Why has my female cat stopped using the litterbox?

Question

I have three cats, two females and one boy. The are all the same age, and the male has been neutered, however the females have not been spayed yet. The oldest of the two females has been going through heat the last two months, and recently stopped urinating in the litterbox. We have two litterboxes and we clean them out every day or everyother day. She has no problem, it seems, with defecating in the boxes, but she refuses to urinate in them. Her favorite items have been any loose clothes, rubbermaid lids, and most recently, plastic bags. We plan on getting her fixed as soon as possible. Will this solve the problem? Why did this problem start to begin with? How can I get her to start using her box again? This problem must be solved since her urinating on the carpeting is totally unacceptable due it being an apartment. Please, help!

Answer 1

She could have a urinary tract infection, you should take her to the vet and check on that.

Answer 2

I agree with the answer about getting her a litter box of her own. I have an 8 year old female and I just got a kitten a few months ago and I was really worried the older one would not want to share the litter box since she has been her so long or just be resentful and pee everywhere. I have two litter boxes and clean them both every day and I haven't had a problem at all.

Answer 3

I have a friend who has the same problem. Cats like to have their very own place to urniate. If the other cats are going into those litter boxes, your one cat doesn't want to go near them. Once the problem starts, it's very hard to stop it since the cat has already marked it's territory on your carpet. Clean the carpet with something, and there are products in the pet store, that totally takes any pet odor out of your carpet. Get that cat it's very own litterbox and try to keep your other cats out of it. It might be tough, but it sure worked for my friend.

Answer 4

Could be several things. The first thing i would do is take her to a vet to rule out a uti. Rule of thumb on litter boxes, 1 for each cat, plus 1. 3 cats, four boxes. Many cats do not like to share boxes or use a dirty box. Use unscented litter. The scented litter can be too strong for their sensitive noses.

Answer 5

Maybe you should try getting her own litterbox. Also, has anything frightened her while she was urinating in the box? Sometimes a loud noise or something will frighten them while they are peeing (or defacating) and she then associates that with peeing in the box. You could try relocating the box to see if that helps.

Answer 6

My youngest female cat stopped urinating in the litterbox because we had to many other cats. I had the same number as you two females and one male. The youngest didn't like having any other cats near her area

Answer 7

Sometimes they do this when they're unhappy. I had a cat that liked me ok when I first got her, but then decided that she didn't like me so much after all and peed anywhere but the litterbox, but especially on clothes. She would do it right in front of me too, which made me REALLY mad. I had to put her out the house because I couldn't deal with it anymore. Once you get that cat pee smell in your house, it's hard to get out.

Answer 8

Some Cats Pee In One Litter Box And Poop In Another One. Thats What My Cat.

Answer 9

Sometimes when a cat has a (UTI)they will do like that I would take her to the vet for a checkup...

Answer 10

maybe you don't change it enough or she might have something wrong with her kidneys.or like a urinary tract infection. maybe you should take her to the Doctor??