Older cats and litter trays

[Nudibranch]

Our cat is 10 this year. He's always been able to have free choice whether he's indoors or out so he hasn't had to use a litter tray since he was a kitten.

We are moving house in 2 weeks so have started to keep him indoors more, as he will need to stay in for at least a couple of weeks in the new house. He will wee in the litter tray but solids always end up on the floor! Not even close to the tray. Luckily we only have hard floors downstairs here, but the new house has carpets in some of the downstairs rooms. So I really need to get him using that tray properly!

Any ideas??

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have a blind cat who can sometimes miss the tray. He doesn’t realise his bum is hanging out so I always put plenty of puppy pads around the outside in case of accidents.

Cats also like to be clean so he may not like using the same litter if he has already wee’d in it.

 

[Fjord]

Can you try putting the poo in the tray, then showing him it's in there? Or maybe try 2 trays?

 

[Bionic Boy]

It may be worth trying different types of cat litter, I.e wood pellets, crystals, clay etc.
My 2 won’t use anything except wood pellets.

 

[Nudibranch]

He has wood pellets but I can try other litters.
Unfortunately he does it even when the litter is clean. He will just go in a different room, or different corner - he won't even try and do it in the tray!

 

[Bionic Boy]

If you have more than one tray you could try leaving them in different places to see where he feels comfortable to go. It might be he doesn’t like where it is located.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

He has wood pellets but I can try other litters.
Unfortunately he does it even when the litter is clean. He will just go in a different room, or different corner - he won't even try and do it in the tray!

Wood pellets are great for wee but they don’t feel like natural soil which is what cats generally use to bury their poo. I tried all sorts with my girls and they liked Worlds Best cat litter for burying.

 

[cobgoblin]

Put a sheet of plastic or a rubber mat under the tray in case of accidents. Get the biggest tray you can find...I always feel even the large ones are too small.

 

[MagicMelon]

Get a plastic storage box (the kind you store clothes in etc. in your loft) then cut a hole in the end big enough for cat to get through. When mine were kittens they were dreadful for their poop going over the egde and flinging car litter everywhere, this contains it and also because shes older, you could cut the hole quite low down so a low lip to get in rather than climbing in over a regular litter tray edge. I found it also contained any smells and gives them a bit more privacy with the lid on. To give him the idea, Id probably keep him in the room with the tray/box in for the first few days of moving in to see if it gets him in the routine, with the tray right there you'd hope he'd use it... Ive heard some cats prefer earth (most natural I guess!) so may be worth trying that to begin with?

 

[Redders]

You could also look at getting a potting tray, the ones with a high back and low front - that might tempt him. Also filling with topsoil or compost

 

[Sussexbythesea]

When I had the yard cat convalescing in my spare room after an injury he wouldn’t use the litter tray with wood pellets in. When I swapped to cheap clay litter he happily used it. I also brought home some of the school surface as that was his favourite litter tray but didn’t have to use it …

 

[Quigleyandme]

Totally irrelevant but when my son was at primary school he had two Rex rabbits that had the run of the back room and garden all day but were shut in the back room at night with a litter tray and a rather luxe dog bed to snuggle in. The blighters used to hoppity hop inside from the garden to use the litter tray during the day. If I put it outside they would still use it. If I took it away they used the floor. They did however beat up my neighbour’s rather effete Siamese cat which stopped him toileting in my garden so they weren’t all bad.

 

[PurBee]

My male cat would poop with bum hanging outside the tray too! So i went and bought a mega big tray. The standard trays really are quite small for a full grown cat.

If you cant source a much larger tray, you could use the base of those large plastic short ‘storage boxes’ that often come with lids. Theyre thick plastic and clean easy.

One cat would get very OTT about hiding their poop with the litter - so much so she would scoop it and fling it halfway across the room! ?

 

[PurBee]

Get a plastic storage box (the kind you store clothes in etc. in your loft) then cut a hole in the end big enough for cat to get through. When mine were kittens they were dreadful for their poop going over the egde and flinging car litter everywhere, this contains it and also because shes older, you could cut the hole quite low down so a low lip to get in rather than climbing in over a regular litter tray edge. I found it also contained any smells and gives them a bit more privacy with the lid on. To give him the idea, Id probably keep him in the room with the tray/box in for the first few days of moving in to see if it gets him in the routine, with the tray right there you'd hope he'd use it... Ive heard some cats prefer earth (most natural I guess!) so may be worth trying that to begin with?

i bought one of those proper covered cat litter trays with lids, but could never get mine to use it. As soon as i removed the large hood, they used it.
Really annoying…in theory theyre a good idea, but not sure how many cats actually use them!

 

[Bionic Boy]

i bought one of those proper covered cat litter trays with lids, but could never get mine to use it. As soon as i removed the large hood, they used it.
Really annoying…in theory theyre a good idea, but not sure how many cats actually use them!

Same here, my 2 wouldn’t use the fully enclosed version but I took the flap off and they approved.

 

[julesjoy]

Mine do use the fully enclosed ones, without front flap, but I bought the biggest ones going. I use cheap clumping clay litter. Good luck!

 

[Cloball]

The vet informed me that you should have one extra litter tray for the number of cats for indoor cats. Also the majority of litter trays you buy are to small they should be a cat length and a half at least which is an XL tray for my smallish cat. I had heard some cats don't like to poop too close to their food? Not sure if any of that helps.

 

[skinnydipper]

A senior cat may have stiff joints and find it more difficult to climb into a tray. Has the vet checked him over for signs of arthritis?

I have a Booda Clean Step for my cat, it has an integral ramp so could be good for seniors who are less agile.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Booda-Cleanstep-Litter-Tray-Iris/dp/B0002DH8LE?th=1

I buy Golden Grey cat litter. It is a fine, clumping litter, easy to remove soiled litter and solids from a deep layer

 

[honetpot]

My cat always poops beside the litter tray, it's not really that big a problem because it's on a tiled floor, she can also go outside but would rather not get her feet dirty, so I wonder if it's the texture of the wood pellets.
This makes a huge litter tray, https://www.lakeland.co.uk/20228/Oven-Rack-Soaking-Tray, but they seem to always want to use the edge of the tray. I also use large washing up bowls. When they are old, I put down puppy pads as well.

 

[Snowy Celandine]

Quite a few cats like to poo with their bottom hanging out of the tray. Sometimes it can be cured by using a hooded tray, but older (not that your boy is old) cats often 'miss the target' in our experience. We use soil on top of our wood pellets if any of our boarders seem reluctant to use their tray and we know that they're outdoor cats and not used to cat litter.

If he's pooing in random corners, can you place extra litter trays there? That's what we did with our latest kitten, who was determined to use a rug in the kitchen as her chosen spot. It seems to have worked and she's reliable now!

 

[Nudibranch]

Lots of good ideas, thanks all.
I've added an extra tray, in the corner he poos in most, with clay litter. So far he has just held it in overnight!
So it's just a case of fingers crossed for the move next week....

 

[Snowy Celandine]

Hope it all goes well ?

 

[SOS]

He’s probably really uncomfortable pooping in his own space (as cats are so clean) after being an outdoor cat for so long as is holding it in and panicking and going the most remote place possible.

Definitely use substrate from outside where he would normally go. Keep trays clean at all times. Make sure they have low sides so he can step in and out easily. Put puppy pads around for accidents.