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I wrote about my treed cat on 6/6/2007, Mali. Things did not look at all good
for her. She was getting exhausted since there was no easy perch for her. And
she been w/o food and water for about 48 hours. But finally she got desperate
enough and she came down with a bit of fall at the end. But she's fine.

Now I'm trying to solve a problem that I've probably had since I first got her
from the SPCA in mid-April 2007, and noticed shortly after that. It didn't seem
too severe at first and I foolishly thought it would resolve itself (don't know
why I thought that), but became a real problem for a while, and is a bad enough
problem now.

Mali uses the litter boxes. But her problem is that she backs up to the edge and
sometimes pees on the edge or over it and the urine gets on the floor. And she
also sometimes poops completely outside the litter box due to the same misuse of
the litter box. I have another cat, Jaws, who has no problems with using the
boxes. I was using two litter boxes until late last week. I thought I should get
a third litter box and that might solve the problem. A post to this NG from a
long time ago, from someone with a similar problem, said adding another litter
box solved the problem.

I added the third litter box and have dedicated much of my life to keeping all
of them clean enough to eat out of. I scoop out whatever within minutes of
whatever ending up in the box(es). My cats think I'm anal retentive. She _seems_
to have stopped pooped outside the boxes, although there have been close calls.
But the peeing on the edge of the box my Mali, with much of it running out onto
the floor continues. I'm open to ideas as to how to solve this problem.

I really like Mali. And I think Jaws likes having her around as well. I've
looked for litter boxes with higher sides, but can't really find anything. I
think I need at least another 2" of height if this is to have any chance of
working. Again, I just can't find anything. It's occurred to me that I might be
able to use three totes...the sides are certainly high enough. The cats may not
want to use them at all, but it seems to be worth a try. I know they have
enclosed litter boxes but I would need three of them to ensure that Mali had no
choice but to use an enclosed box. Of course I risk the possibility that neither
cat will use any of the three enclosed boxes. I can't continue to
experiment...the damage done so far is probably permanent. And cost has to be
minimal. Jaws is headed to surgery ($) tomorrow to have a benign tumor, which is
likely to be come malignant, removed. If I can't solve the Mali problem, she
will have to go back to to the SPCA ASAP. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?

Neither cat seems fussy about the litter I use, since they both get in the
litter box. I use 2+ inches of litter in the boxes. Too much? Less litter would
lower Mali's behind, but...? And Jaws is not a problem. The problem is _how_
Mali uses the litter box, not whther she uses it. My house is quiet and the cats
are generally not interrupted. Both are indoor/outdoor cats.

I'm getting the totes this afternoon. They're cheap and can be used for other
things if they don't work. Mali needs a solution fast or she's headed back to
the SPCA where she previously languished for 2 months before I came to her
rescue.

Any ideas would be a big help. Long term experimentation is not an option.

All the cats I've got on my own have been strays or Mali. We're up to our ears
in strays where I am--we think people just drop them off because they don't want
to bother with them. I've fed or am feeding a total of 4 strays where I have now
lived for about 18 months. One had to be put down and _I_ had to pay for that.
Two others either failed to survive the brutal winter this past year or moved
on. I'm feeding a stray right. Got a collar, but no neighbor claims her. She's
somewhat friendly, seems to get along with Jaws and Mali, and possibly
adoptable. I'll trap her and take her to the SPCA if I can't find someone to
take her. Other people have taken to just shooting strays that hang
around...they are or can be real pests. So it goes...

TIA