refusing the litter box

Question
Hi Tina-  I have a female cat, about a year and a half old.  The end of April I had her declawed and spayed.  Since then she has stopped using the litter box. At first I figured maybe the litter hurt her feet, even tho I was using the special litter made from recycled newspaper the vet recommended.  Then she would use the litter box to urinate but would move her bowels on the floor (carpet, of course).  At this point she is doing about everything on the carpet, even tho I have put an extra litter box in the area she seems to frequent the most.  I am using the same litter I always used for her thinking it would be familiar.  Any suggestions?  I really don't want to get rid of her, I have had her since she was a kitten.  Thank you.

Answer
HI Margaret,

As I said I am sure you didn't know about declawing beforehand, many people do not unfortunately! I', sure you want to do what is best and that's why you were asking for help, I am sorry if I came off too strong, but I wanted to provide you this information so that if you get another cat now or in future you can be more informed. It is sad that so many vets will do this procedure or even promote it because they make more money that way. I don't think they should be able to call themselves vets!

Anyway you can't undo it and the best thing to do is get another vet's opinion to see if they can help your cat. Another surgery or anti-inflammatory drugs could reduce or eliminate the pain which causes her to avoid the litterbox.

When cats stop using the litterbox it is almost always because of a medical problem. Often if they are just urinating outside of it it is a bladder infection and you should be aware of the signs of that problem too - the cat goes to the box frequently but not much comes out, and they often lick at their genital area and sometimes blood appears in the urine if it's a really bad case. But since your cat was declawed and is doing both things out of the box it's pretty clear what is happening.

Cats don't show pain in a way we can see easily, so it is so easy to miss when something is hurting them. Since they can't talk and they don't tend to lie around groaning like a human would we often don't detect that they are unwell. The best way to know if your cat is not well is to watch for things like not using the litterbox - even occassionally, reduced appetite, increased or decreased thirst, and any other changes in their habits.

By the way, the best thing I have found to take our cat urine from carpet or other things is Nature's Miracle enzyme cleaner - it's available at many pet stores. You soak the place that was messed up with this stuff and let it dry naturally and the enzymes break down the cat urine. This is important because even if you clean it so you can't smell it your cat still can and she will be attracted to that place again.