Hi everyone!

I had no where to turn, so I thought I'd try a cat message board. My hubby and I have a 14 year old domestic cat. She is our baby and within the last year we have been having litterbox problems. There have been very few times that she has defecated outside the litter box and we have almost determined that she does this even when the litter box has the slightest bit of odor in it. We think maybe since she is considered an elderly cat that she is more finicky. However, she will NOT use the litterbox to urinate! We just got finished with a bevy of tests at the vet to determine if she had some medical problems and the only thing they found was that something concerning her liver was elevated. The vet didn't seem to think anything of it and didn't offer any advice on what effects this might have.

We have NEVER changed her litter...she has used Fresh Step litter since she was a baby and will not even touch anything else.

She doesn't urinate in places like the furniture or middle of the floor and she definitely isn't spraying (she squats) and she doesn't do it in front of us very often, so we've almost ruled out a behavioral problem. She will go in corners or against the woodwork or close to furniture. The smell is awful in our house and we are in the process of trying to remove the smell with black lights and enzyme cleaners. (And logically I know the only way to truly get rid of the smell is rip up the carpet and get rid of the cat). She is truly our baby since we have no children and it just breaks our heart to think of putting her down if we can't get this problem resolved.

My question is this: Does anyone have any ideas to help with showing her to urinate in the litterbox again? Is this something common in elderly cats? Why on earth would she choose to only defecate in the litterbox and not urinate in there!?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Kristi

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