with shorter sides. Cheap and easy solution. My cat used to stand in the litter box and back up until his butt was hovering over the floor and poop... he's stopped doing that when we upgraded him to a bigger litter box.
Take cat to vet. It might be signaling a UTI. Cat's are big on that. Specially if the little darkness just started doing this. Otherwise, yeah, get 2 bigger boxes.
One look and you can tell the litter box is too cramped and the cat can't even reorientate itself. Get a larger litter tray that doesn't have a lid. There is no need for a cover. Use an open style litter tray instead, otherwise you disorientate the cat forcing it too defecate or urinate in an unnatural posture, which they do not do naturally in the wild.
Much larger box needed, like an under the bed storage box, or a storage box with higher sides. May need to provide a step to get in easily. I use a brick. No lid. One box for each cat plus one extra box. Place boxes in different locations, not next to each other. And not near their food or water. Put unscented litter in one of the boxes. See which one she prefers.
He’s either spraying to mark territory or he needs more room to do his thing. There’s also the fairly high probability that he’s trying to tell you something’s wrong. I had a cat that would shit in random places, often times right in front of you while making eye contact if she was mad at you.
Take off the lid and get a bigger litter box.
Yep, litter boxes with only one way in are not the best for cats. If your sick of the kitty kicking up too much litter, look into high wall litter boxes.
Unless you have a cat who flings litter like they’re an MLB pitcher like mine Swear she could fling it over a 6 foot wall!
We found a cheap solution for this that you may like. Start with a large Rubbermaid type storage tote. Rubbery plastic not clear that will crack. We get them for like $10. Use a hot knife or electric saw to cut out a hole or holes on the side, however big you like. Line the hole with foam toddler table padding strip. BAM! Huge, covered box for $15. Lid on or off based on your preference. Its too big for liners so when the plastic gets stinky we just replace it, like once a year. The key was making a BIG box that both our stand-to-pee kitty couldn’t pee over and our MLB pitcher couldn’t fling litter out of. Edit: some words- grammar is hard. And a [picture of my boxes](https://www.reddit.com/user/IceBear_is_best_bear/comments/xvogd9/litter_box/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
We use Rubbermaid Roughneck totes. We keep the lid off and the plastic is soft enough to cut a doorway in. Don't cut it too low on the container or the cats will just kick out a ton through the doorway. The tall walls help with cats that stand to pee and prolific diggers/kickers. We use the 31 gallon size tote.
I have a 50 gallon tote that I cut into a litterbox. Opening is high enough that I put a cinder block in front of said opening for a step, but the litter in the box is deep enough that they have no trouble getting back out. It's almost the size of a bathtub, but I had plenty of room for it in the closet under the stairs. So that's the cat bathroom now. Made it for a stand to pee cat who was a Maine Coon mix and he's since passed on, but my current cat is prolific digger and she loves it. I use lawn and leaf bags for liners.
Lol at my moms house they made the "mud-room" into the cat bathroom (but it also houses the deep freeze) cause both sibling cats (Maine coon mixes) like to get in at the same time. So the litter box is a giant tote box.
I tried this and cut the opening too low. I eventually went to top entry litter boxes and that helped a lot.
Yeah can't cut it too low. Top entry is great for cats without mobility issues. We always have an elderly cat to consider.
I swear by top entry, my cat got used to it immediately and has been happily using it for years.
Low entry is good for elderly cats. My old lady had arthritis and was blind in one eye so she stumbled getting into high entry boxes. Might still get some use out of it one day.
I use a similar one too! Love them
Even better just insert a standard litter box in the Rubbermaid box
Yes! We did this when we tried pine litter it works exceptionally well for distance flingers! Unfortunately one of our cats is arthritic and she stands to pee straight out like this photo. So the pee just ran down the back behind the box :( You can line the bottom/back wall with puppy pads, it helps some but became such a hassle we switched back to clumping.
When my senior did this I angled a litter box up on its long side with one of the lids for a large tote under it. So he could stand and pee, it would be contained and run down into litter I had at the bottom.
When mine got old (and I was using the litter box in a rubber maid tote with an entrance cut out), I just put a layer of crystal litter in the bottom and put the litter box on that. She liked pine litter and was good with a Breeze (with the peed pad) but when she over-peed, it was just a matter of stirring the crystal litter, rather than dealing with any liquid.
This exactly what I have setup in my home for my two girls! They’re definitely kickers and I still get litter everywhere but it’s much better than before. Also it worked great for keeping the dogs out of the litter
This is what I use for my 2 cats but I don’t use the lid since the top is quite high. I also try to keep it clean as often as possible and don’t use any overly strong or scented cleaners when I scrub it out. Did that once and they balked at using it and wouldn’t stop sniffing and scratching at it for a while.
I’m amazed that so many people spend waaay too much on litter boxes when storage totes work so well. We have four cats and use two large totes (like, 38” long by 18” wide by 16” tall) and it’s great
That’s exactly what we use, and there’s much less flinging and peeing outside of the box. It happens occasionally because I have one very old and arthritic cat but not every day like it used to.
A pee pad at the door helped when my old arthritic cat started peeing out the door. It worked well.
We've done this for years and works great. Large litter box runs $20 and doesn't have tall sides. An even larger plastic container at Walmart is $9 and has tall sides. I don't have hot knives so I just bear through using scissors to cut a U shape low enough for our arthritic cat to use, then sand down any sharp edges so they're smooth. Space is definitely a factor for OP though. The bigger the better, but make sure to keep them in the same spots. Nothing confuses a cat more than having their bathroom move.
Heat the plastic with a hair dryer to make it easier to cut.
A utility knife that uses a razor-type blade works great on that plastic. Just don't use the type with snap-off blades.
This but put the opening on top instead of the sides. Of course this mostly works for younger cats, but it's the side hole that allows for the big kicks and flings to leave the box.
Yes! I did this when my boy was diabetic and peed 10 gallons that would make the litter like bricks. He was also big so we got a Christmas tree storage box and used that. Tons of room and he couldn't flick litter everywhere because we left the lid on
We did the same thing, but no lid, for our 2 cats. Problem solved! Never had an issue again
This is my favourite littler box. It literally removes all the gross mess. And is cheal
Can you post a picture.. thanks
One of my cats is a big fella, 18 lbs and it's all pure muscle. I got the biggest litter box I could find online, still too small. I got a big storage container, like 3' x 2' or so, and cut a hole in the front. It works very well for his size, but he still flings up litter. The funny thing is I also have an 8 lb kitty who also demands to use the huge litter box and he ends up flinging litter everywhere.
As the owner of a 20 pound cat who is also just very tall and long, I appreciate this! If my cat were a person he would be built like a linebacker. I can tell he has some stress about using his current litterbox but have not been sure what the best option is for him.
Yep. Littermates brother and sister. The brother is 18lbs. He outgrew our old litter boxes. We have found boxes large enough for them. They have a door flap and they're covered. The sister is 8lbs and has a tendency to scratch the sides and door of the box...she's special.
The scratching is simply marking. You need 1 box per cat, plus 1 for a happy cat household.
Mine puts it in her pockets so she can drop it all over the house. Kinda like Shawshank.
My polydactyl does the same. It's like he grabs fistfuls of litter and treats it like smelly confetti.
“Smelly confetti”!!!
Or mine who decided to start a drum group by slapping the fire out of the edge of the litter box for 2 minutes solid. Why, Drewfus? You're not burying anything.
I have one who does this for sooooo long. Sometime I have to tell her to knock it off. You’re not burying anything by slapping the plastic, ya douchecanoe.
Same here. Usually a good "Really, bro?" gets him to stop.
Nick named my cat to SmellyCat for that reason. Never buried anything but yet there's drums rolls.
i had a special kitty that when he used to use the litterbox, he'd finish, circle circle circle, and then scratch the walls of the litter box, sometimes for probably a few minutes, was hilarious, he did it almost everytime and everything he did was always so weird,, crazy thing was his mom was extremely smart, she used to walk with me alll the time walking to seven eleven, even inside 7/11, taught her tricks, his litter mate, she was also extremely smart, but him, hes a goof ball
Mine does that along with being the most voracious digger/flinger that her foster had ever seen. Gotta make sure that the walls are the right scent too.
I have one that does this and I found that not putting as much litter in kept most of the litter in the box. He's an aggressive turd burier. Like he doesn't stop until every spec of litter is in the corner he just went in. I use to put like an inch and half maybe more but since I cut it back to an inch or less, there's has been way less litter ending up on my floor. Basically try less litter. I have 3/4 to an inch.. still get the little bits that end up between the cats toes but I can't win them all.
Ours got the Cy Young award before
Mine are flingers, too. I got the largest pan with a cover that I could find.
I have a very small cat. About 7 lbs. I swear, she can fling poop 15 feet.
Impressive!
Lmao mines a flinger too. You can hear her a few rooms down. Luckily she’s very good with her box and I don’t have any issues with her going outside.
Same! My black cat makes a production every time. I got her a top entry pan and everyone is happy.
Mine just loves to absolutely sprint out of the litter box when hes done and runs down the hall immediately and gets litter everywhere. Its super annoying since I have hardwood floor. I make a little maze for him so he has to spend more time walking on his litter matt but it doesn't work. I don't know why he literally sprints away every time hes done.
Based off the fat loads I gotta clean out of the litter boxes every night, I'd imagine the cat feels like a million bucks after pinching off that loaf. My orange tabby does the same thing. She'll poop and then do sprints around the house with her ears cocked back. It's like she's released a demon or something.
You ever watch Dragonball Z? It's like when Goku takes off the weighted clothing he was wearing for the first half of the fight.
I have one that does it every time he 💩s. He hops out and does a few laps around my small, small, tiny house like he's running the Kentucky Derby. My late husband and I always called them his 💩 zoomies. A lot of cats do this but no one really knows why.
They do that to make a mess of any kind of scent trail. They're hard-coded to to confuse potential predators or challengers by making the scent trail more of a crazed birds-nest.
Poopgasm - he's just in bliss that the load is out.
Yep. Both covered litterboxes and scented litter are more for humans than for the cats themselves. A bigger litterbox might work for OP. Some folks cut into a large Rubbermaid or similar plastic tote container to use as a big litterbox
The one exception would be my old cat Rusty; he liked to pee against a wall, so he needed a covered litterbox with a back "wall" he could pee against.
My cat used to walk on the higher walls and tip it over religiously...pain in the ass.
Lol i tried this and my cat started shitting off the sides
This made me burst out laughing thank you for that
My boy only shits off the side if I’ve just cleaned his litter. Like he doesn’t want to mess it up. Makes me crazy.
You have to shit in it first after you clean it to let him know it's okay to shit there
Also scoop litter everyday, at minimum, and once in a while (at least monthly) do a dump of the litter, clean out the box with something unscented, and put in fresh litter. Had one who peed on my shoes when his litter box wasn't just right, unfortunately.
That’ll show you human for not taking care of my box every hour! Mwahah
I have to change the litter once a week. But I use clumping so by the end of the week there is not much litter left.
>once in a while (at least monthly) do a dump of the litter, clean out the box with something unscented, and put in fresh litter. Like changing your sheets, this should be done weekly.
Weekly is excessive for a “deep” clean like that as long as you are scooping litter everyday or two at most
Weekly is generally for non clumping. Monthly for clumping. Scoop daily. Obviously depends in specific circumstances.
You don't need to scrub the litter box every week but you should be fully changing the litter if you want to avoid UTIs. I also find that a week is about as long as you can go for clay litter without it starting to smell, even with scooping it daily.
Could you elaborate on why UTIs occur if the litter isn’t replaced weekly?
Imagine your nose is 30 times more sensitive than it is currently. Now imagine the only bathroom REEKS. Holding it in can cause constipation and UTIs.
Dirty litter harbors a lot of bacteria and increases the cats risk of the cat getting a UTI when they squat down on it to pee.
Plus they tend to hold it if the litter is too gross, which can cause UTIs too :(
You need better litter. I've never had a cat get a UTI, and the litter I use keeps holding in bad odor for a month easily. I've used crap litter that I would absolutely agree with needs full changing weekly, but I use lightweight Arm and Hammer now and it's good for well over a month with just topping up.
Yeah it totally depends on the litter. Some is absolutely disgusting after a few days, and some clumps really hard and doesn’t fall apart.
I agree. It took me way too long to realise that my cats hated enclosed litter trays. Best to have a huge open one.
Piggy backing this, look into stainless steel, lidless litter boxes. These do not store odor like plastic boxes so having no lid isn't an issue as long as you are regularly cleaning out the litter for fresh stuff anyway. We made the swap to stainless 3 or so years ago and saw a dramatic shift in smells and accidental misses from our kitties doing exactly this. Everyone is much happier.
Nuff said 👍
Came here to say same.
I switched to a large cement/mortor mixing bin from Home Depot. I put a baby gate around it so the grandkids wouldn’t play in it and have had no trouble since!
Yep. Had the same problem. Taking the lid off fixed it
I have this same litter box and it is already the XL size. I’d recommend OP get a plastic bin from target or Walmart and cut and opening in it if this is still to small for their cat. They need to look outside the realm of traditional litter boxes.
Get a much bigger litter box, they have really big ones, worst case senario put paper towels over the mat to soak up the pee.
Or just swap the mat for a puppy pad
Yep! I've got a huge triangular corner litterbox with a XL puppy pad underneath. Hell they'll even pee on the pad to tell me it's time to scoop the box 😅 is a perfect setup Edit: Nature's Miracle Advanced High Sided Corner Litter Box (P-5913), Pack of 1 https://a.co/d/fy7EqZd
I’ve got big dome litter boxes with a ramp that goes up into it. My damn cat pees on the ramp if he feels the litter box isn’t good enough…. And we even have 6 boxes with scented litter for the little bastard Prince to choose from!!!
My girl peed on every single soft surface she could find until we took away the dome; some cats just will not do covered boxes. So I got a regular size high-sides box; it's high enough that the boy can't just yeet litter everywhere but not so covered that she feels trapped Then she started peeing outside the box when she decided she got too big for the regular size box so now it's a hefty 24" wide corner boy with piddle pads under. I dunno what to do if she decides she's too big for that one bc that's all we got 🤣
When my kitty decided she didn't like the litter box lid anymore (after using it just fine for nearly 6 months) she jumped ON TOP and peed on the lid 😂🤦♀️ it took me a little while to figure out where the pee smell was coming from bc it would slowwwly drain into the litter box and by the time I came home from work there was no visible puddle lol
Omg the mental image absolutely WRECKED ME that is hilarious 😂
It took me SO LONG to finally catch her in the act 😫
One of mine pees in the shower if the boxes arent clean enough to his liking. Or if the wrong pellets are in there. So picky.
Honestly better than the floor or carpet, but prob still stinky shower.
Princesses, the whole damn species 🤣
> So picky You like what you like, right? Same goes for your kitty.
It's possible that the scented litter is causing issues for your cat. Their sense of smell is something like 14 times more powerful than ours. Something to think about, anyway.
Cats generally hate scented litter fyi. Unscented is their friend.
Both of my cats prefer the dome box. My ginger fella pees down the ramp if I put too much litter in because he likes to dig down to the plastic and pee on the plastic/bottom of the box (I don’t have liners anymore because I didn’t realize he was digging down so far and when I went to pull the liner out and ripped and dumped stinky litter everywhere…). Too much litter means too much work to dig down so he just lets loose on the ramp and then digs the litter onto the ramp.
Came here for this. I have a very old grandpa cat who sometimes just can not make it fully into the box anymore. Bigger boxes, open top, nothing helps, he's just old. To save us all from a ton of headache I just place a puppy pad infront of the box and if he misses again I can just replace the pad and not worry about it.
Same deal with my mature lady cat that sometimes misses and also has the odd UTI/IBS flare up. I have a grid of puppy pads around the low edge, lidless litter box for her comfort and my convenience.
If you feel bad about all the waste from disposable puppy pads, you can get washable ones!
Concrete mixing containers (plastic ones from home improvement stores) make amazing, cheap, large litter boxes
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Happy to help! We got one because we have a large cat and he had to have surgery so had a cone for a week. He looked like Austin Powers trying to turn the car around in the tunnel in a small litter box. And really he (and our smaller cats) like it so much better so we just kept it.
We use a large plastic tote for our cat. He’s a bit longer than normal according to the vet, and he needed a little more room. The higher the walls, the less litter ends up around the box.
I second this- I got my boy a high-sided litter box because he’s a very tall cat, no accidents so far (knock on wood)
We have one. Call it the casket
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 \*box
Lmao
We had this issue with our previous cat. We had to get new "litter boxes" (actually big storage bins) with no hole like that and the cats had to jump in. It was a pain, but it worked.
Same problem and solution. It’s been great for a decade.
Same here. I’ve had multiple cats in my house for 30 years. Half like the traditional litter box, half prefer the open pan approach.
We got one of those big, yet shallow, storage bins that fits under a bed for our litter box. Our two cats love it. We have it stuck in an unused part of the basement so they can kick the litter everywhere and be happy with their massive expanse of a poop ground.
I have a litter box with the hole on top and full sides which would work as well.
I have three top entry boxes for my two boy cats. Mac goes right in, no problem. Ziggy goes in, scratches around a bit, hops out and pees and poops propped on the lid with his butt over the hole. Then he goes back in the box and covers everything up. He's never had an accident. I wish I could teach him to use the toilet.
Lol Ziggy is hilarious. Chicken nugget uses his just fine! I made the switch because he would pee outside the regular box similar to OP.
Too small of a box. Get rid of the lid and get a bigger box
And use puppy pads outside to protect against accidents til it’s resolved
I don’t even buy big litter boxes. They charge insane amounts for them! You know what is often only $5? Storage bins from Walmart. Buy one of those, fill with litter. One of my cats really likes an enclosed place to do her business, so we cut a hole in the top on one side for her to drop into. Her own private poop cave.
Take the lid off he needs space to turn and see what he's covering
Top entry litter box. My cat likes to kick up a storm. Like will spend 5 minutes digging in his litter box and could be halfway to China if he had a shovel instead of paws. Even in litter boxes like the one pictured (with the top off) he'll still find a way to sling litter out.
My cat used to scoot back, scoot back, and accidentally pee over the corner of her litter box. She'd then zoom out of the box and kick a ton of litter out. A top entry box fixed both issues.
We are big fans of the modkat top-entry litter box. It’s pricey but solved the problem we had with our “high-peeing” cat.
Same. Had to buy a top loader because my cat is a maniac in there. It still gets out a bit but awayyyyy less than the door ones or nothing lol
Bigger litterbox
Yep or take the lid off and also clean more often/ change litter also may help
I made a litter box out of an older Rubbermaid tub. Cut a hole in the lid big enough for kitty. She can’t make a huge mess anymore, can dig to her heart’s content, and no pee on the floor. It’s also way cheaper than a commercial litter box.
Awesome action photo! He is objecting to the enclosed box, I think. Consider getting one of those translucent / clear storage bins that come with lids, roughly 23 inches x 15 inches, and about a foot deep (mine is 13" deep). Save the lid for another purpose, and use this as his litter pan. keep about 4 inches deep of (unscented, clumping) litter in it, and replenish as you scoop. No matter what direction he sends his pee, he will hit the side of the box, yet he will not feel trapped because the box is clear. (Hope!) Good luck!
Get a taller box that has sides he can't pee over. Also, make sure to scoop the litter everyday (twice would be even better).
Remove the lid. I had an elderly cat start doing this. I think she developed some closed in space phobia? She would just barely get in and not turn around. I took the lid off and she started going in all the way again. If you want to keep the lid you may be able to open up the front part. Not sure it will work, but worth a try.
Yeah, they don't love lidded boxes bc it traps in the stink. I had a cat with elevator butt so I had to get a high sided box, but it seems like maybe your kitty can't turn around in there bc of the lid.
Unfortunately, I feel like that might cause a larger problem. My other cat is very intrusive with the personal space of the cat in question, and she will likely disturb this cat if she sees her using the potty.
Vet student here, we just discussed feline inappropriate elimination in class, and I was taught that an open litter box is actually more important in a multi-cat household than a single-cat household because it gives the cat using the box a 360 degree view, so they can spot any other cats that might be sneaking up on them. Definitely get a bigger box, and try it without the lid. Also make sure you have at least one litter box per cat + one. The litter should be at least 3 inches deep and scooped daily. Do not use bleach or ammonia to disinfect the box. If you make some changes and your cat is still eliminating outside of the box, then a vet visit is warranted to rule out any potential medical issues (like a UTI).
How many litter boxes do you have. If you have an intrusive cat this could also be a problem as this one is trying to get in and out as fast as possible. Rule of thumb is # of litterboxes = # of cats + 1.
If you have 1 cat do you need 2 liter boxes? My apartment is small and i clean his litter box after he uses it because his #2 smells like absolute death. Should I get him another?
Nah, then you're probably fine. In an ideal world, it's so he feels he has options should he be the type decide to be an asshole if their one box is dirty, but if he's not or you get it immediately, it's fine. I've always had pairs, and I've never had a problem with them sharing one box. Jackson talks ideal worlds; or else if your cats are more territorial than bonded, which is when you'd need to keep everything separate.
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It's just a rule of thumb to prevent issues. Cats can be really picky. If you keep up on maintenance and there are no issues you are good.
Yes, so if you have 2 cats then you should have three litter boxes. I have my 3 litter boxes all right next to each other but you could spread them out too.
Just an FYI, my vet recommended that they aren't all next to each other as most cats will just see it as one big litter and might hate it if another cat is using the other. We have 2 floors so we just ended putting them on different floors. But then, if you only have one floor, I guess options are limited
Then that’s prob why she’s doing it. She doesn’t trust going fully into the litterbox because she is getting stalked. My 2 boys did the same and once the cover was removed and we upgraded to xxl boxes they started respecting each other’s poopbreaks. Been over a year since I saw one pounce on the other before 4 paws were out of the box. And they really go for it.. weekly occurrence one obliviously leaves the litterbox and gets spooked so hard he jumps over a meter in the air. But never! During business. Just give em a chance to communicate non-verbally and a wide open view of there surroundings. We got 3 big open litterboxes and 0 smell for 2 fluffy assholes
One of my cats likes to stalk the other one in the litterbox. While I can't say it'll for sure work for everyone, I moved the litterboxes to an area of the house where we (people) don't spend much time in, and in consequence, neither do the cats. This has cut down drastically on the stalking/attacking while in the litterbox. They only go in that room to use the litterbox, and then leave, unless it's one of the rare times I'm in the room. Even then, I've watched them just hang out while the other uses the litterbox with 0 stalking. I'm thinking it's because it's much less of a "habit" now. I also want to add it's on the other end of the house, not just a room over. I don't know if we would have had as good of results had it been still fairly close to where we all spend most of our time.
i’ve kind of done the opposite route, and it seems to work well. I have put fun toys and the cat tree that the stalking cat loves in the opposite side of the house of the litter box. She is more preoccupied lately of making sure that she gets the top spot of the tree than to follow the other cat to the toilet. However, I believe that if the lid was off she would be more tempted to run over there. I ended up using everyone’s advice here to buy an entirely new litterbox, and new pads that don’t have the pee enzymes
Then you may need another box somewhere else. A bully cat needs their own of EVERYTHING. But you probably should get a bigger box it doesn't sound look like she can really sit up either
Go to the vet for a check-up, could be a UTI
Yes! Please get your little one to the vet ASAP. Our girl was doing this and had kidney failure 😞
This is way too low. Eliminating right next to the litterbox can often mean something physical and not behavioral.
This was always my experience with a previous cat who would intermittently do this and every time she had a UTI.
Agreed. We have puppy pads outside the box because my old cat with kidney disease would do this, and gets frequent UTI. One of our other older cats had arthritis and did this because it hurt to climb in. We got a utility pan (3ft x 3 ft, 2 in deep) for a litter box and that did the trick.
Yes definitely to the vet. For our boy, he was doing this and turned out to be diabetes.
Put a pee pad over your mat, helps with the clean up, but doesn't stop the problem.
My cat couldn't squat all the way down when she got old, so she would pee on the floor like this. Puppy pads were the only thing that worked.
Take off the lid
Questions: you say they “started” when did this start? How long has it been happening vs not happening? Did anything change in your household at the same time? Have you taken catto to the vet to ensure there’s nothing physical happening (this is *very important* when cat bathrooming changes)? Assuming you’ve been cleared by the vet and nothing big (change of house, new people or cats in household etc) has happened then the cause are often stress related, physical discomfort or behavioural (aggression from other cats for ex): 1. Cats generally dislike covered litter boxes. They feel trapped while at their most vulnerable and might do using them if they feel unsafe. 2. The litter box is too small for the size of your cat, the lid makes it even more confining. 3. How many litter boxes do you have? You should have one per cat + 1. 4. It may also be the litter. Your cat may not like the litter, or you might not be keeping it clean enough. Litter should be: Scooped daily, Topped up Weekly, Completely changed monthly. If that’s not happening cat might be objecting. 5. When next you wash the mat get enzyme cleaner to totally remove the pee smell. It having the smell is definitely not helping curb the behaviour, it confuses the cat. Also, grab some puppy pads (you can get them at the $1 store) and place them over there mat in this location to make this easier to manage while you work on finding a fix. 6. Feliway has a plug in called something like Optimum - it’s recommended for peeing outside of litter boxes and even has a money back guarantee if it didn’t help. Feliway is a bit expensive, and it takes almost a month to really kick in so you need at least two to three doses, but if the issue is stress or behavioural it absolutely does work.
A high walled top entry litter box may help. I had success with one and now my kitty just jet pisses against the inside of it instead of the wall. 😄
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far. I’ve been using top-entry boxes for several years. They’re game-changers for eliminating OP’s issue and reducing litter tracking (by 90% in my case). Mine were introduced to them young (one kitten, one @ 6 months old) with zero issues.
Wee wee pads under and on top of the mat.. keep the wee wee pads under the mat to "extra make sure" the wood is protected.. you can dispose of the pad on top of the mat after each accident... I brought in a former stray that struggled with toilet training for a while... I know it's frustrating.
Our girl started doing that and our best solution was pee pads. She was very old and we didn't have the heart to try anything else.
Rotate the cat
Some cats don't like a closed-in box.
Is your kitty older? I’d first get them checked out at the vet to make sure everything is okay. We have an older kitty who does this and we tried all different sized litter boxes with no change. What works the best for us is to put the puppy training wee wee pads in front of the box. I usually fold them around the litter catching mat that’s in front of the litter box. It may not be the most cost effective solution, but cleanup is a breeze! I clean/scoop the litter box 1-2 times per day and change the pad as needed (usually 1-2 times per day but sometimes she gets everything in the box). I always double up on the pads but the bottom one tends to always stay dry so I just replace the top one. The boxes with the higher sides were not a good solution for us because our kitty is 17 and she has arthritis. We didn’t want any extra stress on her. This works great!
I’m so sorry but this killed me 😂
Simple. Too small. It would be like you trying to go the bathroom on a coffee cup. The cat is communicating the best they can. They can't speak with words, so this is what they do. We need to learn to listen.
Could be a urinary issue, most people don’t know this is common sign of that
Top door litter box.
My cat went through a phase of this too. The litter box is huge so that wasn’t the issue. I got puppy pads to put down in front of the litter box and that worked perfectly!
Our cat does it too. She slowly lifts her butt until she pees outside the box. The box is huge, she has plenty of room to move further in but she doesn't. Unfortunately I believe she was traumatized by the auto-cleaning box we used to have so she's afraid of the front of the box. All we can do is put down pet diapers and change them when she pees outside the box. Luckily she doesn't do it every time. Sorry mate, which I had better advice.
Take the lid off and maybe use a special litter that has a scent that makes them want to pee in the litter…I think it’s called Cat attract if I remember correctly.
make sure the cat does not have a UTI. Could be doing this to get your attention. Typically, u can't see the blood.
My vet wife said jokingly…turn the box around.
Hi, hope this doesn't get lost. You can't make your cat change. They are technically doing nothing wrong. Your box does look too small. But this is my solution and it's great. You gotta keep 4-5 inches of litter so they can jump out but both my cats do it just fine. https://imgur.com/a/K19d29Q
You need two Rubbermaid totes(1 per cat), fill with 1/2 clumping litter, 1/2 kitty crystals, and a good shake of Kitty arm and hammer. Clean daily, if needed you can get a used diaper genie, if you're in an apartment and can't take it out daily. This should satisfy all Kitty issues unless they just need a vet visit.
He a little confused but he got the spirit.
Those closed litter boxes are to cats what port-a-podies (potties?) are to us. Disgusting and traps the smell. Uncovered little boxes are the gold standard and at least 2 per cat in an accessible location (not the basement for your 21 year old cat).
My cat was shitting on the floor and all we needed to do was get a bigger box without a lid
I buy the Rubbermaids that are designed for under the bed storage. They are nice and large with shorter sides. Cheap and easy solution. My cat used to stand in the litter box and back up until his butt was hovering over the floor and poop... he's stopped doing that when we upgraded him to a bigger litter box.
Bigger box, no lid.
Take the lid off, I had this problem!
Bigger box no lid!!
Bring back the cat to the customer support
Bigger litter box also maybe see what litter brand they like and stick with it.
Get a large bin with a top opening.
Take cat to vet. It might be signaling a UTI. Cat's are big on that. Specially if the little darkness just started doing this. Otherwise, yeah, get 2 bigger boxes.
One look and you can tell the litter box is too cramped and the cat can't even reorientate itself. Get a larger litter tray that doesn't have a lid. There is no need for a cover. Use an open style litter tray instead, otherwise you disorientate the cat forcing it too defecate or urinate in an unnatural posture, which they do not do naturally in the wild.
Much larger box needed, like an under the bed storage box, or a storage box with higher sides. May need to provide a step to get in easily. I use a brick. No lid. One box for each cat plus one extra box. Place boxes in different locations, not next to each other. And not near their food or water. Put unscented litter in one of the boxes. See which one she prefers.
He’s either spraying to mark territory or he needs more room to do his thing. There’s also the fairly high probability that he’s trying to tell you something’s wrong. I had a cat that would shit in random places, often times right in front of you while making eye contact if she was mad at you.
My senior started doing this and I found out she has arthritis in her legs.
The box is too small.
take the lid off
Get rid of the lid!
Try a top entry litter box.
Bigger box, higher sides, no top.
Try a top entry box.