The REAL Reason Your Cat Hates the Litter Box

Conscientious pet parents, this video is crucial if your cat has started peeing outside the litter box (a problem known as inappropriate elimination). Dr. Randy Aronson and Olivia Sacchi dive deep into the real reasons behind this frustrating behavior, covering both serious medical issues (like cat UTI, diabetes, or cat kidney disease) and the major behavioral causes like cat stress. Learn the expert, holistic vet approach to diagnosing and fixing this common issue, ensuring your feline family member is healthy and happy.

They explore critical factors like proper litter box setup (including the "one box per cat" rule for cat privacy) and the often-overlooked dangers of traditional clay litters. Discover why Dr. Randy recommends healthier cat litter alternatives like tofu litter and new sustainable pine options to prevent dust and ingestion issues. If you're struggling with your cat's behavior, tune in for practical, actionable advice from a leading integrative veterinarian.

#CatHealth #LitterBox #InappropriateElimination

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Dr.
Randy here with my co-host,Olivia Sacci.

SPEAKER_01 (00:11):
It's good to be back, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
Nice to have you, Olivia.
We're here to answer a question,our first one about litter box
behavior.

SPEAKER_02 (00:18):
Perfect.
So we have a question from Amyin Kansas, and it is my cat
started to pee outside thelitter box.
What does that mean and how do Ifix it?

SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
Great question, Amy.
Very complicated one becausethere are multiple issues that
could be coming up.
So the first one we want to talkabout are the medical issues
that could cause that.
Right.
We worry about urinary tractinfections, something like
diabetes mellus, and even kidneydisease or chronic kidney
failure.
That could all cause that litterbox behavior change.

SPEAKER_02 (00:46):
But there's another big component of that that's
behavioral, right, instead ofmedical.

SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Yes.
So the behavioral part is thatwe worry about stress with our
cats.
Anytime your cat is stressed, itcould change his litter box
behavior.
Things like new people cominginto the house.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
Things like a new animal in the house.
Things like uh even just movingthe litter box in a different
location.
That's all possible.
And we do talk about litter boxchanges also could cause this
problem.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12):
Yes.
And actually, my cat had thesame issue, my orange cat.
He's perfect.
Um perfect.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (01:18):
But another issue is uh can we touch on having enough
litter boxes, especially if youhave other cats in the
household?

SPEAKER_00 (01:24):
That's a great question because some of our
cats are very private abouttheir litter box behavior, you
know?
They don't want to go into thetoilet and have three other cats
watching.
I get it.
No, me too.
So, I mean, having an individualbox for each cat is a great
idea.
Making sure that there'sseparation of those boxes.
So even the other cats can'twatch your cat going into the
litter box.

SPEAKER_01 (01:45):
They're private creatures.
They like their privacy.
I get it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
And then sometimes we even worry about the
substrate around the box.
Some cats like to have like arug around the box so they
scratch a little bit before theygo in the litter.
Some cats like it just on thebathroom or tile floor or wood
floor, whatever it might be.
So all of those things would beconsideration.
And the last thing is the litteritself.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
You know, many times we are now, I'm now looking at
some really neat litters, like atofu litter that's actually um
human-grade edible that the catscan lick their paws and go in.
It's robot safe.
Um, but there's some otherpossibilities.
There are there are new pinelitters that are natural.
So we're trying to get a littlebit away from the clay situation
because of the dust and all ofthe tracking that happens.

(02:28):
Those changes could happen.

SPEAKER_02 (02:30):
That's actually really interesting because I
think I saw a study about seeinglike cat litter within uh
X-rays.
Oh, because they lick it offtheir paws.

SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Often.

SPEAKER_02 (02:39):
And so that kind of the tofu-based one, as a
vegetarian, I love that.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
We'll bring more, we'll bring more information to
our listeners down the road.

SPEAKER_02 (02:47):
Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_00 (02:48):
So thanks for joining us.
We hope uh this was helpful.

SPEAKER_02 (02:52):
Perfect.
And if you have any questions,you can feel free to send those
in on the podcast, on ourInstagram, anything like that,
any avenue of contact.
We're happy to respond to those.
You can follow us both on socialmedia for Dr.
Brandy.
He's at Dr.
Randy Petvet on both uhInstagram and YouTube.
So you can find him andsubscribe or follow him there.
And I'm at Dr.

(03:13):
Sochi S-A-C-C-I.
Um, so thank you guys so muchfor joining us today.

SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Absolutely.
Remember to tell your petfriends that have uh cats and
dogs to listen to us down theroad and subscribe.

SPEAKER_01 (03:23):
Perfect.