Delilah suddenly doesnt want to use her liter!

[Zombie]

Delilah had been doing great. She was using her litter box like a champ (and occassional poo that plopped out, but never pee’d outside her box).

Suddenly, a week ago, thats all changed. She sometimes goes in her litter, and other times, she goes in the corner near my cabinets in the kitchen. She also never poo’d anywhere in the house (shes free-roam) and now she goes wherever she pleases. Due to this, Ive had to put a gate in the kitchen so if she does mess, its easy to clean. 

We did discover, delilah is a HE not a SHE, but out of habit, I still call him a her and kept her name lol 

Nothing has really changed at all. We plan on getting her fixed next month. Im not sure if its a hormonal thing because she is coming to sexual maturity… Im not sure what to do about it… 

Any help, advise, tips would be GREATLY appreciated. It seems she wont even poop in her box anymore… im constantly cleaning up piled of poop in the kitchen ALL day.

[Tessie]

I assume you’re already soaking up any pee with tissue and putting it in the box along with any poops?

Hmmm, it is quite possible it’s a hormonal thing, litterbox habits always get better after neutering.

In the meantime, could you move the litterbox to where she/he is going? Or add a second additional litterbox there? You could put one there and then gradually move it back to somewhere more convenient.

[Zombie]

Ive been thinking about getting another box and putting it there. When I do discover the mess, I usually just clean it up and throw it away. Should I put the soaked paper towels in the liter box? Its only the one spot in the kitchen that she keeps peeing in. I cleaned it up yesturday morning, again in the evening, and again this morning.

[Zombie]

Also, I wasnt sure if I moved the box over there if she would start peeing in the spot her box initially was… im thinking the second literbox for the time being and see if she goes in it or if she picks a new spot outside her box

[Tessie]

Yeah, you should aim to soak up pee with tissue and put it in the litterbox to reinforce the behaviour. I think trying with an additional litterbox is a good idea.

But also remember that until she/he’s neutered, litterbox habits will probably be a bit hit and miss.

[Megabunny]

And vinegar and water where the puddles were. Yes, I’m always surprised when people have unneutered animals that are actually litter trained. I wonder if it is hormones. Can’t believe he turned out to be a boy!!

[Zombie]

Hah, yeah.. she is a HE lol… when we got her (well him) we kinda had to guess. He’s finally comfortable enough to pretty much let me do whatever, so I was finally able to get a peak between his legs without being kicked. Flemmie kicks are pretty powerful, so I was waiting until he was comfortable enough to let me do it without stressing out.

Needless to say, next month hes getting fixed… but im still keeping the name the same. I just like it too much. Plus, he comes to that name (like a dog, all eager to please).

I never thought to use vinegar and water to the puddles. I’ll have to do that to the spot where he keeps going and then there after. He’s still a sweetheart, boy or girl LOL. My husband laughed and said we should just start calling Damien since it was close. but I dont know….

[Cottontail]

Aw. Delilah is a Mr., huh? I don’t blame you for keeping a name once the bun has accepted it… We had a cat named George that turned out to be a girl… She technically became Georgina.. but we still called her George… Queen George.

Maybe Delilah can be nicknamed Del? I had a couple guy friends name Del over the years.

As for the litterbox… Multiple may be the way to go for a while. I had them in 2 different rooms when we moved and gradually got them down to one room… The boxes went where the mess was (or close to it out of the way), then I just made sure that whenever I changed the litter out I would change the one that I want to keep sooner or more frequently so that they wanted to use it more.

I also kept the vinegar in a squirt bottle for spots. it soaks down faster when sprayed straight into the carpet, then you just blot it up with water.

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