posted 01-10-2004 04:35 PM         

I would then start wondering about their litterboxes. What kind are you using (hooded vs. open)? What kind of litter? Where are the boxes? You might need to experiement with several different types of boxes, litters, etc to find something you cat will use-and when you do, stick with it.

Are the boxes kept clean? Some cats won't use a dirty litterbox. I scoop nightly for my cats. Also make that the area around the litterbox is clean. If I leave a towel on the floor in the laundry room, chances are it will be peed on.

HOw many boxes do you have? As a general rule, you need 1 box per cat (some also say an additional one is needed). Some cats just don't like to share their potty space.

Are you doing a good job of cleaning up the areas where the cats pee? If cats can smell the urine, they'll probably pee there again. You can try using Oxyclean or Nature's Miracle (enzyme cleaner).

You might have luck using Feliway to deter marking in the house. We use it in stressful situations for our UTI-prone guy and have found it to be helpful. There are probably other similar products, but I'm not familiar with any.

If nothing else works, you might have to start from scratch and re-train your cats to use the litterbox. Keep them in a small room with nothing else to pee on and, once they're being consistant on using the box, you can start letting them into more and more rooms until they're being reliable again.