I know this is an old thread but I just went through reading everyone's comments...thank you, I needed to see I am not alone! An hour ago I put down my cat because of incurable inappropriate elimination. When we bought our house 5 years ago and the previous owners left him here..package deal, I guess.. but they always kept him locked up by himself in the sun room and we figured out why pretty quickly. My best guess is that he was captured from the enormous pack of feral cats down the alley by the kids who lived here. They did not neuter him so we did that immediately. He had litter box aversion from the very start so we took the recommended steps... veterinarian visits which turned up urine crystals so we put him on prescription food and took care of that issue, but it made no difference. We ensured his box was clean, we tried different types of litters, litter boxes and locations before we landed on the Catgenie (worth EVERY penny, btw). We even attempted to toilet train him but never got past the pie pan in the rim. We gated him in the bathroom with his box, food water and a bed. We attempted to retrain him in a huge crate that fit his litter box, food and a bed- all to no avail. We supervised him, blocked access to rooms and rewarded him on the rare occasion he'd do the right thing. We decided to let him out with the dog and encourage him to eliminate outdoors, but even after being outside for hours, he'd come in and I would catch him using the den carpet as his litter box. We've used every cleaner under the sun (microban disinfectant from jon don is spectacular) and we replaced the carpet after thoroughly disinfecting and sealing the affected areas. We just went through the drug therapy but it did not work either. I tried to surrender him to no kill shelters but they're overwhelmed with animals due to the economy. We tried making him an outside cat, but he ALWAYS sneaked in and would complain about the cold/heat and would claw the house to come in. I talked to him a lot about his habits because I believe that our pets do understand us. I feel just awful but I exhausted my options ....this is 5 years of trying to solve the problem! Euthanasia with a veterinarian IS a humane choice, but most importantly it was our last option. This isn't a matter of inconvenience or cold heartedness, we've tried every and any thing we've heard or read about...some things we tried more than once! We LOVE this kitty and inconvenienced the bejesus out of ourselves to accommodate, retrain and reasonably coexist. For us, it is a matter of financial strain, health, sanitation and insanity from zero results after years of failed attempts. Cat urine soaked couches, carpets and walls do not even come close to the mild smell of a dirty litter box. No, I will not live in a home that reeks of cat urine. It is unsanitary. Everyday was incredibly stressful walking in the house and being hit with a wall of intolerable odor. I guess in some way I am trying to support myself and come to peace with this by telling you that we tried. Hard. For years. If you're faced with this problem, try like hell to fix it but if you and your vet(s) cannot cure inappropriate elimination, be gentle with yourself through the process. Today is a sad day because my precious boy is gone and I failed him in curing his elimination problem. I'm trying to rationalize an agonizing decision.

My two litter boxes are in a hall closet (a "coat closet" with two folding doors; one is just left open a bit), so I don't have to see the litter boxes, but they're easily accessible for cleaning. You might want to get another litter box. Even if your cats are fine with using just one litter box, cleaning one box filled with the urine of two cats can be a pain. You often end up with one or two huge clumps of urine, instead of manageable individual clumps. It's much easier to scoop the latter. Since mine are in the closet, I just vacuum the closet once a week. I don't care if there's a little litter tracked on the floor in there, since I don't walk on it. Maybe I'm lazy or gross, but I have bigger fish to fry. If your cats are tracking litter in an area you need to walk (or just aren't as slovenly as I am, lol), there are a number of solutions available for the DIYer or someone willing to spend a few bucks online. Most of them are trunk-like things that just contain the tracked litter inside the whole contraption, but don't actually keep it in the individual litter pan. I consider my closet a larger, built-in version of one of these. :) There are a lot of choices in litter, but I find myself using the Arm & Hammer Multi-cat, and I have just started using Feline Fresh in one of the boxes. I really like Feline Pine for the ferret's litter box, and there is no odor. I don't want to deal with the pellets, so I bought the Feline Fresh, since my local store didn't have any of the Feline Pine Clumpable. I also add Nature's Miracle litter treatment to the box whenever I change it out. It makes a difference. Having used several different automatic litter boxes over the past few years, I have to admit I hate the things. There is one, the Litter Robot, that I'm interested in trying, but I absolutely despised every model of Litter Maid I ever used. You may also want to check out The Cat Site (www.thecatsite.com) for additional info on litter box management. You don't have to register to search or read the forums, and there are a ton of discussions about this. If it has to do with cats, it has been discussed ad nauseum over there. As it is a more specialized site, you will find tons of solutions/suggestions.

Well I can tell you from experience the cats are probably mad about the puppy. But I'm not sure how to fix it! My experience was I brought home a new baby! A real newborn baby. And my cat of 12 years threw a fit. He too started peeing everywhere that I cared about. He would do it in my favorite seat, on top of my pillow, and even once on me and baby as I was feeding her! I would call a pet trainer. The ones at PetSmart comes to mind. Im not real sure how your gonna have to deal with it. For sure make sure the cats feel loved. I would spend extra time with them. Im not sure if you should go about punishing them when you catch them doing it, or reward for using the litter box. I think thats where the trainer could help you best. Goodluck! Keep us updated!

"Any thoughts? Suggestions on how to get them stop? Aside from getting rid of dog :P I've read some about wall plug-ins that emit a scent that is calming to cats- but it looks really expensive- not sure I could afford that, especially if it only works for some cats." Too many times this happens, people simply MUST have a puppy then wonder why the cats don't react well. That dog needs to be absolutely contained when in the house. You have effectively displaced the cats with the unrestrained dog, and their reaction is completely normal. What you need to do is get the cats to the vet -NOW- to rule out physiological damages caused by the traumatic upheaval in their home. You really don't have a choice, the cats need professional help. The dog needs to be restrained and trained from the moment it enters the home til the day it dies. You need vertical elements in the home so the cats can escape the dog and maneuver the rooms without needing to use the floor where they're just going to be chased. You need to restore their former litter pan and substrate, and please add at least one, and preferably two more pans in different areas where the dog cannot waylay the cats. The pheromone plug-ins seem to work wonders in homes with only a few cats so you owe it to them to at least try it. Not being able to afford these steps means that you cannot afford to have pets. You're not being fair to any of them if you cannot afford their needs. Yes, I am being harsh, but I don't believe in glossing over terrible mistakes. I've seen far too many cats thrown out by people who displace them with puppies. Your responsibility is to the cats FIRST.