Third Street
Veterinary Hospital, PC
McMinnville, Oregon 97128
Office phone: (503) 472-9418
Inappropriate
Elimination Disorders in Cats
The
term "elimination disorder" is used to describe cats that do not use
their litter boxes for urination and/or defecation; instead, these cats
eliminate somewhere in the house.
Elimination disorders are the most common behavioral problem of
cats. Because most owners take pride in
their homes, house soiling by the cat can strain the owner-pet relationship to
the breaking point. Unfortunately, in
some cases, frustrated owners give up their cat to an animal shelter or elect
for euthanasia.
Contributing
Factors
In
some cases, a medical problem can be related to inappropriate elimination. When this is the case, improvement can be
expected if the medical cause can be successfully treated. In most cases, however, inappropriate
housesoiling is primarily a behavioral problem.
The
more cats there are in a household, the greater the chances that inappropriate
elimination will occur. One study found
that for every cat present there is a 10% chance. This means that if there are 6 cats in a household, there is a
60% chance of inappropriate elimination occurring.
Prevalence
A
recent study performed by an animal behaviorist at the University of
Pennsylvania reported that 40 to 75% of all cats presented with behavior
problems had an elimination disorder.
It appears that longhaired cats are over-represented as compared to
shorthaired cats.
Causes
As
mentioned above, after medical causes of these problems have been ruled out,
the source of the problem is considered a behavioral disorder. Behavioral causes of inappropriate
elimination fall into two general categories: 1) a dislike of the litter box,
and 2) stress-related misbehavior.
One
of the main reasons for the cat avoiding the litterbox is because the box has
somehow become objectionable to the cat.
This usually occurs because it is not cleaned frequently enough or
because the cat objects to the type of litter used; this is called substrate
aversion. Sometimes, the cat dislikes
the location of the litterbox (avoidance of location). Substrate aversion is by far more common
than avoidance of the box because of its location.
There
are many possible related causes. Some
of these can include the following:
1.
A new person (especially a baby) in the house
2.
A person that has recently left the house (permanently or temporarily)
3.
Several new pieces of furniture or rearrangement of existing furniture
4.
New drapes or carpet
5.
Moving to a new house
6.
A new pet in the house
7.
A pet that has recently left the house
8.
A new cat in the neighborhood that can be seen by the indoor cat
9.
A cat in heat in the neighborhood
10.
A new dog in the neighborhood that can be seen or heard by the indoor cat
Therapy
Most
successful treatments rely on a combination of behavior modification techniques
and drug therapy.
A. Behavior Modification
Behavior
therapy involves a dual approaching involving (1) Aversion Therapy and (2)
Attraction Therapy. The former repels
the cat from the inappropriate location, and the latter encourages the cat to
choose an appropriate location.
The
purpose of Aversion Therapy is to make the area of inappropriate urination or
defecation undesirable for the cat.
There are many ways to do this, but the following steps have proven
successful in a high percentage of cases.
1.
A product to neutralize the odor of urine or stool should be used in places
where inappropriate urination or defecation has occurred. Several products are available for this
purpose. When using one of these, try
it on a hidden piece of carpet (in a closet, etc.) to be sure it does not stain
your carpet.
Although
many of the available products do a good job, none of them will undo months or
years or repeated soiling. The sooner
the affected area is treated, the better.
If the objectionable location is on carpet, it is necessary to treat the
carpet and the pad below because most of the odor will be in the pad. This usually means soaking the carpet with
the neutralizing
product
so it penetrates into the pad.
2.
If the soil in potted plants is being used, place a lemon-scented air freshener
at the base of the plant. This will
usually repel the cat. In some cases,
the plant may need to be removed.
3.
Cover the area(s) with aluminum foil and secure it to the carpet or furniture
with masking tape. Aluminum foil is a
surface on which most cats will not walk.
The
purpose of Attraction Therapy is to make the litter box more desirable than the
inappropriate site. The following are
usually successful:
1.
Purchase a new, non-hooded litter box; even well cleaned litter boxes have odor
deep in the plastic. Although we like
our privacy, most cats find a hooded litter box undesirable presumably because
it traps odors inside.
2.
Put non-scented clumping litter in the new litter box. If your cat has not been using this type of
litter, it will usually find it more desirable than the clay types. In generally, most cats seem to prefer these
newer litters because they have a more
"natural" feeling to the feet.
Some behaviorists theorize that these new litters are more reminiscent
to the cat's ancestral elimination substrate - desert sand.
3.
Place the new litter box near the area of inappropriate urination until it is
used for several days, and then move it 2-3 feet (0.7-1 m) per day back to the
desired location. Eventually, there
will be two litter boxes side-by-side.
When you cat clearly chooses one or the other, remove the extra one.
4.
Keep the existing litter box in the normal location in case the aversion
therapy causes your cat to return to it.
B. Medical Therapy
This
usually involves one of three types of medications.
1.
Anti-anxiety drugs, including amitriptyline and buspirone
2.
Tranquilizers, including diazepam and phenobarbital
3.
Hormones, including megestrol acetate and medroxyprogesterone acetate
While
none of the oral medications have been approved for use on cats, most have been
in use long enough to give us reason to believe that they are very safe.
Buspirone
(trade name BuSpar) is an anti-anxiety drug prescribed by physicians; it is a human drug,
not a veterinary drug. It has been
shown to be effective in a significant number of cats with elimination behavior
problems.
Its
success rate is not 100% but, for the intended purpose, it has been shown to be
more effective than many of the other drugs.
The
following outline should be followed.
If the sequence is not clear, please call for further instructions.
1.
Give 5 mg (1 tablet) twice daily for 1 week
a. If there is no response, give 7.5 mg (1
1/2 tablets) twice daily for one week
1) If there is no response,
discontinue buspirone.
2) If there is good response, give 5
mg twice daily for 8 weeks.
b. If there is good response, give 5 mg
twice daily for 8 weeks.
2.
If a relapse occurs after successful therapy, resume buspirone at a dose of 5 -
7.5 mg twice daily and continue for 6-12 months.
C. Another Option
Recently,
a pharmaceutical company introduced an aerosol spray, called Feliway, which can be used in the area of appropriate elimination. The solution contains a synthetic derivative
of feline hormones, called pheromones.
It is thought to have a calming and comforting effect on some cats. It has not been completely studied by
independent researchers but is
thought
to show some promise in decreasing, though not totally eliminating,
inappropriate elimination in cats.
Prognosis
The
prognosis for improvement is more likely if several of the following are true:
1.
The duration is less than 1 month when treatment begins.
2.
There are only one or two locations in the house that the cat uses for inappropriate
elimination.
3.
It is possible to identify and relieve the stress-causing situation.
4.
It is possible to neutralize the odor caused by the urine or stool.
5.
You have only one cat.