a problem with using the litter box?

Question

My cat in the last year has started defacating where she sleeps or chairs she sits in. The furniture is all the same and nothing has changed in the house. She will go two or three weeks and then start again. She always uses the litter box for urination and sometimes defacation, but then reverts to the bed, chair or under a bed for defacation only. we have two cats, they have been around each other for 7 years and we have three litter boxes. I have taken her to the vet and he told me there is nothing physically wrong with her it is a behavorial problem, any ideas????

Answer 1

Cats often deficate or urinate in inappropriate places as a "protest"

There are also factors that most people don't consider. Lighting is one. Cats can see very well in low-light conditions...but not total blackness. During the winter there is a lot less light and it may be too dark where the litter is. Try using a bathroom nightlight.

If you have recently changed food, this may be the cat's way of indicating it does not like this food.

Sometimes the one cat may be doing it to the other cat as a dominance play. Can you determine exactly which cat is doing the poo? See if it is the same cat whose bed it is.

Are these indoor-outdoor cats? They may be protesting the weather. I know, but these are cats after all, they think you control everything!

That's all the things I can think of.

Answer 2

Go to fosterandsmith.com or petco.com and order Dumb Cat Anti-Marking. spray it on the places where the cat is peeing and lt it do its thing. Forget Natures Miracle it does not work no matter what anybody says about the stuff. There is nothing inside NM that can work on urine. In one litterbox place potting soil from a garden store. Place this box and the cat that is needing retraining in spare laundry room or bathroom with food and water. Give the cat a few days with the new litter and this should correct the problem. Gradually add a new store bought litter to the soil over a few weeks until you have the cat back onto clumping litter.

Answer 3

My boy had a hard go with the litter box training. He would go in it some times and then just stop and go anywhere else. I started to notice the day i cleaned it out he would use it happily but if it was not cleaned daily forget it! i dont blame him, i wouldnt want to walk in a smelly poop filled litter box. Now i clean it out every morning and keep the room odor free, ever since he has been using it 100 percent of the time :) picky boy

Answer 4

I have 2.

1) Get a second litter box. I have heard that some cats refuse to defecate in the same box that they use to urinate in.

2)See an animal behaviorist and find out what is changing. When a cat's pottie box habits change, there is a reason. Though sometimes we can't figure out what it is.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Could it be the cat is having constipation issues. Sometimes if a cat has a "painful" experience in the litter box, they will think that deficating in it may cause that pain again, so he would seek out anohter area to deficate in to avoid the "pain" the litter box caused him.