Is your cat messy and no longer using the litter tray? This behaviour can have various causes and in this article we will give you some useful tips. The first thing to do is to take your cat to the vet to rule out possible illness-related causes (cystitis, blockage of the urinary tract, etc.).

If your velvet paw refuses to go to the litter tray, there may be various reasons for its behaviour. A puddle on the floor or a major mishap on the carpet is annoying. It’s a myth that cats will mess out of protest. They use their urine to mark their territory in nature and in this way make it known that they are in heat. No cat pees or does its big business just for fun or even in protest within the living space. Please never scold your cat too quickly. There are reasons why your cat is behaving like this. Scolding can trigger additional stress in the cat, which in turn can lead to increased uncleanliness.

Possible reasons why the cat is behaving uncleanly:

• Health problems
  Firstly, the vet must rule out possible illness-related causes. A bladder infection or blockage of the urinary tract can lead to unclean behaviour and must be treated as soon as possible.
• Territory marking
  One reason for the uncleanliness may be that your cat is marking its territory.
  Normally cats only mark their territory in the wild. If other animals enter their territory (home), your cat will see the need to defend its territory. It is not uncommon for strange cats to enter unnoticed through the cat flap and dispute your cat’s living space.
• Stress
  Cats are creatures of habit and hate any kind of change. Stress can be triggered by moving house, renovations, new furniture or a new flatmate (human or animal). Loud noises such as construction noise or loud music can also be a stress factor. Spend a lot of time with your tiger, give it attention and lots of cuddles to help it relax. More on this soon in Recognising and avoiding stress in cats.

Cat toilet

There are several reasons why the litter tray can lead to uncleanliness.

• Lack of cleanliness can be one reason why the cat reacts uncleanly. To prevent the litter tray from smelling unpleasant, it should be cleaned daily. Your velvet paw’s nose will also be pleased with a weekly deep clean.
• The wrong cat litter is being used. The choice of cat litter is huge and the pet market offers a wide range of varieties. I will take up this topic in one of my next posts.
• The litter tray is too small. The cat has grown or become older and now has too little space to move around in. Some cats don’t like closed toilets. Offer it an additional open toilet (bowl).
• It is too restless on the toilet. Your cat loves to be left alone when you defecate. Children playing, other pets, a spinning washing machine, draughts or frightening objects, such as a hoover, can disturb the toilet and make the cat react uncleanly.
• The cat has to share the toilet with others. In principle, there should be one more toilet in the household than there are cats. Cats are very reluctant to share their toilet with other animals.
• The location of the toilet is unsuitable. If the toilet is next to the food, the cat will be reluctant to use the toilet. Draughts, loud noises or frightening objects also make cats reluctant to defecate in the toilet.

Here you will find tips for the right litter tray.

If the cat is healthy and all disturbing factors have been eliminated, the cat’s uncleanliness should be a thing of the past.