I have two indoor cats and recently my electric self cleaning litter box died so I had to get a new one. I got a new one and now one of my cats won't use it. He goes right outside of it by the ramp. When I first got it the carpet on the ramp kept getting caught by their claws so I don't know if he is afraid of it now or what. I have since glued it down. I've tried turning it off so he could get used to it but he still won't use it. I've tried putting him in there and sometimes he freaks out and other times he will stand there and then freak out. It does the same thing as the last one did except for this one has an ionic air cleaner that goes on. I don't know what to do. I cleaned the spot where he went to the bathroom right by the litter box, then he went in another corner so I cleaned that and then he went in another corner. He has pee'd in three different spots. I don't know what to do. Should I take him to the Vet? I'm sure he will use a normal litter box if I put one out but I would like for him to use this Litter Maid one. Can anyone help me?

Thanks:confused:

I don't know if this would have anything to do with it, but I had a neighbor that sold the ionic air cleaners. She insisted that I try one for a few days. I can't expain it exactly, but it made me feel funny.. something about the way the air smelled or felt. After that I heard about other people who said the cleaners bother them. An animal would be much more sensitive to that sort of thing.
I'm not sure I remember correctly, but do those things create ozone? There is an increase in ozone during thunderstorms... could be related to fearful feelings in one situation transferred to another.
Could you disable the air cleaner and see if it makes a difference?

I was brought to attention by your mention of the ionic thing too. Pet birds have been reportedly killed by them. A cat has a much more resilient respiratory system than a bird does. But the filter may be bothering him. Cats don't just pee any old where to bug their owners, although it can really bug you! Vinegar is a cheap odor neutralizer for cat pee. It stinks like well, vinegar, then it goes away and takes the cat pee smell with it.

I will also say that in matters of the litter box, it's generally a lot easier to go with what the cat wants than what we as the owner would prefer.

Not allowing the cats on the counter or something is one thing. But too often people want to try to force animals into something that merely makes them happy, but has nothing to do with the animal itself. And cats can be quite picky about their litter boxes sometimes. It takes like a minute a day to clean out a litter box.