My cat has a new bad habit of pooing in the house and the plant pots

Hello all

I am new to the forum
I have a cat called Smokey and we are having some trouble with him

he has developed a new habit where he does a POO in the lounge or my mums room and also likes to urinate in my mothers plant pots

He has never done this before
Any ideas why
Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s 8 human years old
Is he having a mid life crisis?????
I will get him a litter tray but whatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s going through his head



Thanks and sorry I have run out of ideas

Sudden rejection of the litter box is a big sign of health problems. The way it works: Health problems cause pain; the cat feels pain whenever it's using the litter box; it associates the litter box with pain and avoids it. So a vet visit is in order, or at least a call to the vet.

I assume this is a mostly outdoor cat, since he has no litter box indoors? If so, he may be aging and (seeing as it's November) the cold could be getting to him. If so, you could be right--he simply wants to go indoors. That he's selecting plant pots is a good sign--he hasn't lost the urge to bury his waste. Remember to scoop the tray daily or more; a cat with litter box avoidance problems is often very fastidious and doesn't want to walk over his own waste (remember, they have to lick those paws clean!).

Last option: He may simply not want to go outdoors at all--he could be having a spat with another neighborhood cat, for example. This isn't an entirely bad thing, even though it isn't as dangerous in your area for a cat outdoors as it is in mine (average lifespan for an outdoor cat in the US is only 5 years!). After all, he will be out of the weather, away from dangerous stray toms and the occasional dog, and out of harm's way when it comes to speeding cars.

If he wants to be an indoor cat, indulge him and be grateful!

I agree with the above.

Some options for the houseplants:
1) remove them
2) put them in a room and close the door so Smokey can't get to them
3) put wire mesh over the top of the plants so that he can't get to the dirt (cut out the center where the plant comes thru the dirt and attach it to the top of the pot). I've used chicken wire because it they can't walk across the top of them without discomfort.

He is urinating most likely becuase he is not neutered and roaming around outside, plus with no litterbox in the house, you can't really expect any less. Also, in one post you said you feed whiskas and in another you said Iams. Neither is very good but Iams is much better then Whiskas. Please do him and yourself a favor and neuter him asap. You want him to live a long happy life don't you?

thanks again for your input everyone

Callista

i think your bang on the money

it must be the cold or a health problem

hes an indoor cat he must spend around 80 % of his life indoors waiting for more food(i swaer he eats more than me,and is not fat) and sleeping.

6 months after we found him he stoped using the tray so we got rid of it but it has never been a problem until now so i will get one

Jen
your right about the tray

i want him to keep his tools as thats what makes him who he is
its not fair on him for me to play god
thats just my opinion

i never said i fed him Whiskas !! but we have done he eats iams now

Another thing that helps for plants is to put rocks over the soil.

When I had a cat pooing out of the litter box, I found out that you should have one on each level of the house, and at that point they had one upstairs & in the basement, but not on the main level. I added some boxes to the main level and that took care of it.

Did you know if you spray a little dawn dishsoap water on the plants that the cats wont touch them?? I didn't. Vet told me that. I understand not wanting to take away his "equipment" but it really isn't that bad. I have had mine neutered and the fact of the matter is, they live longer. Mine always live a long life with out their tools! If you dont want to do it though, he might just be marking his territory and he might just be one of those cats! Sounds like you love him though so Im sure you'll do whats best!

Originally Posted by MrSmokey

i want him to keep his tools as thats what makes him who he is

its not fair on him for me to play god

thats just my opinion

Click to expand...

Neutering your cat won't change who he is, but it will change his habits. He'll no longer want to roam around looking for female cats to breed with -creating more kittens that might never get homes, he'll no longer go looking for fights -fights which could potentially kill him if he has wounds get badly infected. It might lessen some aggressive tendencies in his behavior, though at his age it's unlikely.

He may become more playful, but that's not a definite.

Get him two or three litter boxes, maybe choose some with high sides, but not covered, as he may prefer to spray instead of squatting to pee (neutering won't change that habit since the cat's 8). And try a crumbly scoopable litter that may feel more like dirt to his paws.

If we weren't to nueter our animals, there would be no places for them all. They would be outside, wet, hungry, hurt, alone, and with no where to go. Even people sometimes have to be spade (Me included, my tubes are tyed) If you let them overpopulate further, people are going to start using them as target practice. Yes that actually does happen! Dont just think of one cat, think of all cats! They can't build their own houses and such, they are left to face the elements. Not to mention if dave hoas gets ahold of them, they wont even make it into our humane society. He uses lost dogs and lost cats as practice target.... This might upset your little boy for a very small amount of time, but it needs to be done. Otherwise maybe there is someone else who wants him?
The fact of the matter is if you dont get him neutered he will spray. So you can either get him fixed or learn how to clean up cat spray properly on the daily!