# 18 year old cat started peeing out of the box!



## fumaca (Nov 2, 2008)

We have a 18 year old cat who recently started peeing outside of his box. He's never had a problem with this before. He does still poop in the box. We do have one of those Booda dome type boxes that we got a few years ago to help him get in and out of his box easier. We only have one cat but there is a neighbor hood cat that hangs around outside.










So about a moth ago he started walking into his box and with his front paws in the litter, would start peeing on the ramp. So started to put puppy pads at the entrance to absorb the spill over. After a few weeks of this my wife cought him peeing on the ramp and she started banging on the outside of the box and tried to push him in. Then he started peeing out of the box. He would walk up to the box, look in the door and would start peeing there. 

There is a chair next to his box, he then started going behind this chair (behind the litter box) and started peeing there too. So my wife took the cover off and put it behind the chair so that he couldn't go back there anymore and placed puppy pads all over in front of the box. Now he's going over to the side of the box, next to the ramp, and with his front paws in the box starts peeing on the side of the box.

We really don't know what to do. I've read lots of the other post and nothing seems to match our situation. No new changes except him getting older. I did read somewhere about the sand being hard on older cats who might have arthritis problems. But since he's still pooping in the box I'm not sure how to fix that. 

Help...... anyone......??????


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Has he been checked for a Urinary Tract Infection? It's usually the most prevalent reason for a cat to start peeing outside the box.


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## Smirkitty (Apr 19, 2008)

And banging on the box will only make him think he isn't supposed to pee in there. My suggestion is an uncovered box, see if he will use that instead.


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## Kittys Mom (May 7, 2004)

Agreed. 

He's older...I'd definately get him checked out by a vet, could be a UTI or some other medical issue.
And I'd get a new box, different style, possibly a rubbermaid box with the scooped opening entrance or a Tidy cats box (leave the lid off).

The only thing I wanted to add was, you should ditch the puppy pads. They have an attractant on them (designed to get puppies to pee there) that also seems to affect cats. I put some around my kittens litterboxes (they were making a mess) and then my ADULT cats started peeing on them! I freaked out, read the packaging and saw the info about the attractant. I tried to find other puppy pads without them...but they all seem to have it.

If you really want something around the box, try a waterproof sheet, the kind they use for kids' mattresses.


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