Recently Adopted Kitty: A cat that's been recently adopted may take a few weeks or months to fully adjust and feel comfortable enough to reveal its personality. It may be that your adoptive cat was feeling a bit uncertain at first and was willing to share the litter box but later changed its mind.
In the absence of health issues, take steps to prevent your cat from doing its dirty deeds someplace besides its litter box. First and foremost, scoop clumps from the litter box daily and deep clean it frequently. This means jettisoning the old litter, scrubbing the empty box with mild dish soap and warm water, rinsing it with clean water, letting it air-dry, and pouring in a fresh supply of clean, unscented litter sometimes scented litter is unappealing to finicky cats.
Whenever you handle your kitty's litter box, always use rubber gloves and a face mask to protect yourself from microscopic bugs and litter dust. If you're pregnant , leave all litter box maintenance to another member of the household to reduce your risk of contracting toxoplasmosis. At the same time, encourage your pet to use its litter box as intended by locating the box well away from its food and water bowls in a quiet, private area that's easy to get to.
If you've added a second cat, consider installing additional litter boxes rather than trying to make both cats share a box. The optimal number of litter boxes is one for each cat plus one more. This means that if you have two cats, you should provide three litter boxes. Note that the boxes need to be in totally different places. Otherwise, one cat may attempt to "guard" and own all the toilets and keep the other cat away. If there's a particular area where your cat has been going frequently and you can't block its access, try laying down aluminum foil or spray the area with a kitty-safe deterrent.
The goal is to make the inappropriate area as undesirable to the cat as possible. Take a look at the surface where your cat prefers to defecate and try duplicating that surface in the litter box. If you must switch brands, do so gradually, adding small amounts of new litter to the old.
Most cats prefer unscented litter. The box itself may be the offender. Larger cats need bigger boxes, and kittens and elderly cats need boxes with low sides. You may need to purchase several types of boxes and several types of litter to determine which combination your cat likes best. Provide as many boxes as there are cats in the house, plus one.
This decreases competition and gives each cat a box of his or her own. Sheets of plastic, newspaper, or sandpaper, electronic mats that deliver harmless, mild shocks, or a carpet runner with the nubs facing up can be used to discourage your cat from entering a soil-prone area.
Try changing the significance of a soiled area. Cats prefer to eat and eliminate in separate areas, so try placing food bowls and treats in previously soiled areas. Playing with your cat in that space and leaving toys there may also be helpful. Try denying your cat access to a given area by closing doors, or by covering the area with furniture or plants. Baby gates will not keep a cat out of a room. Catch him in the act.
A bell on a breakaway collar tells you his whereabouts. If you can catch him within the first seconds of his elimination routine, startle him with a water gun or shake a jar of pennies, so that he associates being startled with those actions. It is important that you startle rather than scare him; fear will only worsen the problem.
Consulting with a veterinary behaviorist may provide important insight into the cause of inappropriate elimination and potential strategies to address this common problem. Consider spaying or neutering. If your cat is intact, consider having him or her neutered or spayed. Cats are often driven to spray by hormones, and neutering or spaying will reduce the influence of hormones on this behavior.
Identify and remove stimuli. Identify stimuli that cause your cat to spray. If outside cats are responsible, motion detectors that trigger sprinklers can be used to deter them from coming onto your property. Additionally, you can discourage your cat from looking outside by closing blinds or shades, or by placing double-sided tape or electronic mats that deliver mild shocks onto your windowsills. Ease her frustrations. If you are introducing a new diet , for instance, do it gradually or discontinue it until the spraying is under control.
Separate feuding cats. Spraying can result from territorial disputes between cats in the same household. They may need to be separated and reintroduced slowly, using food treats to reward and encourage peaceful behavior.
As the stress is alleviated, the behavior often stops on its own. If not, you may have to ask for advice from an animal behaviorist. Cats don't like using a dirty litter box, and many don't like sharing.
Try adding additional boxes a good rule is one per cat plus one additional box , and always make sure the boxes are clean. You can also try adding additional boxes in new locations and removing the lids from covered boxes.
Sadly, some pet owners rehome their cats over a litter box issue rather than searching for a solution. There are many possible ways to curb the behavior from resolving a medical problem to changing the environment. It may take time to find what works for your pet, but it's worth the effort. Unfortunately he watched our other cat who was pooing outside the box grrr and picked up his bad habit!
We have tried placing him on the toilet when we think he needs to go, usually after a meal, but ends up sitting in the litter box and staring at us with a very confused look on his face. Please, please help! This is really getting so frustrating and embarrassing when we have people over and they stumble upon the poo and the smell!!!!
We have a British blue kitten. He came from a breeder fully litter trained at 10 weeks old. We introduced him to one room at a time round the house and emptied his litter tray regularly. He used it no problem. This happened on and off for a few weeks, then he stared to randomly wee and poo on the floor right in front of the washing machine which is by the back door of the house, where he comes in from outside.
We moved a litter tray into that area as well and it worked! He now used the litter tray in the laundry room and hardly ever went in his room in the office a large carpeted room, which is where he is kept at night. He poops just by the side of the box and never in the box its self! I always empty the box after every wee and poo! He has two different trays in the laundry room as someone said he might not like to wee and poo in the same box? We have a hard tiled floor and he diggs at it poops and then runs off!
Why not try moving the poop from beside the box into the box. He may then go into the box, sniff it and cover his poop, and then start using the box for poop. I believe a cat likes to smell its own business, and may be attracted to using the box by this method. What have you got to lose? Try it. I am at my wits end with knowing what to do. We did get a puppy also about 1 month ago, and they do wrestle a lot.
At times the cat instigates it and sometimes the dog. I cannot have him peeing like this in my house. I was is tears that flowed more freely than the cat piss that is so vilified! Very good advice indeed — but you should also consider yourself for the role of comedian. I think you would be p-u-r-r-r-f-e-c-t for it!
I have just seen that Dr Yin passed away in September I am very sorry to hear about that, and did not know about it until after I had sent my submission. Clearly my previous comic submission was out of place in the circumstances, so please could you ignore it?
I did think Dr Yin got right to the point in her writing, and had a very lighthearted and humorous way of giving advice, which was all good. Yin would be very happy at your lighthearted comment, because she loved jokes and fun. It was a very cute comment. I am very confused. My cat is about 7 years old.
She Always went in the box till recently. She has started going poo on the landing to the attic. Nothing has changed.
She also started vomiting a few months ago for no apparent reason. Both the vomiting and pooing continue to happen. Thank you for contacting us at CattleDog Publishing. Unfortunately, we cannot diagnose medical or behavior problems online. For medical issues, we do recommend seeing your veterinarian as soon as possible.
You need to take your cat to the vet. If nothing has changed in the home or with your life style and so on, then something is wrong with the cats health. Thanks Andy, but some of us our not in the position or disposition to abandon our animals if they misbehave. Why would you even read this article? Can you please help with my case? I have 3 cats at the moment, 2 who have been together since day 1, and share a room at night together in the laundry room for about 8 years with no trouble.
One day, out of nowhere, one of them decided to poop on the floor. We thought it was weird, but passed it off. He bullies the other cats, and i sense this may be the source of his problems, but not sure. Our cat almost daily will either pee, poop, or both right outside his litter box, and we see it every morning, almost never throughout the day. No matter what we do, he will not stop and i feel awful because my family is getting so upset with him. We have tried new litters, new locations, new box, everything.
He has been trained for years to like the same things, so i dont know why he would randomly change his opinion now. I dont know what to do but now my parents are just keeping him locked in a room every day, and i feel horrible, so could someone please help?
Ok so i have a strange cat hes about 4months maybe 5 months old… he poops on my carpet…. When hes outside he poops on my rug outside he only pees in the box. What can i do about this. Should i put carpet in his litter box because it sounds like he only likes carpet rather inside or outside…… i cant stand it. I love the lilguy which is his name but i do not like waking up to poop everyday ….
You push him away and he comes back to do it more its like hes a lil mental case. Hi, this sounds similar to mine little Apollo.. So had to hand bottle feed and teach how to use a litter tray.. The whole process felt like it went on for ever but only 2 weeks. Hi My husband and I have 5 cats plus we just adopted a baby cat which all our cats loves her so now we have 6 cats.
My problem is one our cat female adult was pooping everywhere in the house because she had diarrhea so I took her to the vet and they give her some medicine and help her to stop pooping around house but I was wrong she still popping everywhere in the house.
My husband and I decided to go buy a new litter box and change the litter to other brand and still doing her business outside the litter box. We change their litter boxs everyday. Not so much a kitten anymore, but not an adult either. The vet said she has had a UTI for awhile. So she was given meds to treat the UTI.
So, she is now using the litter box to pee, which is great. I have two litter boxes, placed in places for easy escape and noise free. However, she still is not using the litter box to poop. I bought cleaner to take out the ammonia smell with enzymes. But she still goes to the same corner. How do I get her to poop in the litter box too?!?!? I have had many cats, and have never had this be an issue. Please help! Hi Melissa my George. Is 16 and I have a cat window.
One day a stray got in the cat window and came in the apartment and got in a fight with George. This started my cat in a daily vomiting and once every days poop outside the litter box. Oh is base of the tail has a few flea bites from that hot summer in Toronto. So got an appointment with the vet doing a fecal exam deworming maybe blood work..
I have a long car mat so he just poops on that. He does pee in the litter box. I use a scented lavender President choice fine clay clump litter with zeolite very sanitary.
I clean the enclosed litter box yesterday but poop outside again tonight. I give you the results Monday or Tuesday to see about my George. Hi I have a cat that is about a year old litter boxes trained now all of a sudden out of nowhere she is peeing on my bed and pooping outside of the litter box she has never done this before she was giving a flea bath and a little while after that is when her odd behavior started please any suggestions would be appreciated thank you.
Hi Shirley. It causes pain and they associate that pain with the litter box and begin to go elsewhere. Take your girl to a vet and have her tested for urinary tract issues. It can be a simple fix, such as a change to a special food.
Good luck! I have a cat that just recently started to randomly poop outside the litter box. For instance, last night, the litter box was cleaned and she pooped and peed in the litter box but also randomly on the carpet in the other room.
She has only done this a few times. But has recently done so more often. Never had any problems up until a few weeks ago. Litter is same brand, same food, same place box has always been. But he is still using box just randomly poops on floor. Any help would be great. Does anyone scold their cats for pooping outside the litter? Do they understand that you are unhappy with them?
Scolding your cat for pooping is one of the worst things you could do. She will assume that she is in trouble for pooping. I found an abandoned cat and brought het in the house. I have a feeling that the cat was abandoned for this reason.
She sure did not deserve that. Thank you for the article. We got 2 cats this year, 1 in February and 1 in July. We adopted both of them from the shelter.
Once we brought Eclipse home second kitty there have been little presents on the floor in the laundry room. That is where their potty is. What is the best thing to use to clean and deodorize the area? She had a litter of kittens before she was adopted, and is a little lover, as is Nebs kitty 1. Any help would be great!!! One of my cats just started peeing and pooping on the bath mat next to the litter box.
Daughter was on the toilet when she peed there. I cleaned it out well. Then a few days later, I found poop on the mat. Cleaned it out. Then today, not long after I cleaned it, I found poop again. Tiny ones and cat appears to be constipated based on what I saw. Although I know which one peed, I am not sure of the pooper. I do think it might be the same cat because she looked very guilty when she saw me going into the laundry room with the mat.
Both cats had just been to the vet mere days prior to the first incident. Both were fine but the culprit needs to lose a pound and the other one who is older has a little dry skin. Vet told me to feed them less and add fish oil to their diet for the dry skin. Dry skin cat is slightly overweight but not enough to worry about. Not sure if the fish oil could be causing this or if perhaps she is objecting to getting less food. I have a huge problem and I am seriulosy considering putting my cats down since it is impossible to rehome a cat.
I put the litter boxes in our basement. They are cleaned regularly and this has gone on unevenful for years…until the last few months. One , or all of the three are now crapping in the box , out of the box, at the base of the stairs , under the fuel tank , pretty much anywhere one walks , except where they eat.
They do not pee…only crap. My basement basically has turned into a huge litter box! I have scrubbed and scrubbed that floor, K. It it getting too much to handle and to be honest gross as hell! If there happens to be nothing wrong with them medically, a great second step would be to discuss the behaviors with a local animal behavior specialist to see what else can be done. Putting your cats down should always be a last step after all other possibilities have been exhausted.
I do not know what to do! This is an unusual situation,i just had a cat dumped on me out of the blue 4 days ago. I am an animal lover,of all animals and have had dogs before.
I would only ever take an animal for its lifetime,no matter what. My last dog died 5 years ago and have not got around to getting another pet since. A month ago I split up with my partner of 6 years,with whom I had discussed perhaps adopting a kitten some day.
A couple of weeks ago,same said twit called me about a kitten he knew of and would I like it? I said no thanks,as was not ready to do it yet,and that when I did I would go with the cat protection re homing in the new year. Anyway twit ignored all that,and Thursday night turned up at mine with said cat in a wicker basket and petrified. I havnt given out to him for it,im kind and gentle to him but he hisses at me,and this pooping.
Turns out hes 6 months old. Do we stand a chance of ever being friends? Id rather have poopy louie any day. Our 4 month old kitten is so sweet and is a really good cat, except, he has recently started pooping outside of his litter box. He poops behind our tv, on the carpet and other soft surfaces.
He pooped on one of our cloth kitchen chairs just the other day and I almost threw up. The list goes on. It is horrific. Is that true? I just want to help him stop dropping deuces all over the house dangit!
Our cat who we rescued two years ago started at first by using his litter box somewhat as halfway. He would go in, poop a little bit, and get out and do the rest beside the litter box. As time went on it has just gotten worse. We have resulted in having to physically put him in his box to go. He is pooping not only in one spot but several different spots within a few minutes.
He also pees in certain corners of the house just downstairs My fiance and I are now expecting a child and she cannot keep breathing this stuff in and it would absolutely break my heart to see him go elsewhere. We have tried everything and we are simply lost for solutions.
So my cat poops right outside his litterbox. I rescued him after he was returned for this same reason. We thought it was the fact that their other cats were bullying him but him and my other cat get along famously. He was fine using the litterbox until I moved it next to my other cats litterbox. He pooped right outside the opening. Does anyone have experience with trouble-shooting a toilet trained cat who suddenly starts peeing and pooping away from the toilet?
Please, no judgments on the issue of using the toilet vs litter box. Help, someone! I have a older male he has this habit of pooping sometime in his box then other times on the rugs at the front door or the rug that goes out to the garage.
We have tried everything does anyone have any suggestion to what we can do to hopefully in deterring this habit it has been going for 5 to 6 years. He has done this at older house built a new house and he has stated doing the same thing here.
Any help or suggestion will greatly appreciated. I just my cat a few days ago and she keeps pooping under my daughters crib….. She often goes when I do. She definitely prefers unscented litter—and it has to be a certain kind. I also use a cheap, deep-pile, bathroom rug right outside the box, which works great to trap a lot of the litter from tracking into the apartment. I hope this helps. Hi I have two cats. We are both so tired of coming home after work to logs on his seat.
She is peeping in the litter box just fine. This might sound weird but my kitten is peeing in the box but not pooping. Can anyone please guide me what to do about this. My cats have been using the same box and litter brand for about 4 years and recently they have started pooping right outside the litter box like right outside it. I suggest buying a brand new litter box. Four years is a long time to use the same box.
Even with enzymatic cleaners, cats can smell things humans cannot. This is possibly a cause. I am having almost the same issue. One of my cats does all her business in the box and the other just pees.
She poops literally at the entrance of the box. Just to the left of the opening? But enough in the way that the other cat has step over it.
She is also a very grumpy cat and always has been she 4 years old. Any thoughts? Cats do this for a variety of reasons. One is that they smell another cat which may be outside a window, in the garden, etc. The feces is left unburied to ward off other cats and set territorial boundaries.
My 10 year old male cat began pooping outside his box when an obvious threat from neighboring cats occurred as I moved to an apartment that had adjoining balconies with two other male cats who wandered over to our balcony and hissed at my cat thru the window.
In ten years he never exhibited this behavior. Once he began, it was a difficult habit to break. I confined him in a large closet for a couple of weeks. Tried different litters, etc. My neighbor told me her cats were doing the same thing so we both agreed to keep the cats off the balconies.
Even after she moved it was not easy to get the cat to use the box, but eventually he began to do it. He has been fine for a year…and suddenly started pooping outside the box again. I have no idea, but I believe he smells another cat that is outdoors.
Good luck to all. Hello I have a whole different problem. We had a ferrule cat give birth to kittens on our porch 7 years ago, the kittens litter trained great. We still have 2 of the 7. We took mama kitty and all kittiens had them fixed. Mama instantly became a love able indoor outdoor cat she has never used a litter box she always went out even would howl and scratch our bed at night to go out.
Long story short we moved to a brand new house in a different location. And now she will not go out to potty she will go out explore and come in and potty where ever.
Is this normal cause its starting to really irritate me that im cleaning up cat poop, carpet cleaning and cleaning my clothes and bedding on a daily basis.
Has anyone else dealt with this? We adopted two older brother cats from shelter…one peed and pooped in corners from day one…completely ruined our carpeting and hardwood floors…we tried everything…we had twin grandsons and HAD to replace carpet and treat the floors…it cost a fortune…the cat immediately started ruining this…broke our hearts but had to put cat down…the vet even said it seemed the only solution…the other cat never had a problem until lately he is about 20 years old so know age is part of the problem we are doing our best to keep him but it is a struggle when nothing seems to work…not heartless!!!
I have a 7 year old cat who stopped using the litter box to defecate, and within another month, started urinating out of the box, as well. Going in very strange places — ex. I tried everything — changing diets, took him to the vet for blood work and xray to rule out disease or infection. Moved the litter box, changed the litter to natural, non-fragrance. I tried everything I could think of and read online. Finally, the vet prescribed Prozac 5mg a day — thought his problem was behavioral.
It takes about a month to kick in, but after a month, he was still missing the box. I was at my wits end! I went to a Petco store, where I met a clerk who suggested the following — She said it worked for her cat. I continued with the Prozac 5 mg a day Vet prescribed.
Put the litter box at the back of the kennel, and made a bed for him in the front of the kennel by the door. I covered most of the kennel on the outside with a couple of towels, so he would remain calm and sleep comfortably undistracted — leaving the front door area uncovered by the towel so he could look out and get fresh air.
I placed the kennel with the cat in a quiet room and closed the door. Consider where you put the kennel, because this will be where you leave the litter box from now on, even after your cat is re-programmed. I checked on him often. My cat stayed in the kennel, night and day for 4- 5 days.
I cleaned the litter box every time he went in it — change it about once a week. I use non-fragrance Little Kitty clumping litter, sold at Walmart. Changed the water twice a day and made sure he had enough food twice a day. He started using the litter box every time — So far so good. After a couple days of that, I decided to let him upstairs into the gated kitchen where I could supervise him when I was in the room with him.
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