Senior cat litter box problems

[Mama2Setia]

I tried to do a search to see if there was an answer to my question before posting. The search function isn't working. I looked through about 12 pages of posts and got crossed-eye!

Anyway, we have a 22 year old cat. She hasn't used her litter box for 4 years now! There isn't anything physically or medically wrong with her, got her checked out with her vet. She is really healthy for her age. Vet can't figure out why she isn't using her litter box. We all think it is behavioral. Right now, we can't afford to pay a behaviorist to treat her.

She uses the house as her litter box. We tried diet changes, litter changes, litter box changes, etc. Nothing is working. I've had to deal with her litter problems for 4 years and I am at the end of my rope. I'm not very happy with her. But the family wants to keep her. She wouldn't be adoptable anyway with her litter problems. Aside from her litter issues, she is a very good cat. Never bites or scratches anyone. Help!

ETA: She poops and pees in corners on the living room carpet (her favorite spot) and basically any corner in the house that is carpeted. The carpet is all stained and the smell is still there after numerous and years of cleaning. We can't afford to replace the carpet. She's not declawed but she was spade as a kitten. She's an only cat.

[chaoticzenmom]

Originally Posted by Mama2Setia

I tried to do a search to see if there was an answer to my question before posting. The search function isn't working. I looked through about 12 pages of posts and got crossed-eye!

Anyway, we have a 22 year old cat. She hasn't used her litter box for 4 years now! There isn't anything physically or medically wrong with her, got her checked out with her vet. She is really healthy for her age. Vet can't figure out why she isn't using her litter box. We all think it is behavioral. Right now, we can't afford to pay a behaviorist to treat her.

She uses the house as her litter box. We tried diet changes, litter changes, litter box changes, etc. Nothing is working. I've had to deal with her litter problems for 4 years and I am at the end of my rope. I'm not very happy with her. But the family wants to keep her. She wouldn't be adoptable anyway with her litter problems. Aside from her litter issues, she is a very good cat. Never bites or scratches anyone. Help!

I had a cat like that. I got her a big 2 story cage and retrained her in it. I didn't know I was retraining her, we just were staying with friends and I didn't want my nasty cat ruining their house. I doctored the cage up some to make it more interesting. I put in a hidy hole level because the levels that came with the cage were only about 1 foot wide, so I made another story with only a hole to go up and carpeted the top where I put her food and bed. She had 2 sitting places on the bottom and her catbox. She stayed in there for a month with only an hour or two out of it every day in a confined area, then she was back in. It worked. Once they start, it's soo hard to get them to stop. Good luck.

[phatchristy]

OK, well, where exactly is she eliminating? And, is it both poop and urine? Specific details could be helpful.

If it truly is behavioral (diabetes and kidney issues being a commonality for elderly cats) then she needs to be retrained. All areas of the house need to be cleaned enzymatically.

Unfortunately, as this has been going on for 4 years unless you have a sealed floor (aka ceramic tile or linoleum) chances are there is urine down to the subfloor/cement. So, it may be difficult to eliminate the issue completely.

If everyone wants to keep her she should be confined to a small room that's tiled. Otherwise honestly like you said a cat with litter box problems that cannot be retrained is unadoptable and should be humanely euthanized--in reality, it would already be pretty much impossible to adopt out a 22 year old cat period!

Is she declawed? Inappropriate elimination also has a higher rate amongst declawed cats, in particular with elderly cats because of the declaw they suffer pain and arthritis in their paws.