Huh, one of our cats does this too, just sticks her butt out the entrance and opens the flood gates. She's not showing any signs of medical problems so we're kinda stumped. I'm going to buy finer litter and see if it helps!
this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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We had a cat who liked to adopt a wide stance that always ended up putting her tail off the edge, so we got her a larger litterbox and that problem ended. Another time, we had an old cat that started peeing outside the litterbox. We had her checked for medical issues (UTI, diabetes, etc) and none of the usual suspects. But she did have arthritis. So we got a slightly larger box with a really wide but really low front lip so she could get in and out easier. The problem stopped immediately.
Yeah, I actually wondered about arthritis because my previous cat had that problem. But this cat is just 2 years old and she's not showing any other signs of having mobility problems so I don't think that's it.
Mine started this and then slowly over months started peeing in my shower and in front of the litter box. Turns out she has arthritis in her back (she's about 20 now!). So days when things hurt more she would find alternate ways to pee. Now she's on a shot for the arthritis and no more peeing where she's not supposed to.
The other cat though, he just enjoys being half in the litter box. He's a little bit weird though.
My previous cat had arthritis too and it resulted in similar problems, so I did consider it. But this cat is very young, and not showing any mobility issues. However, she is definitely a bit weird, lol.
Solensia?
Cats can have litter box issues for so many reasons it's crazy.
Like, my vet was telling me about one where the cat would piss on the floor if the family left the laundry they were folding on the couch.
Sometimes they do it just because they're pissed at you.
Our newest kitten will shit on the bed if I take too long to go into the bedroom to play with her at night. Still trying to figure out how to correct that behavior apart from giving into her demands. (Vet says she's perfectly healthy, told me the laundry story)
The best thing I can recommend is only changing one thing at a time. Litter is a very easy thing to change, and there are a bunch of different materials out there now.
Cats don’t like their tails touching anything when they go. So if you have an enclosed litterbox where the only way cat doesn’t feel like their ass is confined and touching stuff, they’ll stick it out the door. So you can try taking the lid off, or try taping a washcloth over the opening blocking 1/2 of the top so that the cat butt will touch that in hopes that this is more disagreeable than just being all the way in the box.
We tried taking the lid off but she would do the exact same thing, so that didn't work unfortunately. And we already got the biggest litterbox we could find. If the finer litter doesn't work I'll try the washcloth though.
Is it in a corner? Ours was wedged in between toilet, sink, and wall. So cat decided to hang her butt out the front beacuse 3 sides had inconvenieces.
Either way, good luck. Cat toilet issues suck.
My girl was doing this. We started her on Solensia for arthritis and it stopped immediately. Turns out it was hurting her to squat down.
Exact same situation here. My old vet was useless. New one recognized it as soon as she saw her walk.
Had a similar experience with our dog. His toe swelled like crazy and we didn't want to take him to my vet because we have more pets than the city allows, and my wife's vet went off into MAGA land.
So we took him to several other vets, spending about $1500 with no answers except a shrug and "try giving him benadry" l, before we finally took him to my vet.
Took all of 60 seconds for him to say, "oh, he tore a tendon and has arthritis." Gave him an arthritis shot and he was fine in a few days.
I need to talk to my vet about Solensia (I sound like a commercial). My cat will be 15-16 in November (don't exactly know, we estimate he was 2-3 when my wife ripped him from the streets), and the vet thinks he's got some arthritis, and he's definitely slowed down a bit, and has trouble cleaning certain spots on his fur, which has led to matting. They gave us a pill that we could open and sprinkle on food, but he hates it, even when I cut the dose in half, then in quarter. Refused entire meals because of it. I'd never heard of Solensia, but the idea of a monthly shot is intriguing, so worth the conversation.
Oh you think you sound like a commercial? Let me tell you a little more about my experience with it.
Solensia absolutely changed my cat’s life. It stopped the litter box issue, but it also turned her into a little kitten who got zoomies again.
We had a ramp to help her get on the bed, and at least once I watched her run up it and leap off the top of the ramp.
We moved into a new house about a year before starting the shots, and she basically only ever went to my office, the bedroom, and the couch—the three spaces I spent my time. After starting the shots, I found her all over the house, exploring. I also found her on top of furniture, and she hadn’t gotten up that high in years!
I think Solensia probably extended her life because of how much better she could move around. It definitely increased her enjoyment of life!
My vet had a clinic cat who was put on a clinical trial of Solensia, so the vet had over a year of experience with it before it was approved on the market. She told me how amazing the shots were, like finding the clinic cat on top of a filing cabinet that he’d never gotten on top of before. Her stories about it seemed unbelievable, but it lived up to everything she said.
So yeah, that’s more of a commercial, lol. I promise I was just a very happy customer, though.
If you're in the US try Greenies pill pockets for cats. They're highly flavored little dough things, not super expensive. My cats love them and now they're a very special treat (for when a very special treat is needed the most).
Pro tip, though: don't try to put the capsule in the pill pocket like in the picture. It's a fool's game. They say you can but it's a waste of time, even when it's not cracked or banged up, which is rare.
Your best bet is to ignore the "pocket" altogether and flatten the whole thing into a thin, even, round pancake (maybe 1" to 1.25") with your thumb into the palm of one hand, dump the contents of the capsule in the middle, and then carefully bring up the sides like you're making dim sum. Pinch the top around the med to close completely and then roll it gently around in your palm.
This method also lets you use all the broken ones in the bottom; just squish as many as you need all together. If they're a little dry add a tiny bit of water and they'll mash together as if new.
If there's too much med and you can't close it, use two, or however many. I had one pill from a vet that was far too big to just shove down his throat to start with, and I had to quarter it into four to use the pill pockets, but they worked.
They can be a pain in the ass, but as long as no material escapes from the pill cover I make with them I've never had a cat refuse one. I have, however, had every cat I ever owned tell me to fuck ALL the way off with anything sprinkled on their food. It's worth a try if you already have the meds.
My stupid cat eats lyrica capsules directly with no treat or food required, real pain in the ass if you drop one by mistake
Yeah, he's not a fan of the pill pockets, no dice there either, unfortunately. He's on a BP medication, and for that we just use a pill shooter, once a day before dinner, and he takes it fine. The arthritis pill is just too big for that, and you can't pill shoot a powder. So he suffers on because he's an idiot!
What's the pill? Lyrica? Meloxicam?
Dasuquin.
Oh nice we've got ours on CBD, solensia, and antinol
Pilling a cat is a skill but one worth learning. I had two elderly cats who each needed pills and both hated it in their foods. I hold the kitty in my lap, pull back their head and poke a finger between their front teeth and release the pill down their throat. Then stroke the throat gently and release, and give them a high value treat right away. First time is rough but it gets better and becomes routine for everybody. If the cost ends up being a big difference it's something to consider
Yeah, we use a pill shooter, but the arthritis one is too big. I think it's made more for dogs but can be used with cats. We were instructed to open it and dump the powder, but therein lies the problem.
They make a pill holder thing with a plunger that works extremely well. You don't have to do the throat rubbing thing if you get it past the tongue bulge at the back of their mouth, they'll reflexively swallow it.
I believe it's called the Pill Popper
I've tried it, but personally I wasn't able to handle it, the cat, and holding the cat's mouth when trying to use the plunger. It was just way easier for me to hold the pill in the same hand holding their head and just drop em in.
Highly recommend signing up for the zoetis pet rewards if you go this route. Get some money back. Side note, thanks for reminding me to submit my invoice!
Ha, I've got a friend who works for Zoetis and he's pointed me in that direction. He also shows me what the cost of all these medicines are, And it hurts a little.
Yeah. Throw litterboxes away, buy a general storage box that's much taller and wider, problem solved. Ours is about 18" x 24" and 6" deep, only needs a thin layer of litter in the bottom, all cats happy. Probably cheaper than a dedicated litter tray, too.
I do the same but add a stainless steel litterbox in the bottom of the large bin so nothing sticks.
Just cut a hole in the side so your cats don't have to jump high to get in.
That's a really good solution and I'm a little pissed it never occurred to me you could just do that
Like a plastic box? Do you have a pic of it for reference?
I got a really tall sided one. And decent dimensions. Target sells a decent priced covered one. I have two of them.
One of my cats always pees right at the corner entrance.
Poops farther in. But always urinates right at the front.
Weirdo.
Although I'm generally boycotting target. I did buy my litter boxes there because it was like $20 less than other places for the same size litter box.
This one is $26 plus tax.
https://www.target.com/p/enclosed-cat-litter-box-gray-xl-up-38-up-8482/-/A-87059441
What companies call "XL" is just an appropriate sized box. These are not gigantic or anything.
The latches on the side are not strong and I would just not use them. I leave mine unsnapped so I can take the hood off to make it easy to clean it. It definitely is not intended to be able to pick up the whole thing, with litter inside it, relying on those clips.
- Also neither of my cats like the swing doors so I popped them off. They still work decently to keep litter in.
Had an old guy that needed a bigger box to poop in because he couldn't tell his butt was outside the box haha. [he lost his tail when he was little]
Well that sentence was a roller coaster!
It was a racoon fight. [he lost]
We had to buy a litterbox that was covered just so it had walls for her to hit. Always peed sideways right on to the wall.
Yeah, we were able to deal with (not solve entirely) this issue with a litterbox with tall walls. Covered was next, I just didn't want to do covered. I have no rationale for this decision, like many of my decisions in life.
I also had this problem, and in my case, it was just that my cats are enormous and needed a bigger box
We had two boys who would start their pee in a squat and then stand up mid pee and keep going. We wound up with a giant Rubbermaid style container for the box and that took care of the problem.
I used this when I had two males also. The female was not a fan. She used the other boxes. The boys loved it though.
Cats have a territory-marking instinct, and may be more inclined to mark vertical surfaces (trees, walls, or the edges of litter boxes) for reasons of perceptibility. Each cat is different, and yours may be particularly inclined to do this just out of personality. Getting an enclosed litter box may mitigate this.
Yep, one of my cats has a whole process.
Dig a hole. Step into hole. Pee/poop outside the hole. Scratch the walls of the litter box, the entrance, the floor and the wall next to it. Leave.
Wait 20 minutes. Come back. Meow at the unburied poop. Dig in the general area. Generally fail to cover it up. Hope the other cat will bury it.
Lol, our cat also scratches the walls, entrance and roof of the litter box instead of the actual litter. She will do this for up to five minutes, and then get upset that it didn't work. Then we got a kitten who started out digging like normal but after observing her older sibling, she now also scratches the walls and roof of the litter box, because kittens learn from older cats how to cat. Which is great, unless the older cat is a total moron, lol.
Considered an automatic litter box?
My first cat started doing that because he was too old and arthritic to squat down as far as he needed. I fixed the problem by making a high sided litterbox from a storage bin. I cut a big hole in the side and put edge liner around the new opening so there wasn't anything sharp.
There’s a guy on YouTube that covers litter boxes for cats that do that.
Mine do that sometimes
It can be the litter, the size of the box or maybe a roof would be advisable. They can be picky 😁