Mister and the Litter Box

I house/dog sat last weekend for the Carsons. I came home Saturday and Sunday to shower, eat and take care of Mister. I don't know if he smelled Bailey on me but he began peeing outside the box. I noticed a bad urine smell on the throw rug at the front door before I was leaving for work on Tuesday so I rolled up the rug and threw it in the washing machine to soak. After work, I brought the carpet cleaner here and spent an hour trying to get all the urine (and other spots accumulated over 21 months)cleaned up. I noticed Thursday he wasn't peeing in the litter box (only pooping)so I checked out the rug again...sure enough. Back in the wash. Friday night I went to Pet Co to buy something to spray on the rug to get him to stop this. I read a few books while there and decided to not spend the money but try some of the natural solutions: citrus juice on the rug (they supposedly hate citrus), two sided tape or aluminum foil on the rug (they supposedly hate the feel on their paws). As I was watching TV I hear him digging on the rug to try and bury the pee he had just done. I scolded him and he ran but here we go again on the washing/cleaning. I caught him and tried to put him in his poo hut (like I can teach an OLD cat anything) when I realized there was a puddle of pee under the litter box. I don't know how I missed that before (or how in the world he was able to get any pee under there) but that, hopefully, was the reason he wasn't using it. I cleaned it all out and noticed this morning he had used it. YAY!!!!! Hope it lasts...

The reason I posted this: with people and with animals,there is a reason for every inappropriate behavior. What you see on the surface is possibly not the whole story.
When we take the time to dig deeper than just 'appearances', we find more of the truth.

He is such a cute little crumb cake...