Our little Nala has had issues peeing outside the box for a while now. Her old owners dumped her at the APL for it and we adopted her. She was fine for about 3-4 months and then starting peeing outside the box. I took her into the vet, thinking she had a UTI or a bladder issue, and they found she had kidney issues and had them for a while. She's now on fluids twice a week, gets supplements in her food, and she's doing well. She's gained weight and her numbers have increased.
Well the peeing never stopped, and the vet told me it's most likely and anxiety issue related to her condition (they said it's common). She would go into the bathroom but just avoid the box - she'd pee on the mat in front of it, on the bare floor, on the bathroom rugs, and in the tub. The tub seemed to be her favorite place to go, and I was fine with that because it's easy to clean since I have a drain right there. Then she started poo'ing in there, too, completely avoiding the box. Anytime I put down my bathroom rugs, they were like a magnet and she'd pee on them until they were soaking wet. I was cleaning and bleaching them at least once a week so they wouldn't smell and finally just threw them out 2 weeks ago because they were literally brown on the bottom.
I had to take her into the vet for a skin issue (an allergic reaction to something) and talked with him about the peeing issue. I asked him about Feliway, and he told me to try it as it helped him with his cat who had the same issue (but liked to pee on his daughter's clothes on the ground). He also told me to reduce the amount of litter I have in the box because a lot of cats don't like way it feels uneven like sand - they prefer a firmer surface. We have been back and forth with the amount of litter in the box and I've noticed she does pee in there when there's less but it wasn't always consistent so that wasn't the
only issue.
I went to Petsmart and got their
Comfort Zone with Feliway Plug-in and put it in last Sunday. The night and the following day, no change, still poo'ing and peeing in the tub. Then the next day, I was making dinner and saw her standing outside the box, like she was debating whether or not to go in. She finally made up her mind and got in and went! I praised her, like I do everytime I see her using the box, and cleaned it up.
Since then, I've ONLY seen her using the box! It's like a miracle!
I've even seen a decrease in the vertical scratching she does - it's not to cause harm, more of a nervous thing she does on the bottom moulding of our walls. She'll just go over and over on it - I still notice it a bit in the dining room, further away from the bathroom, but nowhere near the bathroom. I'm thinking about investing in a second plug-in for that area as well.
I'm waiting another week to put down the new carpets I bought for the bathroom...so we'll see what happens when I do that. But the way things are going right now, I have high hopes!