@1214mom, hope they figure it out. My cat had the exact problem. We didn’t ever figure out why. She did have kidney issues, but not so severe as to explain the peeing right outside the litter box. We eventually had to put pee pads under and in front of the box.
If your cat has a urinary tract infection, it may be easily remedied.
Thanks @Nrdsb4. We put another litter box on the first floor of our house, and she hasn’t had another episode since yesterday morning.
The vet ran some tests ($350’s worth), and hopefully will get the results today. He couldn’t find any obvious reason and she’s gaining weight (my son called her a “chonker” when he was last home - I had to look that up 
), which I guess was a “positive” in this case (If she felt terrible she might not be eating much).
Fingers crossed that it’s just some minor thing.
Cats pee outside the box because they associate the box with pain (if they have kidney or bladder problems).
Bladder stones are a common cause of such issues. These stones come in two types. One could require surgery, but the other type can be dissolved by feeding special food and then controlled by diet. Our cat was lucky… no surgery, and she now eats this very expensive bladder health promoting food.
Hope the vet will be able to figure out what is going on.
Hi, our 15 year old cat has some kind of throat cancer. We’ve elected to not even do a biopsy because it’s wrapped around his thyroid in a heavily vascularized area, and even a biopsy is dangerous. Plus, going to the vet is so traumatic for him that we’ve decided to just give him pain meds and a lot of love until it’s time to let him go. He seems happy enough at this point when we regularly give the meds (a cream that is absorbed through his ear flap), so we have a bit more time. We’re sad but we also know we’ve given him a very good life. We don’t know how long he has but it’s growing. Maybe only a month or two, or even less. When it starts to affect his breathing or eating it will be time, or when the pain gets out of control.
The main difficulty is our other cat - an 18 month old kitten/adolescent. He SO wants a playmate, and our elder just isn’t into interacting with him very much right now. Some, but not much. They’re companionable but there’s not a lot of play. We know we need to get another cat for the little one. But we’re wondering whether to wait, so as not to traumatize the elder with a new presence in the house, or do we get one now, so that when our oldest passes, the younger isn’t absolutely heartbroken.
If anyone has any thoughts, I’d love some input.
So sorry @calla1.
I suggest waiting on a play mate. My older cat was really stressed by our kitten.
We found out today our cat has diabetes. We go this afternoon to learn to give her shots. I gather they will need to occur twice a day. I haven’t researched it yet. The vet said there is a chance she will “get better” but doesn’t sound very likely. Poor girl.
Our yellow lab got diabetes. She lived for 18 months afterwards and died of something completely unrelated.
Between the meds and a change of diet, it’s possible your cat will be able to live with it.
@calla1, so sorry. I went through similar recently. It’s tough.
Hugs. Our previous white cat had diabetes. Shots kept her going strong for almost 2.5 years, and then she went downhill. She was 15 years plus when she died, so that is not bad for a cat. Cats take insulin shots very well. The shots are given into loose skin on their back, and there are apparently not many pain receptors there. Our cat was a trooper with her shots.
Iggy also had diabetes and took his shots well. However, the vet wanted to monitor dosage on a regular basis which involved Iggy spending the day at the vet - without food - and having his blood drawn throughout the day to check insulin levels. We ended up drawing the line at that point. I understood why but going to the vet for anything even as simple as a checkup terrorized that poor cat. We said no to monitoring for correct dosage. In Iggy’s case, the negative outweighed the positive.
@calla1: I highly recommend getting two kittens rather than one - even for the 18 month old. (I have no recommendation for now vs later. Hard decision.) Two kittens are so into playing with each other that an older cat wants to join in but isn’t pressured to do so. I’ve done this more than once and it always goes smoother with two.
I’m sorry - truly sorry - that your 15 year old cat nears the end of his life. I’m glad he has you with him.
For those of you who have had diabetic cats, did they pee outside their litter box once it was under control? Our girl seemed to be doing better since we’ve been giving her shots twice a day, but today she peed pretty close to her food, which was surprising to us. She is also going a Lot in her box. We are wondering if maybe we need to up the dosage of insulin, but won’t do without consulting the vet.
Our vet wants us to bring her in later this month for an all day test, sounds like as described above. She won’t be happy with that.
She doesn’t like her shots much, and I’m not great at giving them to her, but we are working through it.
Poor kitty.
My old girl has fallen for my husband. He gave her sardines when he was eating them. Now she is his BFF.
@1214mom - just saw your post. Yes, insulin dose needs to be carefully titrated (we did it ourself under the “televeterinary” supervision of my sister). The cat stopped peeing outside the box as soon as we hit the right dose. She lived happily after that for 3 years and died when she was 15. She absolutely hated going to the vet. Just hated!!
I wish I could “heart” a specific part of a post!
Does anyone have any tried and true methods to keep kittens from jumping on counters? I have two six month old rescue kittens. They were recently neutered and that didn’t even slow them down for a day, they were wrestling as soon as they got out of their carriers when they came home from the vet.
I have tried those spikey mats (they walked all over them), Scat Mats (which worked but once I removed them after two weeks they went back to old habits after a week), the cat deterrent sprays, water bottle, aluminum foil, and nothing works! Peppermint oil has worked on my Christmas tree but doesn’t last long and as soon as the smell dissipates they are back to their old tricks (although I think they are finally getting bored with the tree).
I love these guys to death and frankly, I keep my counters clean and sanitized all the time so would not care except they jump up and eat anything they can find. Yesterday, one ate half of a giant gingerbread moose I had just baked when I turned my back for two minutes! I have caught the other one dragging slices of pizza to the floor, chicken wings my son left on a plate at the kitchen table, a bag of deli roast beef, two sticks of butter that were softening on the counter for cookies, lol. My husband says the most mischievous one acts all proud like he has caught some sort of prey. He will hiss and growl at the other kitten and cat if the come near his kill lol. Why are they so cute?
They are getting a new cat tree that my son built them (maybe two because I also ordered one on a BF sale) for Christmas and I purchased one of those laser pointer things that goes off automatically.
Anyway, I am at my wits end with this. Last night, my son made a frozen pizza and had to cover it up with a large platter so they didn’t steal it (I often cover things in foil but they don’t care). I had to put my iced cookies in the cold oven yesterday to dry because I knew they would find them. Any suggestions are welcome!
We just don’t leave food out. Ever. It’s on the dinner table, with at least one person sitting down and watching (don’t turn your back. They’re fast) or it’s in a cupboard or fridge. Or covered with a really heavy lid. Don’t bother with plastic, unless it locks.
It’s not a bad habit. At least all food in the house is under control that way. Books and toys are another matter, sometimes I wish something were to happen to non edible stuff the kids leave lying around!
I now get nervous when I’m in other people’s houses and they have food sitting out on the counters, until I remember they don’t have cats.
It’s so funny because out of the six cats we have had in our married life, these two are the nuttiest. We never had issues with cats stealing food before these two (I guess I should count myself lucky). Counter hopping, yes but food was usually safe (one of our now deceased cats did like butter though).
You are right about covering everything though. I am just going to have to start keeping dinner in a warm oven until the family is ready to eat I guess. Anything else will have to be guarded closely.
A friend once watched in fascination her cat stealing a sausage slice from the dinner table - with people sitting around it. There was one plate with Bologna slices close to the edge, and an empty seat. A single paw came up over the edge, like the periscope of a submarine, and one claw was extended, hooked into a slice, and - gone. No cat was ever seen.
@millermomm, I’m only on my 3rd kitten, but this one sounds a lot like your new ones. We’ve never had to worry about food on the counters (expensive china/bowls/etc - that’s another story all together). This kitten has been caught doing everything from stealing the ham from my husband’s sandwich on the kitchen table to licking the butter from the greased/floured cake pan ready for the batter to trying to get the layers of my fancy 3 layer cake on the counter, to eating our Caesar salad - VERY BAD… but awfully cute. We have not found a solution either, and somehow I doubt she will grow out of it.
