Coping with Cayenne, the Incontinent Cat

Cayenne's been here for almost three weeks now and I'm really happy having her here, except for one thing.  She does not use the litter box consistently.  Sometimes I think she gets a sudden urge to pee and doesn't have time to get to the box, like the other day when she peed on my lap while I was petting her.  But other times, she goes over to the litter box and pees on the floor right in front of it.  If she is able to get there, she could take one or two more steps and make it into the box before she pees.  She has peed in the box a couple times, and she poops in the box (most of the time, anyway), so it's not that she is opposed to getting in the litter box or doesn't like her litter box.

Now, Cayenne has had litter box issues for many years, and we've been to the vet about it repeatedly, and she does not have any type of urinary tract infection or bladder stones or anything physical that would cause these problems.  Mike and I tried a ton of different things and none of them fixed the problem.  Now that she's nearly 14 years old, diabetic, and dealing with cancer, I don't expect the problem to get any better.  I believe it's only going to get worse from here.

I got some of those disposable puppy training pads and put them in the places she pees most often.  Cayenne does not like those pads, however, so I have to put towels on top of them.  She is perfectly willing to pee on a towel but not on a puppy pad.  I want the puppy pads, though, because they prevent urine from seeping through and getting into my carpet, whereas a towel does not.  Since she avoids the puppy pads unless I cover them with soft towels, though, I am now doing a lot of laundry.  I also picked up some extra towels cheap at the thrift store, but I need to get some more.

Using these disposable pads is so unlike me.  I don't use disposable things like that.  I have been using paper towels to clean up cat pee and cat puke, and I have gone through about half a roll of paper towels since Cayenne has been here, but prior to her arrival, I lived here almost four months and only used about half a roll of paper towels.  I use cloth rags.  I use cloth napkins.  Most of the time, I use cloth wipes instead of toilet paper.  I use cloth menstrual pads.  But these disposable puppy pads are the best way I have right now to protect my carpet, so I am using them.

I use vinegar and water to clean the carpet when she pees somewhere not covered by a puppy pad.  I keep a spray bottle and rags or paper towels handy all the time so I can tackle any pee spots right away.  I don't think my apartment smells like cat pee, at least not so far.   Hopefully I can keep it that way.  Ugh.