Litter Box Problems

carmel_peekaboo

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I have 2 cats 1 male 1 female. Both of them are 2 yrs old. We moved into our new house back in April. We never had issues with them going in the litter box until June. My male has all of a sudden become insistent on pooing on the new carpet in the basement. It started about the same time that we added a small 20 gal fish tank to the basement. We tried containing them both in the laundry room while we were at work. Since there is no door we had to improvise so we stacked baby gates on top of each other. We tried for 2 weeks and every day my male would find a way to knock them down. So we placed a call to our local humane society to see what they would suggest. They told us to try placing both of the boxes in the area where he wants to go. Each day we were to move them towards where we wanted them a few inches at a time. This worked for 3 weeks then my male figured out what was going on & started using the carpet again. So then we placed plastic down on the floor & that worked till the basement flooded & we had to tear up the carpeting to get it all dried out & cleaned up. So while that work was being done we moved the boxes into our dining room until we got the basement fixed back up. We put up the baby gates in the basement doorway so neither cat would go down there. For a few weeks he would use the box but as soon as we got the basement finished again he went right back to pooing on the carpet. So now we have been trying this very fragrant carpet powder that is a deodorizer. I had read that cats are deterred from fregrant places. It does no good he ignores it. I am not happy with the vet we have been going to and am in the process of getting in with the vet my bother goes to. I have also taken the hood off one of the boxes as my female will only go in the one with the hood due to liking her privacy. Yet he still won't poo in his box. We do ont want to go with the idea of putting a box on every floor of the house. We don't want a box in the dining room & we don't want one in our bedroom or the guest room. Until then we have decided that we may have to resort to putting him in the large storage room with his litter box & food dishes while we are not home. Just until we can figure out how to stop this. If anyone has any ideas that may work other than what we have done I would really appreciate it. My husband & I are so frustrated right now. He wants to get rid of my cat but I could not bear doing that I love him too much. It would be too painful for me.
 

mcat

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Get Cat Attract Litter either in a pet store or online. Confine him with the new litter and food and water until he uses it religiously. Let him out with the new litter and supervise him to see if he uses it.

Can you put plastic over the place on the carpet that he uses? There are plastic runners with little plastic points (used for chairs on carpet). Put it where he goes with the points up. He won't like to walk in it; maybe he will get the idea.

Have you taken him to a vet to rule out physical problems? Sometimes cats use out of the box behavior to tell us something is wrong with them.

Loads of luck. Please don't get rid of him. He will be euthanized at a shelter.
 

yosemite

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Another thing I might suggest is another litter box. 2 cats equal 3 litter boxes. Often cats don't like to pee and poo in the same box. I see that you have 2 already, but maybe you could add a third somewhere as well.
 
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carmel_peekaboo

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After I read the suggestions I went out & bought another litter pan. We placed it in the same room as the other 2 boxes but it is on the other side. It seems that he doesn't want to poo close to where he pees so maybe this might work. When I got it all fixed up I showed it to him & will continue to do so every few hours for the next few days. Hopefully that will work. If there are any more suggestions don't hesitate to let me know.
 

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If it doesn't work, seriously look for Cat Attract litter or you can get an additive to sprinkle into your boxes from vets. I had a sick cat that started pooping out of the litter box and he hasn't done it since I started adding the Cat Attract.

You also might consider putting a food and/or water bowl in the place where he goes. They don't like to eliminate near their food.
 
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carmel_peekaboo

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We put the third box in the area that he keeps going & so far he has been using it. I am going to keep it there for now & maybe after a few weeks try inching it towards the laundry room every so many days. Carmel caught on fairly quickly when we were moving the box forward an inch or two on a daily basis. He might not notice if we make it a "occasional" move. I just want him to forget that he was going on the carpet. We are willing to have a box out in the main area of the basement but we don't want it just sitting in the middle of the room where we have it right now. If that is what it takes to get him to quit then I can put it in a corner hidden under the ping pong table or a plant.
 
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carmel_peekaboo

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Putting the 3rd litter box in the area that he has been going has helped he has been using it. We do have a vet appt. for him coming up as well. Unfortunately we discovered that he has been peeing on the carpet in the basement away from the area he was pooing. There is no padding so we won't have to worry about it being soaked through. He started to pee in the dining room over labor day weekend so we have been forced to keep him tethered to our sides on a leash & when we are not home we are having to keep him in a large dog cage. It is big enough for us to have a litter box & his food dishes in. He doesn't like it but we just can't risk having any more accidents. When I called the vet I was unable to get him in within a few days I have to wait about a week. I hope that he has some kind of infection & that it isn't him just being bad.
 

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Originally Posted by carmel_peekaboo

Putting the 3rd litter box in the area that he has been going has helped he has been using it. We do have a vet appt. for him coming up as well. Unfortunately we discovered that he has been peeing on the carpet in the basement away from the area he was pooing. There is no padding so we won't have to worry about it being soaked through. He started to pee in the dining room over labor day weekend so we have been forced to keep him tethered to our sides on a leash & when we are not home we are having to keep him in a large dog cage. It is big enough for us to have a litter box & his food dishes in. He doesn't like it but we just can't risk having any more accidents. When I called the vet I was unable to get him in within a few days I have to wait about a week. I hope that he has some kind of infection & that it isn't him just being bad.
I hope you can get to the root of the problem. Cats don't do things just to be bad. He may well have an infection. The other thing is you have to really get all the odours out of the area where he peed as well by using a good enzyme cleaner. As long as he can still smell it (and they have great noses), he may continue to use that spot.
 
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carmel_peekaboo

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Yea we are going to steam clean the basement & the dining room once we get the problem resolved. A relative recommended this spray to us called Feel Away. It has pheremones in it that make the cat think that they have already marked the area so they won't want to mark it again. We went out & bought it but haven't used it yet as my cat has been tethered to our side for the last 6 days. Putting him in a cage while we are at work proved to be disasterous. He used the litterbox but would then lay in it so there ended up being litter caked all over him. Needledd so say he got a bath. So now we have him tethered to the cage so he can get to his box but he can also walk about 2 feet from it which is plenty of room to get to his food dishes. We had his dished in the cage but he kept getting litter in them. So far this has worked out. He goes to the vet on 9/10.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by carmel_peekaboo

Yea we are going to steam clean the basement & the dining room once we get the problem resolved. A relative recommended this spray to us called Feel Away. It has pheremones in it that make the cat think that they have already marked the area so they won't want to mark it again. We went out & bought it but haven't used it yet as my cat has been tethered to our side for the last 6 days. Putting him in a cage while we are at work proved to be disasterous. He used the litterbox but would then lay in it so there ended up being litter caked all over him. Needledd so say he got a bath. So now we have him tethered to the cage so he can get to his box but he can also walk about 2 feet from it which is plenty of room to get to his food dishes. We had his dished in the cage but he kept getting litter in them. So far this has worked out. He goes to the vet on 9/10.
I believe you mean Feliway. It's often recommended by folks here who have used it to calm their cats and help with introductions as well.
 

yosemite

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Just another thing - I wouldn't tether him. He could get the tether wrapped around his neck, panic and choke himself. It has happened to other kitties, so please re-think tethering him.
 
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carmel_peekaboo

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We did take him to the vet & they found nothing wrong with him. We were told that he is suffering from anxiety disorder. They put him on amptriptoline (i hope that's spelled right). If that doesn't work then they want to put him on prozack. The vet also gave us some stuff that looks like catnip to put in the box said it's supposed to force them to want to go in the box. We were also told that we will need to retrain him to use a litter box because going outside of the box has become a habit for him. The vet did ok us to keep him chained to a leash & have it tied to the dog cage. They said his collar was loose enough that he can easily slip it off if he really wanted to. He deosn't seem to mind being in the basement right now. With all the hot weather both the cats prefer it down there. He has food & water & his baby blanket to snuggle into. He has his own box that is cleaned 2x a day. He is let semi loose when my husband gets home from work. We keep the leash attached & he has to stay by our side. Every so many hours we need to take him to his box. We keep him in the room for no more than 30 minutes. Our vet recommened us doing that. She also said that he should not be allowed to leave our site b/c right now he can't be trusted. I just find it hard to believe that he would have anxiety issues. He is so spoiled. But there must be something causing it & figuring that out is impossible. I am going to do just about anything to fix this situation I love him too much to let it go on.
 

laureen227

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the green stuff is probably the Cat Attract additive - i use it in my boxes, because my male will occasionally poop on my bed otherwise. don't know why he does this, but he will do it without the additive.
 
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