If you learn the cat to use this particular spot from a young age, it won’t be an issue. Also, it won’t require so much effort. However, if you are planning to learn an older cat to suddenly start using a litterbox, it might get challenging. The main issue is when people move from house to apartment, and their pet cannot use the backyard anymore. It is very important to choose the right box. Still, the ingredients used in these boxes can attract pets to use them as a restroom. If you want to check some of the best litter boxes for older cats, visit mainecoonhawaii.com.
We are aware that it might be a stressful process to teach your pet to use this box, but you will need patience. Also, avoid showing anger to your cat since it might result in side effects, where it might become afraid of the box. Training cats can be tricky, but you can teach them a lot of things. However, the approach should be completely different from that of dogs. We are going to analyze more about this topic in the following article.
Potential Issues with Older PetsOlder Cat
It is not a rare case that some pet mistakenly uses some of the other parts of the home instead of the litter box. If that happened only on rare occasions, maybe there are some other problems responsible rather than habits. For example, maybe it could not hold for too long to get to the box on time. On the other side, if you notice that this case is repeating more often, you have to know that there might be various factors that are influencing your cat to suddenly have these changes related to habits.
Moreover, there can be a connection with the health of an animal as well. It is common for older cats to have issues with bones and muscles, which is affecting their agility. If you notice that it is suddenly not so interested in jumping and running around the home, you should take it to the vet for a proper exam. Also, it can face health issues with the urinary tract, kidneys, and other conditions.
In any of these cases, the cat might have a more frequent need to urinate, and it sometimes couldn’t manage to reach the determined spot. There is no reason to panic. Be sure to take the cat to the vet and provide it with required medication. Also, you can solve this problem by placing more than one litter box around the home.
Possible Solutions
Since cats cold have difficult personalities, which makes them hard to train, you will need a proper solution to learn about essentials. While it might be much easier with kittens, there are some great methods to prevent your pet from urinating away from determined spots. For instance, you should keep the litter box clean and odorless. Also, place it in some areas where the cat can have more privacy. It is a well-known fact that these animals prefer to hide their traces. Moreover, it should be easily accessible, especially for older animals since they might have issues searching for it every time.
Furthermore, you should be patient and gentle with your pet. Expressing intolerance and stress might create even bigger issues since the cat might connect that with the litter box, and create a repulsion to it. The best solution is to visit the vet if your pet suddenly avoids the determined places for their physiologic needs. They can provide it with some medicaments and vitamins to resolve potential problems with the immune system, nerves, and other health issues that might irritate it. Besides that, you should never try to change the spot of the box too often because it will create confusion and even bigger problems.
You can try to lead the cat to the spot whenever it is looking to go outside or you see that it became nervous. Still, you can’t expect that it will work out immediately with any of these methods. Cats are very intelligent, but they have a unique personality that requires a special approach and a lot of patience.
Some technical features of the litter box can be very important. For example, kittens might refuse to use the box if there is not enough litter inside. Besides that, it is essential to choose the proper size of it. In case that you have more cats in your home, be sure to have a box for each one of them. They can mark that spot as their territory, and will refuse to share it with other pets.
It is essential to learn more about their habits and potential health problems after they reach a certain age. It is not a rare case for older felines to have some problems with memory and sight. If you change the location of their litter box, it might create confusion and rejection. Also, they can remember the objects around the home, and a new layout can also lead to this problem.
Last Words
As you can see, cats prefer to preserve their privacy when it comes to these spots, and making some changes could lead to their decline. The main issue is when you move from the house, where the cat could get out in the garden, to the apartment, where the animal will face certain limitations. In that case, you will need a lot of patience until the feline decides to use only the box.
Their rejection is always provoked by some things that cats find important, like privacy, sharing with other kittens, and more. Therefore, as long as you have a separate box, keeping it clean, and easily accessible, there shouldn’t be bigger problems for it to start using it. Maybe not for the first couple of days, but you can involve various techniques that will lead it to the box. It might seem as challenging and complicated, but relying on these methods is the only solution.
