Sep 30, 2026 · 31 min · 9 segments
You may think your cat's litter box is just a box filled with litter—but to your cat, it's a bathroom, a vulnerable moment, a resource, and sometimes even a potential ambush site! In this episode of…
Now, I do have a litter box episode, but it's, gosh, I think it's, like, six years old.
And actually, the information hasn't changed really a whole lot in that time, but I thought it was time for an update, because I get a lot of inappropriate elimination behavior cases.
And to begin with, there are four reasons, mostly, four primary reasons, that a cat will stop using the litter box.
One is medical issues, and the reason, m- the reason for that is something is causing the cat discomfort.
Um, they have bone spurs in their feet from, uh, an old declawing or something like that.
They try to go to the box and it's hurting, and they go, "Ow, box means hurt," and they try to find somewhere else to go.
And you should always rule out medical issues before you start messing with other things.
Maybe they're seeing cats outside, or they're having disputes with their housemates or other cat housemates, and they feel the need to do something that's quite natural to them, and that's to mark their territory.
There could have been a traumatic event or a very stressful time in the cat's life, like a recent move or something like that.
And the fourth and final one is dislike for the box itself, and that could be the box itself, or it could be the location or the setup or anything like that.
But boxes themselves, the, the bathroom setup, is super important, and it's something I end up talking about a lot.
So we're gonna cover that today, because when a cat starts going outside the box, it can be incredibly frustrating for you.
Now, I do have a litter box episode, but it's, gosh, I think it's, like, six years old.
And actually, the information hasn't changed really a whole lot in that time, but I thought it was time for an update, because I get a lot of inappropriate elimination behavior cases.
And to begin with, there are four reasons, mostly, four primary reasons, that a cat will stop using the litter box.
One is medical issues, and the reason, m- the reason for that is something is causing the cat discomfort.
Um, they have bone spurs in their feet from, uh, an old declawing or something like that.
They try to go to the box and it's hurting, and they go, "Ow, box means hurt," and they try to find somewhere else to go.
And you should always rule out medical issues before you start messing with other things.
Maybe they're seeing cats outside, or they're having disputes with their housemates or other cat housemates, and they feel the need to do something that's quite natural to them, and that's to mark their territory.
There could have been a traumatic event or a very stressful time in the cat's life, like a recent move or something like that.
And the fourth and final one is dislike for the box itself, and that could be the box itself, or it could be the location or the setup or anything like that.
But boxes themselves, the, the bathroom setup, is super important, and it's something I end up talking about a lot.
So we're gonna cover that today, because when a cat starts going outside the box, it can be incredibly frustrating for you.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
