We have an elderly cat named Clapton.
Much beloved, he has been with us almost 20 years.
Over the last few months, he has taken to peeing, and sometimes crapping on the floor.
He’s got a heart murmer, so no spanking.
Also, we aren’t going to put him down, as family is family, two legs or four.
Suggestions?
The vet said that other than the heart, he’s healthy.
If he’s healthy - no kidney problems, no urinary tract infections, no bladder infections - and no behavioral issues that have recently come up, e.g., a new cat/kitten, a new person in the house, you’ve moved, he’s lost a cat companion - then one possibility is just that he’s old and is having trouble making it to the litter box in time. Do you have a multi-story house? You might want to put at least one box on each floor. Even in a one-story house, he might need another box or more.
Is he always peeing in one place? Have you moved his box recently? Is his box near his food or regular sleeping spot (neither of which is ideal). If he’s always peeing on a cool surface, like tile, then despite what the vet said he might have a UTI. They seek out a cool surface because it “soothes” the burning sensation of the UTI.
We keep it downstairs, always in the same place.
Has he been tested for diabetes? it is very common in older cats. My old dog is diabetic and before he was diagnosed he had trouble with peeing. He was drinking quite a bit and couldn’t hold it all in. After he started insulin the problem disappeared.
We had the same problem with our cat. And believe me, we tried everything. I can understand how frustrating it is. 
I really have to commend you though for not giving up on your kitty. Furry people can be very difficult to understand sometimes.
Sounds like the problem may be more mental than physical, which makes it harder to figure out what to do. Here’s what finally worked for us, as simplistic as it sounds: First, we made sure to kept her litter absolutely spotless. Completely empty and wash the box once a week. We also found she likes the scoopable kind the best. You can also try shredded newspaper for awhile, and see it that re-kindles his interest in the litter box.
In addition, we made sure to back this up with over-the-top positive reenforcement every time we DID see her use the box (Who’s my good kitty? Who’s the pretty little princess? Bleah! 
). Hey, it works for little kids, why not cats? We would also give her a treat to drive the point home even further. Actually, it didn’t take long for it to click in her mind that going in box=happy humans=good, going outside of box=peeved humans=no treats for cat.
One more thing that occurs to me…your cat is about 20 yrs old? Maybe he is having a problem climbing in and out of the box/hauling himself up and over the sides. Just a thought.
Good luck!
We got him a new box, with low sides.
He seems to do it more often when he’s upset. :rolleyes:
Get upset with the pee not the cat. Show him it distresses you by making a fuss about cleaning up but don’t direct it toward him or even look at him.
Is he getting upset any more than usual? Is it possible he could have hearing trouble? This can be a source of behavioural problems as the cat finds the world increasingly bewildering. This happened with an elderly cat of mine and he got much better once I realised I had to make sure he knew what was going on by making sure he knew I was putting food down and checking in with him before I went out and when I came back.
IANAV, but since your cat only started doing this at an advanced age, I suspect the reason is physical (e.g. he can’t get around as easily, or has a UTI) rather than behavioural/psychological. So any kind of scolding would probably be ineffective, and stressful for him.
If the accidents occur in only one or two places, put some tinned cat food on a paper plate, and leave it on the spot for several days after the food has eaten it. Cats don’t like to eliminate where they eat. Also, be careful about how you clean the area. To humans, strong disinfectants mask the odor, but to cats they smell like pee. I believe the enzyme cleaning solutions are supposed to be the best way to clean pet stains.
If the suggestions you’ve received don’t solve the problem, you might want to take steps to minimise the inconvenience. You might buy a cheap small rug and leave it in the places where he has accidents. Then you just throw the rug in the washer. It may not fit with the decor, but realistically your little darling might not be around for too many more years, so it’s a temporary inconvenience.
I second the idea of adding an extra litter box so that he never has to go very far when he needs to “go”.
I can tell by your post that you’re a very caring pet owner. I wish everyone were like that. I got my dog from a shelter, and he must have been in a road accident because he has a dislocated hip (that has formed a false joint), and a broken leg that healed badly so it is much shorter than the others. But he is quite literally a perfect dog; he seems to read my mind and do whatever I want him to. I can’t understand how his former owners didn’t look after him better, because he is the BEST DOG IN THE WORLD.
The really annoying thing is this–he has to walk right past the catpan to get to the corner he pees & sometimes shits in. :smack: :smack: :smack:
And when we move the pan to that corner, he peed someplace else.
Have you tried putting just the litter there? No pan, just the kitty litter. On the floor. No pan.
Peace,
mangeorge
Interesting. That makes me re-think what I said earlier. You said you got him a new cat pan, and I assumed the problem started before the new cat pan… but was that an incorrect assumption? Maybe there’s something that confuses him about the new cat pan. Maybe it smells plastic-y to you, but smells like tiger pee to him, and he’s afraid to use it.
If the problem occurred before the new cat pan, did anything else change? Like did you switch to a new soap that might smell funny to him? Or change cat litter?
I think you mentioned that you were keeping the pan very clean, but perhaps you’ll have better luck if you leave a little bit of used litter, or a small amount of kitty poo in it, at least until he becomes comfortable with the pan.
9 times out of 10, the problem is that you’re not scooping/cleaning the litter/box often enough. But at that age, it’s hard to say.
Hmm, give him two boxes, one in the usual loc, and one in the “other” location. See if that works!
Tried that.
He did it between them. :smack:
And the problem existed before, but got better after, donegalwombat.
I’m revisiting this thread because our cat has started demonstrating the same sort of behavior. It started with her not covering her poop in the litter box. Now she gets about halfway into the box and then pees, which ends up on the floor (or the large pee mats we’ve begun to put down). We took her to the vet not long ago, who posited that she might have a brain lesion, which can cause odd behaviors, but it could just be old age. She does have difficulty climbing on things now, which I’m assuming is arthritis, but the lip of the box isn’t high.
We do keep her box cleaned out, but we’re going to do a thorough cleaning of her box and put in all fresh litter and see if that makes a difference, but I don’t hold out much hope. We’ve decided that we’re not going to take any extraordinary measures like surgery with her. When it’s her time, we’ll do the right thing.
If the arthritis isn’t too bad, you might try a top-entry box like this:
I got one for my cat since he can be a bit vigorous about scraping the litter around. Makes it sorta impossible to only be halfway in. But it’ll obviously only help if the cat does actually go inside.
Her arthritis wouldn’t allow that, I’m afraid. She has stairs for the bed and the couch, but won’t go near her cat tower or anything else that requires a hard push from the hindquarters. Interesting idea, though.
All right. Wasn’t sure how bad the arthritis was.
A litterbox attractant could help. Sort of an herbal thing that you sprinkle on the surface. Though I’d expect that to work better if the cat wasn’t finding the litterbox at all, rather than getting halfway in. So hard to say, but it’s a cheap experiment.
Sorry you’re dealing with this @Chefguy
I would make sure her litter is what she’s always used.
Call the vet. They may have a remedy. Medication if the pee mechanism isn’t working.
The strain of pushing toward, up and over the edge of the box may cause the incontinence. Since she’s arthritic.
I’ve seen flat tray litter holders. They’re clearly more messy. Sweeping litter is more pleasant than stepping in, mopping or smelling urine.
Good luck.
Just a suggestion based on my own experience: I’ve had several cats that urinated in inappropriate places. A couple of them had no problem if I put a towel in the new location. They would happily pee on that. (In fact, I had at least one cat who apparently preferred to pee on things like throw rugs and towels, rather than the floor itself.) I then started putting down disposable bed pads instead of towels. This worked well for me. The cats still peed there, but damage was limited and clean-up was much easier.