We have 3 cats. Have had them all for 2 years now. Nothing has changed. Not the food, not the litter, no new animals in the house, no change in residence. The litter boxes are always clean. However the youngest cat (finally figured out which one it IS) keeps crapping in different spots all around the house. She's not peeing, just taking enormous smelly craps all over. It is absolutely disgusting and I don't know what to do. I have a vet appt. scheduled for her on Mon. where they want a stool sample... (no problem getting that, huh?). What if they find nothing wrong with her? What do you do? I can't keep finding this everywhere. What does one do? Seriously. I can't think of disowning an animal of mine, but this is really gross!!!
2007-05-19 22:20:01 · 6 answers · asked by geminicatlver 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
The cat is is very timid, she is an indoor cat, and she is hostile towards humans. She's always had cattitude. She is pooping in ALL different areas of the house, sometimes RIGHT outside of the box, other times, under the bed, in the other bedroom. It's upsetting because it is such a strong odor, and very disgusting to clean up. It is a relatively small 2 bedroom house and this makes the whole house smell like dirty dirty dooty. I cannot imagine letting ANY of my cats outside, for fear of never seeing them again and diseases. Thank everbody for their help. :)
2007-05-20 07:22:40 · update #1
You're doing the right thing taking her to the vet for a check up. If the vet rules out any medical cause, ask their opinion on whether they think the problem is behavioural. Many vets can offer offer helpful advice and suggestions in these situations.
You don't mention the cats ages or whether they are allowed outside. As your cat is still using the tray to urinate and is only defecating outside the box, this is most commonly seen when cats want to mark their territory. It's called middening and is usually exhibited by insecure cats. Is it possible that she had an unpleasant encounter outside with another cat? How does she get along with the other two - is she the most timid of the three? Middening is the desperate act of an insecure cat to try to hold onto it's territory, which is the source of it's food, shelter and love. It's usually carried out in areas such as next to doors or on often used walkways in the home. Perhaps she feels intimidated by your two other cats and feels that she cannot maintain her personal space. Does each cat have somewhere they can retreat to when the others are getting on their nerves?
I've posted a link below to a website that will give you further advice and suggestions on possible causes for your cat's behaviour and how to resolve it.
http://www.apbc.org.uk/article10.htm
Above all, be patient with her. This is the only way that she knows how to tell you that something is wrong.
2007-05-19 23:34:43 · answer #1 · answered by Michele the Louis Wain cat 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Try locking the the cat in a different room with a litter box for about a week, to get her used to using the litter box again. Its also possible thats shes peeing in a certaint spot, more than likley a corner or colthes on the floor or in an open hamper.
2007-05-20 08:21:57 · answer #2 · answered by glamorousdixiecups 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree that this is a territory/dominance issue. A second box will likely help. If you watch them carefully, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw your alpha cat peeing in the box as soon as you clean it, to let everycat know it's his.
One thing that worked well for us when we had many cats was to use a little kiddie pool instead of several small litter boxes. Of course you have to have a suitable place for such a thing, like a mud room or utility room in your basement. There was plenty of room in there for all the cats to find a clean spot when they needed one.
2007-05-20 05:56:20 · answer #3 · answered by twosweethounds 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a rule of thumb, you should have 1 litter box per cat. One of the other cats may have made it clear that litter box belongs to him, so the youngest is too scared to use it. Get 2 more litter boxes, and place them in different places around the house.
2007-05-20 05:27:52 · answer #4 · answered by T.M.Y. 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like something the vet would find, after all, they studied this for years. You cannot disown a cat for that, out opf nature they are clean animals, something is normally wroing when that changes. If you disown her, that's like having nothing to do with your parents when they get really old and incontinent, would you really do that?
2007-05-20 07:14:51 · answer #5 · answered by Unicornrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
with that many cats or even just one, you have to keep the litter box clean at all times. cats are always "cleaning" themselves and if they feel that their litter box isn't clean, guess what? they go to the corner and do their business.
2007-05-20 05:34:59 · answer #6 · answered by ♥Charmed One♥ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋