God damn it, I just caught the cat peeing in the living room. I don’t know what’s wrong. He seemed fine otherwise, and the litter boxes are pretty clean.
(Posting it here rather than in the rants thread because I don’t know how much of a rant it is, plus when I post about my cat in the rants thread, people tend to think I’m an animal abuser. I’m not, I swear.)
Anyway, I’m emailing my dad about it and maybe he can think of something.
When I pet sat I had a list of things to check for when a cat stopped using a litter box.
I’ll try to remember
First thing is take the cat to the vet and make sure there isn’t a medical reason. If a cat has an infection and it hurts to pee they can associate the box with pain and will avoid it.
If it’s a neutered male he could have a blockage and it hurts to pee. Although mine would always pee on my foot when he got blocked. Wasn’t much pee but he sure got my attention that way.
Does he have arthritis? Is it hard for him to get to the box? If you have stairs is there a box on each floor? Are the sides of the box too high for him to step into? You can get boxes that have lower sides.
Are the boxes clean?
Have you changed the type of litter?
Is the litter too deep or not deep enough?
Has the box been moved?
Have you uncovered a previously covered box or covered a previously uncovered box?
Have traffic patterns changed so the box is more or less private?
Is another cat in the house blocking him from using the box?
Does this cat want his own ‘private’ box? Some cats don’t like to share.
Have your brought a new cat, baby, or anything else into the house?
If he always goes to the same place you can try putting aluminum foil down. Most cats don’t like walking on it. Most likely though he’ll find another place to go or go next to the foil.
Basically you want to eliminate any physical reasons, then eliminate any psychological reasons. Next step is to put him in a small room with just his food, water, and a litter box until he learns to use the box again. I think it’s a bit demeaning to do to an adult cat, but unless you want to live with the smell and spend a good part of your day cleaning, he has to be retrained.
A Mumper moment of silence for Gunnar Hansen - Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 
Can I get ruble for the secret Santa exchange; I’ve found the perfect gift for him; it’s like they created it with him in mind. :eek: :o 
Thanks, sari. Very helpful.
Yes, he is old, and I think maybe arthritic, so maybe he doesn’t want to go all the way down the stairs to his litter boxes.
Maybe i can ask my dad about putting a litter box upstairs. He’ll probably object, but maybe I can say to him that if he objects, he can clean the litter boxes for once. I’m tired of being the only person doing that.
We did change his food recently - well, not changed exactly, but started giving him canned food in addition to the regular dry food. My dad think this might be the cause.
Got a case of grumpies today. A couple months ago, I sent our Victrola’s guts out for service as they were filthy and making foul noises. 99 year old grease tends to glue rather than slide. :eek: The works are back now, and if there’s no record playing, it spins nice and quiet, but as soon as I try to play something, it all grinds to a halt in about ten seconds
DH isn’t happy about it either as we were hoping to have a working Victrola at Christmastime.
Excellent game. I have two sets so we can play with eight people
Yay, Emily!
I enjoy autumn up until the rains begin to be a daily thing. It’s lovely hiking weather and like ruble, the fallen leaves tend to reveal some interesting ruins.
Trying to get a bunch of stuff done today, as one of our bigger clients will be in for an audit of their consigned goods tomorrow and I’ll be handling that all day.
Emily, I second getting a vet’s opinion about your cat’s litter issues. If it’s not been an issue before at her age, she may be in pain.
I think I am getting depressed. Have no motivation, just don’t care anymore.
Yes, my dad suggested bringing the cat to the vet if these issues continue.
{{Butters}}
{{{{{Butters}}}}}
Spend the rest of the day doing something you like. That might help. And Monday with be over in a few hours.
{{{Butters}}}
I was kind of like that last week, only in me it comes out more like the grumpies. I didn’t feel like talking much and everything annoyed me.
Of course everything already annoys me.
I know why I was but I can’t fix it, so…
God-friggin-dammit, the cat peed there again. I don’t know what to do. Well, I have some ideas on what to do. Maybe I can bring him to the vet sometime soon. It’d require taking time out of my already busy day to do it. I don’t know.
Thank G-d.
For my Pie Hole Post, I shall attempt to make Aloo Baingan, and Indian dish made of potatoes, eggplant, and some pungent spices. What are Indians doing cooking with a New World food? :dubious:
Mrs. Plant (v.3.0) immensely enjoyed it Sunday at her favorite restaurant, *Star of India.
*
Howdy Y’all! Moanday has been survived. It occurred to me today that Wednesday is a holiday. I am takin’ Firday off (use or lose leave time), so 'tis a three day irk week for da bear. YAY!!! Dindin shall be leftovers from yestiddy cause, well, there’s enough and da bear does not want to cook.
Midget hope you find out what’s ailin’ the cat soon.
{{{Butters}}} sorry you’re feelin’ down. Does this happen to you a lot? If it seems to be, I suggest professional help. Trust me. As someone with clinical depression, I can tell you you do not want to let it go on and on untreated. Any rate, feel better soonest.
Hell, go shot some one, it’s faster and less expensive. Of course, if you get caught, there is a very high overhead. 
Why won’t my boss give me anything to do?? A few weeks ago, I was hearing all kinds of whining about how backed up drafting was, but except for making a few changes on drawings I did last week, I had nothing today! I want work, dammit!!
As for autumn, I love when the trees are in full color. Alas, that part is pretty much done around here and most trees are pretty close to nekkid. This coming weekend I’ll be de-leafing the yard. **FCD **will be heading to FL on Sat, but he’ll help me get the mulcher/vac out before he goes. I should be able to get most of it done on Saturday - we shall see…
Daughter has gotten safely back to Orlando. **FCD **is crashed on the recliner. I’m going to make homemade mac-n-cheese for supper. It’s been rainy much of the afternoon, and it’s supposed to continue tonight and tomorrow. Weds should be nice, and my big plan for the day is a convenience center run. I’m surprised it’s open on Vet’s day.
C’mon Firday!!!
Oh yeah - **Midget **- one thing that seemed to help when Taz went on his pee spree was feeding him urinary tract health kibbles. In fact, we mix that with indoor cat food as a matter of course. Just a thought.
{{{butters}}}
I’m on the ninth floor of an office building in Salt Lake City, and I just saw a cloud of leaves get blown *up *past my window. I stepped out on the balcony, and a wind gust blew the door shut behind me… and the door slammed so hard it locked me out. One of my coworkers had to let me back into the building.
This is dinner