# Cats using the bathtub as a litter box



## beardking (Sep 25, 2005)

Well, here is my issue. My wife and I have 3 cats and 2 dogs. They get along well and everything works out ok. The problem I'm having right now is that the cats seem to be marking all over the place. We have 1 male and 2 females by the way. Recently I've noticed that at least one of them is using the bathtub in our guest bathroom as their personal urinal. The house is starting to smell quite bad because we can't seem to find all of the places that they mark and now with them using the bathtub as a urinal, the bathroom smells HORRIBLE. Any suggestions on the marking and has anyone else had their cat using the tub in this manner?


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## tempest (Feb 28, 2006)

Couple of questions first. 
How often are you changing the litter? 
How many litter boxes do you have? (cats seem to prefer not sharing sometimes)
And are the cats spayed and neutered?


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## ihave4kitties (Aug 27, 2005)

Are your cats fixed? You didn't say. If not, that is probably your problem right there. Unfixed males and even females, will mark their territory, especially with females around. If they are, I apologize for that advice.  And you probably know that if you're missing areas they are going to repeat the marking as they go where the nose goes, that's for sure. You may have some real detective work to do. I've heard there's a black light you can use to find those areas you can't see or smell. You will probably have to do something like that. Also, every spot will need to be cleaned with an enzyme cleaner specifically for pet stains, otherwise, even though you can't smell it they can and will repeatedly go in the same spots. 
Is this new behavior? Sometimes when a cats starts going to the bathroom outside the litter box, it could signal one of several problems....an illness such as urinary tract infections, something about their litter box they don't like (not cleaned to their liking, new litter, new location, don't like the old location...) If this is new behavior it would be good to think on these things. Sometimes the going in the bathtub thing can be triggered by illness. I've heard that cats will sometimes seek cool smooth places when it is difficult for them to go. I would observe your cats carefully to see if there is a possible problem...males are more prone to the urinary tract problems. I would even think about taking them to the vet to have them examine for illness and if that is ruled out, then you know you are dealing other problems and can work on those. Unfortunately too, if one cat starts going in places in the home the other cats will follow suit. How are the dogs? Are they going in the home too? I don't want to be offensive but how many litter boxes do you have? One per cat should be the minimum, especially if there is a problem. I think if you could look at some of these things and let us all know more specifics, people on the forum could give you more specific advice as right now it's all open to a lot of possibilites. Keep us posted and hopefully you can get this problem resolved soon. Wishing you the very best.


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## beardking (Sep 25, 2005)

The male and one of the females is fixed, but the other female is just now getting old enough to be fixed and is on the top of our list of things to do. As for the cleaning of the litter box, my wife cleans it out every day (I have dogs, she has cats :lol: ), so I don't think that's much of a problem. We have 2 litter boxes and that has worked out for the last 6 months or so. 

As for the dogs, they are doing fine. They rarely go in the house and when they do, it's usually our fault for not letting them out in time (sorry, I have to sleep )

I will definitely keep an eye out and see if we can figure out which one is doing this and will definitely be getting them checked out in the near future. Thanks for the advice.


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## jazzo (Apr 19, 2005)

ha!! My Sampson has been using the tub since I got him a year ago!!! However, I tried everything from covering it up, to putting 3 litter boxes in the bathroom, etc... and then this week he peed on my carpet for the first time!!!

So I have removed all items from the bathub, and put one litter box in there. He already has gone poop and pee in there, LOL!!

... but after he peed on my carpet, I will welcome him using the tub as a potty... 

... but I don't get how you say your bathroom stinks? It does stink right after he poo's, but I go right in there and pick it up with toilet paper and flush it down the toilet. When he pees, that's easy, I just run the water. Then I spray some "ScrubbingBubbles in the tub, rinse and walk away"... actually it's alot less mess than the litterbox I think!! He likes to poo and pee right by the drain, so it makes things a little easier.

I am not sure why they like the tub, that is beyond me, but I'll happyily accept it as long as he doesn't use my carpeti again!!! :dis


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## jazzo (Apr 19, 2005)

also beardking, I just bought a blacklight at Petsmart this past week... if you get that, you will definitely see where they are peeing. It was quite clear where I saw the pee in the corner from Sampson.

Just be aware of the blacklight, it shows alot of stuff that you might not want to see... I could see one being OCD on cleaning after getting one of these, LOL!! 

Gee, I'm really cleaning today too, I wonder why, LOL!!


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## Sky Eyes Woman (Feb 26, 2006)

Well, once you find out the reason for this use of the tub, the easiest way to keep the cat out of it would be to leave enough water in the tub to completely cover the bottom. Just 2 or 3 inches depth. My cats liked to play in the tub and the first time I woke up and saw bloody pawprints all over the place from one of them playing with a razor in there, that was it. A couple of weeks of keeping some water in there fixed that.


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