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How to Keep Cats Away

guideknowledge

Curious cat looking

Or also: Why isn’t my cat using the litter box?

Cats often react extremely sensitively to stress and external influences. For some cats, a barking dog in front of the house is enough to cause them to urinate on the sofa out of stress.

If your cat unusually relieves itself somewhere other than in its litter box, this can have various causes that can rarely be precisely determined. However, you can go through some clues, which is what the following checklist is for.

Litter Box Checklist

  • Has the litter box been cleaned daily?
  • Are there enough litter boxes available?
  • Are there new additions to the family that might disturb the cat?
    • This includes new pets but also children or relatives who are visiting
  • Have furniture been moved, possibly even the litter box itself, or other changes made to the apartment?
  • Are there new cats in the neighborhood, or does the neighbor have a new pet or children?
  • Does the neighbor have visitors or is unusually loud?
  • Do you have new plants in the apartment or near the house? Find out which plants smell unpleasant to cats!
  • Is the cat sick?

The possibilities may sound a bit overwhelming now, but not every cat reacts to absolutely everything. Many cats will hardly be bothered by most points, especially outdoor cats are often less sensitive to changes or smells in the apartment.

The Sofa Doesn’t Have to Be a Litter Box

Once a cat has gotten used to using the sofa or couch, it’s difficult to break this habit. Often it’s not the smell that’s decisive for the first unwanted urination attack, but one of the points mentioned above or an illness.

To get a cat to use the litter box again, there are some approaches that work differently well or not at all from cat to cat. This requires a willingness to experiment.

Place Litter Box Near the Soiled Spot

If the cat uses an armchair, it’s recommended to place the litter box either directly in front of or on the armchair to remind the cat to use the litter box again. It’s important that the spot is well cleaned beforehand and that the amino acids in the urine are barely or preferably not at all perceptible to the cat. These tempt the cat to misuse a spot again and again as a litter box. If using the litter box works this way, the litter box can gradually (preferably over several days) be slowly moved back to the original location.

Clean Litter Box Thoroughly and Change Cat Litter

Cats are very clean and don’t like having to use a dirty toilet and then lick their paws afterward.

If it hasn’t already happened, after the cat has relieved itself elsewhere, the litter box should be thoroughly cleaned to rule out hygiene as a reason.

If you’re afraid of harming your cat with harsh cleaners, there are special products like Bio Urine Attack, which are designed for exactly such cases. It cleans and neutralizes odors naturally without harming the cat.

The cat litter should be completely replaced. If the brand of cat litter was recently changed, this can sometimes be the cause of sudden urination attacks. It’s best to go back to the old brand if possible to rule this out as a problem.

Care must be taken to ensure that the litter box is sufficiently large. If the cat was still growing when the urination outside the litter box began, size can often be the cause. Sometimes the cat simply outgrows the box.

In many cases, problems with cats that aren’t house-trained can be solved by setting up additional litter boxes.

Special Cases

Cat Hasn’t Used Litter Box Since Becoming an Outdoor Cat

You’ve decided to let your cat go outside. But now the litter box has suddenly become absolutely taboo. No problem as long as the weather is nice and the cat goes out. But what if the weather turns bad or there are other reasons why the cat can’t go outside? In some cases, the cat then chooses a new spot. Maybe she goes right in front of the front or balcony door on the runner or doormat. Maybe she just picks some corner in the room.

Why does the cat do this, and how can you get the problem under control?

Find the Cause to Stop the Urination

Cats sometimes find a great spot outdoors for their business, which makes the old spot unattractive. What is now the disturbing factor at the old spot?

First, the litter boxes should be cleaned most thoroughly. This doesn’t just mean changing the litter, but making the toilet itself, i.e., the plastic, hygienically clean. It’s also advisable to change the litter right away, as it always plays an important role.

The litter box should now be placed at the spot where the cat is relieving itself and not where it normally stands. If the litter box normally has a lid, it should be removed (or vice versa).

What to Do If the Cat Urinates in Flower Pots?

Sometimes cats discover flower pots for themselves Flower pots represent the perfect litter box. But there are simple solutions to the problem.

Flower boxes, flower pots, and planters are often misused as litter boxes because they basically represent the perfect and natural litter box. There can be many reasons for the “misuse” of plant pots. It’s best to try a different litter in the litter box or clean the litter box more frequently (in households with multiple cats, there should be at least as many litter boxes available as there are cats. Preferably even one extra, so for example, with 2 cats, 3 litter boxes should be available.

To prevent this, the best approach is to either use a special repellent on the bucket/flower pot or resort to home remedies.

Here is a list of options:

Orange, lemon peels and pine cones can be placed on the soil. All other products should only be applied on the outside of the pot! Once the products have been used for 5-10 days, they can usually be omitted, as the cats will have broken the habit of using that spot during that time. In rare cases, continued assistance is needed.