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Post by greykitty on Sept 23, 2018 18:57:49 GMT -6
greykitty I bought 3 bags from petco because desperate, but I can see it's cheaper on amazon. If it works, its worth it. Can I ask the rationale behind new boxes each year? Would an extremely thorough cleaning do the trick or....? Why new? When I was having issues with my two (crystals, UTIs and IBD, all over 15 years), I did a lot of reading on elimination issues. Basically every cat behaviorist/vet I read said that it's a good idea to replace boxes at least yearly, as the plastic is porous and over the course of time (and kitties scratching the plastic as they dig), bacteria may end overgrowing, invisible to us. Also, plastic tends to hold the scents over time, no matter how well one cleans. That's why I started buying less expensive boxes, but more often. I think a lot of people buy storage bins and tweak them to become litter boxes as well - cheaper to replace more often. I had some really nice expensive boxes too....sniff. Also, sometimes I think getting new boxes (different size, new shape, etc) may have a psychological benefit if a cat hasn't been using a box because it was either painful to eliminate in the old box or had some other negative association. Sort of like starting all fresh. I was also told by the Dr. Elsey help site, and my own vet, that they recommend cleaning the boxes with hot water and a mild detergent(like Ivory) monthly at the very least. A lot of cats really dislike too strong scents. I hope the Cat Attract helps. Believe me, I cringed at the cost, but it honestly did work in my case once we got the physical all clear. I think Chewy.com has decent prices with free delivery as well. I wonder if they still have the cat attract additive you can add to 'regular' litter. It was a bottle of whatever it is (I often wonder if it was herbs and catnip) and you'd mix it with litter. Over time I was able to wean my guys to 'regular' Dr. Elsey litter which was less expensive, but they still like the texture. Sorry for the dissertation. I was in tears for so long with my boy cat especially at the start that I read just about anything I could on elimination issues. And good luck - and bless you for working so hard to help your kitty.
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Post by justbecause on Sept 23, 2018 19:24:14 GMT -6
Did she have an X-ray at the vet? The only time my cats have peed outside of the litter box is when they had bladder stones. They don’t show up in a urine sample but show up on X-ray. If it is that, there is special food that can help dissolve stones (it they’re the most common type). +1 My gray cat had bladder stones recently and was peeing in the same spot on the floor (by H’s bed). She eventually passed the stone and I treated the area where she was fond of peeing with a vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution. Hasn’t peed there again.
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klw
Opal
Posts: 8,734 Likes: 21,525
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Post by klw on Sept 23, 2018 19:28:02 GMT -6
What about spreading the boxes out? Can you put one in another room
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Yogurt
Emerald
Posts: 11,889 Likes: 42,317
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Post by Yogurt on Sept 23, 2018 19:53:36 GMT -6
What about spreading the boxes out? Can you put one in another room Well...I could. However now they are all in the garage which is attached to the living room with a cat door. I hate the idea of litter in a carpeted room. But maybe. I'm not ruling it out as an option.
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Post by sudokufan on Sept 24, 2018 10:02:41 GMT -6
We JUST went through this with our kitty. It really sucked. +1 to bladder stones being the culprit, plus she had a bad UTI on top of that. Getting her on the right diet has helped a ton.
Also, I've heard that you need # of cats + 1 litter boxes, so with 3 cats you should have 4 boxes. So, we have 2 boxes for our one cat, and after this last bout we replaced them, got the feliway, used the enzyme cleaners, changed her diet and did 2 courses of antibiotics ??? So expensive, but we love her and at least she's using the boxes again.
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Post by elephantastic on Sept 24, 2018 10:54:54 GMT -6
Do there seem to be any issues with the pee-er and the other cats?
We had a cat who would pee on the living room couch and it turns out the other cats were bullying her (and she was also a really meek submissive Cat) and she didn’t like going to the litter box. We also had to move her food because she was losing weight from not eating. Ultimately we rehomed her with my sister where she is now Queen B. I mention it because even though it was obvious after we figured it out it took us a long time to pinpoint that as the issue because they obviously can’t talk. The cats never looked like they didn’t get along until we really started paying attention.
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