Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi everyone!

I've had a few questions regarding litterboxes among friends. My cat Shelbee just turned 24, and we have been struggling to get her to face the right way in her box so her butt isn't pointed facing the outside. She can't squat to pee since she has aurthritus and we use one of those automated self cleaning litterboxes with a hood. The trouble is, she likes to face the side that doesn't have the hood

I use a (dim) light on top of the hood so she can see it if it's dark, and I have found that putting the light on the back facing the front instead of on the top keeps her from peeing the wrong way. Who wants to pee facing a light?

Anyway, I wanted to share this tip. It worked for Shelbee

Lots of Love and a happy 2021 to yours,

-Coffee Mugger

Useful to know!

Several times my partner and I have gone into our bathroom to find pee UNDER the litterbox...

We couldn't work out how he was managing it! He obviously wasn't peeing whilst outside the box onto the floor, because it was entirely under the box, with none on the floor anywhere else, but then we finally caught him in the act - he was doing what your cat was doing! Facing the back of the box with his butt not quite inside the flap and peeing on the rim of the box by accident so it was running down the front and collecting underneath, leaving us with a nice surprise discovery...

If we are there we can just gently guide his butt back inside the box before he starts peeing and he hasn't done it in a while so we think we're ok but if it happens again we will consider the light trick! Thank for sharing!

This is not quite the same but also a useful tip I hope.
My cat sometimes does the same, (i.e face the wrong way with his backside towards the opening) also he has permanent diarrhoea. I tried long plastic mats at the entrance of the box but he can squirt diarrhoea quite a distance, even beyond the rubber mat (sorry TMI ?).
Recently I have placed a second empty base of a covered litter tray at the entrace to his covered litter tray and that seems to be catching it because the base of a covered litter tray is deeper than most open litter trays. (I believe you can buy high sided open trays though)

He is able to step over the side of the first empty tray and then enter the covered part with litter in it without difficulty as he is still agile and without mobility problems.
The whole arrangement is on a long plastic mat that goes under both.

He is also a very enthusastic burier/scatterer and the above arrangement catches any litter he kicks out.

There seems to be one thing in common here, and that's COVERED trays. Try taking the tops off and see what happens.

I don't entirely agree !
Covered trays stop litter etc being scattered out sideways and methods can be used to reduce anything from coming out of the opening.

Deeper sides to prevent too much scatter but what's the harm in trying without a lid?

With all round visibility a cat might not feel the need to glue its backside to the entrance, especially as there is no "entrance". Lids are for human convenience, some cats like them, a lot of cats don't. Just because your cats are not upset enough to use the carpet instead, doesn't mean they are happy. When my Boo was alive I swept up litter daily, it takes seconds, it's just a nothing in cat care. A lot less inconvenience than mopping up stale urine collected under the tray, anyway.