Understanding inappropriate elimination in cats

Inappropriate elimination is one of the leading reasons cats are surrendered, but it’s often not misbehavior, explains Tiffany Tupler, DVM, CBCC-KA, HABc. Instead, it reflects a mismatch between feline needs and the environments provided. In this video, Tupler discusses how litter box setup, hygiene, and species-specific behavior influence outcomes, and why sudden changes in habits may signal an underlying medical issue rather than a primary behavioral problem.

Below is a partial transcript, lightly edited for clarity.

Tupler: Inappropriate urination is a huge reason that animals—cats in particular—get surrendered. A lot of that comes from their normal species behavior. As people, we love heavily scented, good-smelling litter. We want our cats to go through a maze to get to the litter box because we don't want litter all over the house. But it's actually the total opposite for cats. They want a big open space. They want a giant sandpit. They want the litter not to smell and not to be in their way, because they want it to be a good experience.

It's completely opposite of what we expect as owners compared [with] what is a species-specific need for them. They want it to be clean, just like we like our bathrooms clean, but in reality, most of us don't have the time to do that for them. You have to think: They used to have the whole outside as their yard, and now we've confined them to a small box that maybe we clean once or twice a week.

As veterinary professionals, we have to help owners understand that good litter box habits can create better outcomes for cats. In many cases, cats defecating or urinating outside the box could be a medical problem, but in some cases, it could be behavioral. That's why we try to educate early. If you're doing everything we've asked you to do—cleaning the box, refilling it, and using the right kind of litter—and they still go outside the box, we find that to be more of a medical issue.