I can't look after my cat anymore

Oh and i also bought a waterproof mat to go under the litter tray, and she loves her heatpad from Amazon which you just put in the microwave and it keeps them warm and cosy all day so you won't need to put the heating on just pop it on her bed

My cat is 15 and had exactly the same problem as yours, weeing on the carpet so i got some special cat litter from amazon so you can take a urine sample easily, and the vet tested it and she had a urine infection which was easily treated with antibiotics i just put in her food, she also had athritis so they also gave me pain medication, and she's now a different cat and no more weeing on the carpet, i also use yumove for cats which is for their joints, the vet said she's doing great for 15 so don't give up on your cat

This might be helpful

www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/giving-up-a-cat

High sided trays can be very hard for them when they get old. You need a normal sided xxl tray from Pets at home sat on puppy pads. www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/rimmed-cat-litter-tray-p4619--1 and an igloo type bed as it keeps them warmer.....similar to this but you can get better ones cheaper by searching round www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/searchterm?searchTerm=igloo%20cat%20bed&pageSize=24&resultType=1 . I second taking to the vets for a check up just to be sure.....might be an arthritis thing, our old girl was given an anti inflammatory gell that wasn't expensive. I know what you mean about the smell of urine but if she's been faithful companion for years, I know you will want to take the vets advice and do what's best for her.

Oldbat1

She really needs to go to the vet!

If you can't afford a vet, please go to PDSA- to be fair to her, you need to find out what's going on and how best to help her.

My old girl had kidney failure.
So I would advise seeing a Vet first.

I was expensive to treat her. Special food, meds every day. Luckily I had insurance that paid about 75 % for the medication, as she has been with them all her life, had a good history with them.
She developed this about 16 yrs old, I got her to 20 years before she finally passed away.
The Vet will advise you.. Its difficult.

Sending you and your old girl best wishes.

She really needs to go to the vet!

cassy one thing to be aware of if you are considering looking into rehoming her: there are some utterly vile people out there who will answer ads on social media to rehome cats & kittens (often sending an extremely plausible woman with a convincing story) who will then use the poor cats as bait for dog fighting. Be very sure about where your cat will be going.
The rescue organisations around me have waiting lists and there are very few places with foster carers, mainly because people won't be responsible enough to have their cats chipped and neutered.
You do have my sympathy, it's a really difficult situation but cats are clean creatures and don't deliberately wet and soil in the house. There is always a reason behind this behaviour but sometimes you just need help to work out what is going on.

Your cat needs to be taken to the vet asap

Cats hide pain very well and there is a reason why your cat is doing this - arthritis, uti, etc

You should rehome your cat if you cannot provide proper care for the pet
Your suggestion to put the cat to sleep as cat is a nuisance reaffirms my rehoming suggestion

Amazon do a Microwave Heat Pad which stays warm all day. They're excellent.
Could she be shut in the kitchen with a litter tray on a training pad?

Is there a rescue organisation which will take elderly cats for rehoming?

I know our local one does this with old dogs.

Possibly worth looking into?

kircubbin2000

Many of the rescues have contacts who will take her. If the litter is a problem she could go to a more rural home and spend time in a barn or similar.

She is too unmobile to live in a cold barn

Putting a tray in the bathroom is no different to having one in the kitchen. She can't get up the stairs anway

She just wees over the side. She isn't poorly. I have a high sides tray, she struggles to get in it, and when she does, she pees over the shallow side. The high side causes her a problem, and her hip clicks when she walks so I know there is a problem

Many of the rescues have contacts who will take her. If the litter is a problem she could go to a more rural home and spend time in a barn or similar.

cassy

Thank you for being kind. I can't shut her in my bathroom, it's tiny. It would be cruel to do that. It's no life.

this is not what I meant- just putting her tray in the bathroom, on a puppy training matt to catch any mishaps, with door opened.

You need to go to vet for an assessment. As others have said could be kidney failure which is very painful towards the end. Could be painful arthritis which prevents getting inside the litter tray. Could be dementia. A simple blood test is needed. Good luck.

To be fair, if she hasn't been seen by a vet, you don't know that there's nothing wrong with her. I'm inclined to agree with those who mention kidney failure as a possible cause of the urinary malfunction. It happened to a cat that I fostered, his urine was so dilute because his kidneys were packing up (end stage) that his urine came out at great force. I think a candid discussion with a sympathetic vet would be the kindest thing or alternatively, a call to one of the cat rescue charities to see if they have someone that would take her on.

cassy we had a cat once aged 16 with the same problems, kidneys were not working well and dementia.We had him put to sleep, the kindest thing.It is a problem for cats and also dogs.
He has had a good life with you, you will feel sad but the right thing to do.

I do think she needs to go to the vet for an assessment cassy, perhaps she has a urine infection so not sitting down properly when she urinates. It's not normal to sit in a clean tray and pee over the side.

This is about our dog not cat but there might be symptoms the vet recognises. Our little Jack Russell was behaving very odd for quite a while and cocking his leg everywhere. It was upsetting because we loved him and didn’t like telling him off.
It got that bad we took him the vet we had to leave him there for tests etc. The vet said he had dementia and said it wasn’t fair on us or the dog to take him home he was put to sleep peacefully. The vet reckons the dementia had been going on unnoticed by us because we just loved him he was seventeen. I hope you find an answer for your cats problem.

It's never easy when they get older. We had to have our cat put to sleep when he developed kidney failure, so it may well be worth having her assessed by a vet to see if there is an underlying problem and if so, how serious. You will know deep down what is the right thing to do for her.

Sorry, forgot the link. This is the high sided litter tray.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125231248681

I can sympathise regards the litter tray problem. My younger cat, 15, was overshooting with runny faeces, so I bought a high sided tray and rubber backed washable bath mat. There is the occasional mishap, but mostly all is well.
My other cat is 17 and on medication which there is a knack to administering, as well as refusing his special diet food. I have compromised with one for over age 12 but he doesn't eat well
I dread the thought of my being unwell and having to rely on somebody else to look after them, it would be a chore for them. For this reason I am still being very careful about mixing with people in case I catch Covid (I am immunosuppressed). I shall not replace them when they eventually die.

That's the thing @parlourgames and @razzamatazz. She isn't ill, she just wees outside the box and it has such high sides to stop her peeing over the top it's hard for her to get in, and she still manages to wee over the side!!
I just can't do this for maybe 5 more years. I can't.