Too late to correct bad behavior?

Hi All,
I have three cats and one dog, who all get along great. We got the youngest cat in 1999 as a kitten. We put a small litterbox for her on the first floor of the house, since she was too small to go down to the basement to the main cat boxes. As she grew, I moved her box closer to the stairs, then down to the landing, then all the way to the basement. Somewhere around this time, I caught her peeing on the floor next to the box. I grabbed her and threw her into her box. This freaked her out, and now six years later, she refuses to use the box at all. She does all her business on the basement floor near the four cat boxes. I keep the litter very clean, so I'm sure that's not the problem. Needless to say, I have to scrub and deoderize the floor daily, and I am tired of it!
What can I do at this stage to retrain her to use the litter box, like the other two cats? She is the sweetest cat, but I am nearing the end of my patience.
I am desperate Please help!
Thanks!

 

You may want to try putting her box in a seperate location away from the others and not allow the others to use it. She may not want to use it if she smells that another has already been in there.

 

I agree with the other suggestion of giving her a separate litter box, but wanted to clarify something.

Did she _Just_ start not using the box, or is this something that has been going on the whole time, since the box tossing incident?

If it is something that has been going on for 6 years, you may never get her to use the box again. But, you can also try changing the litter in _her_ box to a different type, that she may not associate with the tossing incident, and hopefully use it.

If this is a new behaviour, I would actually suggest you get her to the vet as she may have a urinary blockage or infection.

Oftentimes cats, when they have urinary troubles, begin wetting on other areas that are not suitable, in an attempt to ease their discomfort.

Do keep us posted and let us know how things turn out.

 

Thanks for the replies!
This behavior has been ongoing for the past 6 years. She was checked some time ago by the vet, and no physical problems were found.
I am considering getting a good-sized cage (like a dog kennel) to put her in at night, with her own litter box. Maybe she will use her box, since she would have to stand in her own "business" if she didn't use it. Does this sound like a good idea, or is it too harsh?
Thanks!

 

I am glad to hear that she isn't having urinary problems as those can be the reason behind problem wetting like you describe.

I think the crate/cage might be a possible _short term_ solution, but, cats by nature like to wander and find their own nooks and crannies.

I think that a her own box, put over the spot where she usually goes, with a different type of litter, might be a way to try to encourage her to use the box again. If you decided to do the kennel thing be sure that she has a large enough one. When I have had to crate/kennel my cats for various medical reasons, I have used a *Giant dog* sized wire show kennel, and put shelves and such in it, along with a litter box, food and water.

Here is a link to the size I have used to rehab cats in the past:

http://www.jbpet.com/Shopping/produc...=CratesDropPin

I use the largest size available and as I said, as only a temporary solution.

My suggestion if you go this route is to keep her in the crate all the time until she is using the box exclusively, and then let her out for a while at a time, rather than just putting her in there at night. Hopefully within a couple of weeks she will be using the box solidly again and can be permanently let out with her own litter box.

Once again I cannot stress enough the trying a different type of litter in the box you give her to use, whether inside or outside the kennel.

Hope this helps. Do keep us posted on how things progress.