After over 2 years our cat stopped using his litterbox. He uses it to urinate (fortunately!) but now he'll only defecate on the garage floor and sometimes on the carpet.
We keep his box as clean as possible, and even tried a brand new box in case there were old smells we couldn't get out. We use the same litter we always used, & have tried others, but it makes no difference.
This began after a bout of diarrhea. We took him to the vet, got a prescription which cleared it up, but it seemed to freak him out when he lost bowel control. He acts like he's afraid to go at all, now. But maybe that's got nothing to do with it.
His stool now seems harder and drier than it ought to be. Don't know why, or if that's related. He's been eating the same food he always ate (nothing on the recall list) and the vet didn't find any parasites.
Whatever the reason, how do we re-train him to use the box again? He just doesn't seem to care. He thinks the garage floor is now the proper place to poop.
2007-03-27 06:37:52 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
Can I bump a question so it isn't 20 pages down the list. No one's answered yet and I want to know if anyone has a suggestion.
2007-03-29 14:47:10 · update #1
Don't worry. You'll get used to the smell.
Try to keep him out of the kitchen though...
2007-04-04 01:15:11 · answer #1 · answered by Vorpal K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hmm a difficult one. Try putting his poop into the litter box so he begins to re-associate the box with poop. You could also try putting pepper or orange/lemon rinds around the garage floor - cats don't like the smell so he won't want to go near it. If he does start to go in the litter tray, reward him - give him his favourite treat or a saucer of cat milk (but make sure its cat milk, not human milk as that may cause the diarrhea.) He may also associate the place where the litter box is with the diarrhea so you could try moving it to somewhere new (however i've never tried this before and am not sure wether it would make it worse but if you get desperate - give it a try.)
2007-03-30 10:36:24 · answer #2 · answered by Jenni C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We took in a abused cat that did the same thing.
We closed her in a room with lots of toys, and another cat.
We kept her diet plain and simple, nothing fancy.
The ONLY place she COULD go was the litter tray. She had two accidents, but between us picking her up and putting her into the tray, putting her accidents into the litter tray as well, as well as the other cat using the tray, she got the idea within 2 weeks, and she didn't have a problem since then. We found her a good home within a month, confident tht she was housetrained, and checked with the owners afterwards and she was good as gold.
2007-04-03 19:06:29 · answer #3 · answered by Unicornrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When our kitty was a baby, she did the same thing, peed in the litter box but pooped on rugs, throw rugs seemed to be her favorite. When we caught her, we'd show her what she did wrong, show her the litter pan and then put her in her cat carrier with a litter box until she used the litter to poop. It took about a week and she started using the litter and we haven't had a problem since. (We didn't keep her in her carrier for a week, we'd let her out and she'd make the same mistake and we'd put her in when she made the mistake, she finally put 2 & 2 together.)
2007-04-04 06:22:35 · answer #4 · answered by AytymnRain 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try moving the litter box to the spot he is using...in the garage. And slowly, each day, move it a little closer to where you would like...like in a closet. Changing the litter might help, but you said you tried that. I think that he is associating the litter box with pain, maybe you could try treats. Or do like you do a kitten, and constantly take him to his box to "try" to go. Good Luck.
2007-04-02 13:49:01 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if he's not going in the litter box you may have to lock him up in a closed room (bathroom works) so he can ONLY go in there. I do that to my cat if I find she's not going where she needs to. Also a change in the litter, or where the litterbox is could make him go to different places he feels more comfortable in.
2007-03-30 20:12:34 · answer #6 · answered by ladyamethyst83 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
all you have to do is lock your cat in a room with food,water, and a litter box for about 2 days and see if he starts to use it.
2007-04-03 11:09:18 · answer #7 · answered by jhane1409 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cats naturally defecate in sand, try to put some sand in the litterbox. it may help.
2007-04-01 06:50:54 · answer #8 · answered by kakoya 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It ill learn in time
2007-03-31 11:17:59 · answer #9 · answered by govtagent_2001 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋