Why will my cat refuse to use the litter box?
She pees and poops outside of it.

Question

Lauren Adelman · Answer

A cat... so why will my cat refuse to use the litter box? She pees and poops outside of it. So I guess there's some questions that you need to ask. First of all, is this a new cat? Is this a cat that might not have been trained to use litter box? Or is this a cat that you've always had that's suddenly peeing and pooing outside the litter box? If it's the first situation, that's obviously usually more behavioral and just requires training. Whereas the second situation where your cat was previously trained and now they're not, can be a number of things. It still can be behavioral. So if there's something going on, let's say there's now another cat in the house or a change in the house that's stressing them out or an animal that's, you know, coming around outside the window. So behavior is still one possibility. But cats can also stop using the litter box for medical reasons and it doesn't necessarily have to be a medical reason related to peeing or pooing. It could be a completely other medical reason. But it's very common for cats who are sick or not feeling well to suddenly stop using the litter box. So if this is something that you can't find a behavioral cause of, it does warrant going to see your vet to have probably some blood work performed at the very least to make sure there's nothing serious going on.

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"Why will my cat refuse to use the litter box? She pees and poops outside of it."