why does my cat pee and poop on the floor instead of the litterbox?

Question

my cat is a 2-year-old female half Turkish Van and half ?? cat and she pooped on the floor next to her food and water. then the same day she peed on the carpet next to the fireplace. we thought it would be the litterbox that is not clean, but it gets scooped twice a day. and we also have two litter boxes for her and her mother.we don't know what to do???

Answer 1

When a cat suddenly stops using the litter box, he or she may have a urinary infection. They start associating using the litter box with pain, and then look for other places to do their duty. Have her checked out at the vet's. Tell him about the problem and he should help you from there.

Answer 2

Cats will use a litterbox with no formal training whatsoever. The fact that your cat also "went" next to its food and water is a concern since they instinctively want to do their business away from where they eat and drink. Your cat may have an infection and if it goes untreated it could have serious problems. If this a new problem and the cat has always used the litterbox before, this is a huge neon sign saying there is something wrong and kitty is due for a visit with the vet.

Answer 3

Firstly a vet check is in order to rule out a medical condition such as a urine infection or crystals in the urinary tract. Since she's pooping too, that suggests it could be a bowel problem.

If it all checks out ok at the vet, then try the following:

Have you changed the type or brand of litter you were using?

Add another litter tray, she may not be able to make it to the others in time. Put it where she is peeing and then slowly move it to where you want her to go.

A cat will be deterred from using the litter box if they've experienced pain whilst in it, such as when constipated or if they have a urinary tract infection, crystals etc. Don't use ammonia based cleaners, except on the litter box this attracts them and since urine is mostly ammonia, she will keep peeing on it. Clean where she has peed with an enzyme boosted laundry powder. Then follow with vinegar and then with a citrus cleaner, they hate citrus smell or leave cut oranges or lemons there.

Clean the litter box more regularly, some cats are fussy and they are very clean creatures and will not use it even if they only used it once before. Some just hate sharing. It's possible there are other cats around outside upsetting her (this is most likely considering she did it near her food and water, cats hardly ever do that but she's letting someone know this food is hers) and she's marking her territory or just stressed out. Even spayed pets will do it.

The solution is directly linked to the cause, so you need to work out why she's doing it.

Keep her to a routine, this helps them feel less anxious.

Also, she needs more of your attention, set aside a few times a day to play with her, get a feather wand or even a feather on wool will do (you need to supervise this, it can be dangerous if she eats the wool)

Environment enrichment will help, hide her food around the house, move her food bowls around, put kibble in various hiding spots around the house or use paper towel centers (cardboard), twist one end, fill it with dry food and twist the other end, then give it to her, it will amuse her trying to get the food out.

You can put a table tennis ball inside a shoe box, tape the lid shut and put a hole slightly smaller than the ball in the sides, she should spend hours trying to get the ball out and will toss the box around and wrestle it. You can suspend other mixed material toys in a larger cardboard box and cut small holes in the sides so she will try to get the toys.

Paper grocery bags are great, leave some of these around for her to play in. Table tennis balls for her to bat around are good, these fulfil the stalk hunt and kill instinct as are other toys of different textures, door knob hangers and Fishing Rod toys which you can make yourself easily.

She may have issues with her mother, she's reached adulthood and may be striving for the dominant position, although you would expect to see a bit of powerplay, fighting etc, but not necessarily. If this is the case, then you can try rubbing a cloth on her mouth and collecting her facial pheremones and wiping them in various places around the house, that's the same as marking territory but doesn't smell to us. You can buy feliway, a plug in synthetic pheremone diffuser which may be effective in calming her down or if the problem escalates, she may need calming drugs from the vet.

It's really a process of elimination, what changed around the time she started doing this?

Good luck, i hope some of these suggestions help.

Answer 4

In apporaiate potty habits are often caused by medical reason, such as urinary tract infections. It would be a wise move to have the cat checked by a vet first.
Then you need to clean the soiled areas correctly. I'm sure you have already cleaned them and may not be able to smell anything, but unless you have used an enzyimed based cleaner such as Simple Solution avaiabile at pets stores, your cat can still smell it. That will attract them back to the same areas again.

For more great info on this check out Pet Shrinks page .

Answer 5

a million. Is the field sparkling? Cat's will many times give up utilising the field if it rather is not sparkling sufficient. All sturdy waste ought to be scooped out a minimum of as quickly as an afternoon, and the field wiped sparkling out and new clutter put in a minimum of each and every 2 weeks. 2. It does sound like he has constipation. it could commence out from "keeping it" by using fact he did not desire to defecate in a grimy field, hairballs or different foreign places textile blockading the intestines, or by using fact he took place to be constipated for regardless of reason. in simple terms like each and every animal, occasional constipation is wide-spread, yet ought to subside interior some days. At this factor, however, it rather is painful to defecate by using continual constipation. that ought to be why he isn't utilising the field. it rather is totally hardship-unfastened for cats with urinary tract infections, or bowel issues, to give up utilising the field. whilst they warfare to bypass feces or urine, it hurts, so as that they arrive to affiliate the soreness with the litterbox itself. then you definately've have been given a cat pooping and peeing everywhere else, attempting to come across a place the place it won't injury. a visit to the vet is honestly mandatory. If he does have continual constipation, than it may bring about some thing worse called "mega colon". This situation reasons the nerves and muscle tissue interior the colon to give up working, so feces would be subsidized up interior the colon right into a good mass, and the cat isn't able to defecate.

Answer 6

well like many ppl are sayin he or she might have a bladder ifection and a urinary infection she probably knows where the litter box is but she probably is not able to make it there in time so take her to the vet and try to keep the cat in the same room as her litter box limit her to 1 or two rooms that are he closest the litter box

Answer 7

She may be upset with you. If you disrupt a cat's routine or environment, say by bringing home a kitten or a new person, they act out by not using their box. When i brought home my second cat, my 7 year old burmese/tabby mix refused to use the litter box. She adjusted and now uses the box.

Answer 8

Sometimes they urinate outside of their litter box because they have a bacterial infection. Bladder stones can also cause usual behavior. Sometimes they go outside of their litter box because they are upset about something. It sounds like you are keeping it clean enough, but did you recently change the brand of litter? Maybe she doesn't like it if you did? Your best bet is probably to have her checked out for urinary tract problems. Good luck.

Answer 9

put the litter box were she usually goes and if she continuously pees and poops on the flour take her too the vet my cat had the same problem and he ended up having a disease and died soon after we found out

Answer 10

Maybe she is not aware of what the litterboxes are for. Some cats need to be showed where to pee, and poop. They do not know what the litterboxes are for.