What.the.heck?

So Abby and Mya are 9 month old litter mates that have been with us for the last 4 months. They were born to a stray cat and lived their first 4 months outdoors in the winter. They were caught, lived with a foster mommy for a month, and then adopted by my fiance and myself.

Up until a couple weeks ago, we confined them to one room in the house. The last couple weeks they have been given free roam (except at bed-time). We have not changed much around the apartment except for the occaisional cleanup, and they have switched food slightly (purina kitten to purina one kitten - the store we go to was all out of what they had been eating).

Within 3 times in the last week, ONE or BOTH of them has been POOPING on the FLOOR... RIGHT OUTSIDE THEIR LITTER BOX. Before this has happened, they had never had a accident... EVER. I thought maybe the first time it was rebellious to the cleanliness of the litter box, but after checking it out, the litter box was pretty clean (I scoop often). In fact, all three times the litter box has been generally tidy. They don't do it right after a cleaning, but the box isn't even close to being packed with poopoo. I don't even know which one is doing it! I just keeping finding the POO! What the hell am I supposed to do about this? Is one of them sick? I'm worried/grossed out. Any suggestions?

First of all:

Have you changed litter recently?
Are the stools formed?

Originally Posted by white cat lover

First of all:

Have you changed litter recently?
Are the stools formed?

Click to expand...

I've been buying them the same litter every time, however I have recently bought some new Feline Pine, but I havent used it yet. Its still in its box.. I wanted to make the transition when their current litter is done with.

Their stools have perfect form. Its like looking at a sculpture of perfect poo.. Tall, long poo

It could very easily be the food change.
It could also be a UTI, sometimes they cause pooping out of the box.
Or it could be strictly behavioral.

Is one kitty attacking the other when it approaches the box?
What do you use to clean the litterbox when you change the litter?

A couple things...are they spayed/neutered? There may be a territory issue going on.

Is there only one litter box? Some kittys will only pee in one box & poop in another.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

It could very easily be the food change.
It could also be a UTI, sometimes they cause pooping out of the box.
Or it could be strictly behavioral.

Is one kitty attacking the other when it approaches the box?
What do you use to clean the litterbox when you change the litter?

Click to expand...

Hm... I hope it isn't a UTI

I also hope one kitty isn't bullying her sister for the rights to the box!
I usually just used the scooper, get it all nice and clean, and sometimes when it gets really messy in there I do a full dump of the litter and scrub the box out with some water. I haven't done the latter in a while and I don't feel its necessary right now. I could be wrong though

In that case, it might be that the litter is stinky enough to them that they do not want to use it. Regular complete litter changes are very important, IMO. I change all my boxes weekly. I have from 2-4 cats using each box.

Add a box ....

Do you clean the box( scoop) at least once a day???

i have one girl now and toss the whole box every 3 ish weeks

Yes THe food change could cause some of this

They definitely may not be happy with the state of the litter box. My Raven is a fussy boy and trained me years ago in the first month or 2 I had him and his littermate Nabu. He will poop right in front of the box if I let the box get too bad. There's a distinct "stale litter smell", and he doesn't like it.

I scoop 2-3 times a day. I do a complete litter change approximately every 3 weeks. Sometimes we can stretch it to 4, but not always. I also make sure to scrub the litterbox with soap and water before adding fresh litter.

I would also suggest something a little easier on the tummy--like Nutro Max roasted chicken, Nutro Natural, or California Natural Chicken & Rice; for kitty kibble.

Originally Posted by isockbull

I've been buying them the same litter every time, however I have recently bought some new Feline Pine, but I havent used it yet. Its still in its box.. I wanted to make the transition when their current litter is done with.

Their stools have perfect form. Its like looking at a sculpture of perfect poo.. Tall, long poo

Click to expand...

Are you absolutely sure it is poo and not a hairball? I have mistaken a hairball for a piece of poop more than once.

I don't have advice but to say I also dump the litter once a month and wash the box with dish soap. You'd be surprised at how much pee soaked litter sticks to the bottom of the box.

My GiGi. is funny or should I say she has become funny about the litterbox.
When I got her last summer, she wasn't even old enough to be away from her mom, but someone dumped her out (in the perfect place) at my house, she started that very night using it! I was amazed actually. My other cats use it outside, and she does too now unless it is raining. But when I have litter in it now, she will come in from outside just to use it if I have it out.
And I have observed her while she is doing her business, if it is dirty in the least, (Full dump wkly at my house, when in use full time, just her using it)
she would hurry and jump in, almost like on her tippy toes, wouldn't bother to look and see if she was hanging out the back or side, she would just do her thing in a rush, and jump out of it, shake her paws, and shake her head and
body, then go back and cover it, sometimes!
It looked to me that she couldn't stand getting in it! I have found poop along side of it! It was only a couple of times. So if yours are sharing,
I bet that is what is going on. They don't want to smell the others, and stand in it so they have become careless! My litter never lasted 2. 3 or 4 wks. I couldn't stand the smell even if it were scooped out! I know they
can't stand it either. I would just get one more box. Good Luck though!