ReTeaching Kitty

So my big fat cat Spartacus just went through one heck of a urinary dilemma. He had crystals, UTI, bacteria infection, etc. He was also one of the lucky kitties who survived a total blockage. During all this he started to pee outside the litter box.

So, I did everything I knew to do.

Step #1 – Observe ALL behavior.  This is how I noticed he was straining and preferred to pee on flat surfaces. Also, like I mentioned before, he’s a BIG kitty. So, normal litter boxes were too small for his liking. You see it was uncomfortable to turn around.

Step #2 – Change ONE thing at a time. After noticing the “Joe normal” boxes were too small and hard to get into (high sides), I decided to use the bottom of a plastic dog crate. (Who says you can’t use other things?) He began to walk into the box entrance and pee, then back out.  And by doing this he was now going to the box, sticking at least half of himself inside it, and peeing on the floor right at the entrance.

Step #3 – Keep changing ONE thing at a time, and reinforcing behavior you want. Even when he was only going halfway in the box (the last step), when I saw him pee on the floor I didn’t react. No yelling, no punishments, in fact when he finished I pet him. Why? Because that was improvement from peeing on the bedroom carpet. I tried moving the box, I added a box, changed litter type, and baited it with cat nip. None of that worked. Then I realized I was thinking of “cat” solutions instead of “Spartacus” solutions. Bingo! Flat surfaces! Puppy pee pads instead of litter!

Step #4 – Reward and maintain progress. Besides the obvious medical help I gave my cat throughout this process, retraining behavior was vital. In my mind, why the #?@% was my cat not acting like a cat and using the litter box? Well, because in Spartacus’s mind going in the #?@%ing litter box was painful, uncomfortable, and represented kitty hell.

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut. We think what the animal is supposed to do, and not what he is actually doing. Sometimes we think the only solutions are marketed for that particular pet and sold in the closest pet store. Sometimes we don’t walk a mile in their paws. And sometimes we are blinded by progress just because it’s not the final result.

Remember there’s always something to change, to change behavior. And if ANY behavior changes it’s progress.