cat which refuses litter tray

[ThatVikRinA22]

anyone have any ideas on this one?

ive 2 moggies, both dearly loved but one of them (good job its the pretty one) refuses to use the litter tray if its had one single use by either of them. i clean out the solids straight away, but she wont even use it if its been peed in!

its a big litter tray. i use good cat litter and have tried all different brands, none of it makes a difference. ive also tried using 2 seperate litter trays, still no good as the other cat will pee in both rendering them both unusable by the other one!

every night she pees on my hall way floor, i always just miss her doing it! i have resorted to shutting her overnight in the kitchen with the litter tray, but every morning i am greeted by a pile of cat poo on the kitchen floor. she is driving me mad. she is 5 years old. she has always had this problem. i have had to tile and get laminate floors, so cleaning up isnt such a problem, but the smell lingers and its a PITA!

More than one litter tray?

tried it - but they both use both so the one who wont use a tray thats been peed in just wont use 2 trays that have been peed in.

they wont use one each.

I read somewhere that you should have one more litter tray than the number of cats using them. Perhaps the tray refuser is telling you she would rather go outside?

My cat would rather go outside, even in the snow and rain! She will use her tray if desperate and can't wake us in the night, and has been known to come in and use the tray if she smells another cat she dislikes has scent-marked the garden or is in the vicinity. Is the one who uses trays happily doing this as a territory marking thing to put the refuser off? Has the refuser been pounced on while using the tray, and is put off? Toileting is something cats like to do hidden, as they are vulnerable to attack mid-poo!

Have you tried a couple of trays in the kitchen at night, so there is always a clean one if the other has been peed in? What about mixing the litter with some potting compost, which might make it more appealing?

at one point i did have 3 trays - one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in the hall, she would still rather do it on the floor, its always in the same places, but she doesnt seem to like to go outside at all - she has actually come in to pee on the floor!

i might give my vet a ring and see if this is usual.

Vicar, are you using a non-ammonia containing cleaning agent on the floor? They smell like wee to the cat and attract them to the same spot again. You can get suitable cleaning sprays from Pets at Home, Simple Solution is good, and suitable for all surfaces and carpet. It is also good for cleaning vomit, it works by enzymes which digest the organic matter, rather like biological laundry detergent. In the immediate term, you can wipe the soiled areas with a solution of bio laundry detergent in water, which should remove the odour.

ok thanks for that - ill give it a whirl.