Why won't my cat use the litter tray?

If you are using any ammonia-based cleanser, she'll think her box is dirty. Bleach will put her off, too. Just clean the box with hot water if necessary. Scoop clumps daily, but don't completely change the litter till she's back on track. Did you change brands of litter? That'll do it, too. She might not like the new brand. Did you get a new litterbox? She may not like it, replace with one just like the old one, if you no longer have the old one. Cats do not like change, it upsets them. Any big changes in your household? If it's none of these things, call the vet, she could be ill. Good luck!

Some cats are just plain stubborn about things like this. I know that if I put a small rug anywhere near my cat's box, she'll pee on it instead of in her box. If there's no rug, she goes in her box.

Make sure you clean her box every single day, and it might help to add a sprinkle of fresh litter each time. Don't change all the litter every day though, because you want her to smell herself in there, to encourage her to return to it.

If she's going on the floor just beside her box, try moving her box over to that spot. Who knows, it might work?

Does she use an open litter box, with no lid? Some cats really like the enclosed boxes. That's what my cat uses. It also helps a great deal with the kicking and pawing of their litter, which can wind up all over the floor, as I'm sure you know!

If she does go on the floor, make sure you clean the spot THOROUGHLY to get rid of any leftover odor, or she might be tempted to use the same spot again.

Good luck!

cats are very fussy when it comes to the litter you use. We tried changing the litter a few times and the female cat hated it and refused to use it.

we tried wood chippings, gravel and every time hated it.

Maybe try changing the litter for a while to see if its that!!

ALSO she or he could be suffering from a blocked bladder. The male cat we have suffered with this and can be a dangerous thing if not treated. he kept licking his private parts and kept poking his privates out. HE tried weeing anywhere possible on the bed etc as he couldn't go.

GOOD LUCK

He had two operations for this. This condition is more common in male cats then female cats.

I need more information to answer this. How old is the cat? Is the cat fixed? Have you introduced anything new in the household, like another animal or person? Have you had the cat declawed? All of these things could lead to reasons.

The only thing I can say is that once my female gained maturity and started her heat cycle, she would mark outside of the litter pan during heat. (She's fixed now, I just believe in letting an animal reach maturity before spaying). And declawing is a huge reason for cats to stop using the litter pan (it hurts).

Maybe it's the smell. We had two cats at one point and the older cat got sick and started peeing behind the tv. He got put down and after a while our other cat started peeing behind the tv too because the smell was there.

Or maybe it prefers gardens? My dad's maine coon will only use the litter tray if it can't get outside because the doors are locked or if it's raining or hailing or something. Have you tried putting Citrus scents on the spot that she goes to toilet? apparently orange and lemon smells aren't favoured by cats so she might get the hint

My cats did this a couple of times! trust me its worse when you have more than one as they tend to copy each other. They were also litter trained but they started going beside the tray. What i did was when they was about to do there business i picked them up and put them in the tray. This teaches them. Maybe the litter tray isnt clean? Make sure you clean it everyday...

It can stress cats out of you clean their tray too often. The peeing on the floor may be in an attempt to mark it as her territory. You should remove any poo every day, obviously, but don't empty the litter completely more than about once a week to once ever ten days as ths really stressed them out.

You are using the wrong litter..try changing it and using a covered litter tray, Or better still LET IT OUT

By the cat litter called Cat Attract, at a local pet store.. it will help her go to the litter. I worked at a pet store for 2 years and I always recommended this to everyone and they never complained about it. There are 2 of them, one for adults and one for kittens(pink bag).

My cat started doing this too but quit once I washed his litter box and added a brand of litter he was used to.

Here's an article I found helpful when it comes to cats and keeping the house cleaner:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4519030_keep-house-clean-h...