(02-08-2014, 02:10 PM)cookiemonster16 Wrote: My Husband's parents have a cat who is about 4 or 5 years old named Pumpkin and they've noticed that she hasn't been using the litter box when it comes to urinating. She tends to want go on the beds or even around the litter box, but not inside the litter.
She used to be fine before, but this just started to happen and has gotten worse. They also have 4 other cats who are male, but are neutered. The other male cats have no problem going in the litter box. Could it be that maybe she doesn't like sharing the litter box with the male cats?
If the litter box is too dirty, cats will really avoid using it. I had once a weekend trip and left my two cats by themselves in the cage for 3 days. While they were well supplied with food so they really won't get hungry while I'm away, nobody cleaned their cage and litter box for 3 days, so it was really full and dirty. When I got back, I noticed that there were urine and feces all over the cage, outside of the litter box. This never happened before. My cats had always been well-trained when it comes to the use of the litter box. Therefore, my conclusion in that particular case is that they felt it was also yucky that their litter box was already full and dirty that's why they looked for other places to do it.
In your case, it is possible that your female cat does not like the smell of the urine of your male cats, that's why she's avoiding it. She may feel it's dirty and she does not want to dig in through it.
This particular experience with them told me very well that cats are really very clean pets. They clean themselves up without giving them a bath and they are very picky in terms of the condition of their litter boxes.
