I have a 16-year old cat that suddenly stopped using her litterbox and does her business elsewhere in the house. This has never been a problem before. We have been using the same brand of litter for many years. It is a scoopable litter called Ever Clean. I tried completely changing out the litter (something that I do periodically anyway).

Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be?

Your cat may have a urinary tract infection, must be seen by a vet. Another thing is make sure your box is cleaned freq.

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Originally Posted by animal house

your cat may have a urinary tract infection, must be seen by a vet. another thing is make sure your box is cleaned freq.

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I thought of a UTI but she is not only urinating outside of the box, but also defecating. She actually had a couple of UTI's when she was younger but our vet had us change her food to a urinary tract formula and she hasn't had a UTI since (until maybe now). She has an appointment next week for a checkup. I am going to call the vet to see if I can move it up to tomorrow.

As for keeping the box clean, I think that I do a pretty good job of that.

Thanks animal house!

UPDATE: She saw the vet this morning and does indeed have a urinary tract infection. Thanks a lot for the heads up animal house!

The vet said that after the UTI is cleared up, her litterbox habits may not return to normal, and if not, he suggested a few things to help her along, such as moving the box to another location or changing the brand of litter. Any input on this?

I do not know much about cat litter, there are so many kinds and depends on what your cat is use to, clump or no clumps! I understand the natural type litter are suppose to be good but are $$$. Another thing to try is set up two litter boxes away from each other. This usually has god results.

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Originally Posted by animal house

another thing to try is set up two litter boxes away from each other. this usually has god results.

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I was told by a vet to have 1 litter box for each cat and then 1 extra one. So like animal house said, try 2 litter boxes!

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Originally Posted by dunno

I was told by a vet to have 1 litter box for each cat and then 1 extra one. So like animal house said, try 2 litter boxes!

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We are definitely going to try a second litterbox. Years ago, we did have two litterboxes, but she never used one of them so we got rid of it. Now we are trying to decide whether to use the same brand of litter in the new box, or try a new one.