Toileting outside litter box.....

Question
My cat is 10 months old.  Until about 2-3 months ago, she used her litter box faithfully.  There have been no illnesses or changes in her environment, but she now randomly chooses to toilet in the laundry baskets and on my son's bed (her litter box and food/water are located in his room).  I am at wit's end and don't know what to do to change this behavior.  I am considering putting her outside permanently or even getting rid of her.  This toileting is happening 2-3 times per week and is very disruptive to our human lives.  By the way, we do clean her box faithfully.  Please help!

Answer
Gail,

Problems such as yours are one of the number one reasons cats get put down when there is usually always a reason and a cure for it. Don't put her outside or get rid of her. She is tryig to tell you something.

The the most common reason for her behavior is a urinary tract infection. They are painful and cats assocate that pain with the litterbox so they go elsewhere. I would have her checked by a vet to rule out a medical issue before dealing with it as a behavioral problem.

If it is behavioral, then she is telling you that she is upset about something. It may be something you aren't aware of. She may not like her food close to her litterbox; there may be something your son is doing in his room she doesn't like, loud music maybe? She may not like some company that visits that stresses her. She may not like her litterbox in the open (some cats like privacy); there may be a stray cat outside.

Is she spayed? If not That would cause the problem when she came into heat. Are you not playing with her enough and giving her less attention? That could cause it to.

You just have to be a detective to figure out what she is telling you. Be patient with her.

I am including a couple of links to good articles about improper elimination that you may find helpful: (copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/outsidebox_two.htm

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html

I hope this helps.
Tabbi