Pooping in my bathtub!

I swear, if it's not one 'poop issue', it's another. I've finally succeeded in getting my Ragdoll, Brody's, stools normal (see my previous threads if you're confused), and now this.

I guess I shouldn't say now this though, as they (we have 2 Ragdolls) have done this before on occasion. But now it's just Brody, and it's a daily occurrence. It's been going on and off for a couple months now, and he seems to go in spurts of doing it, for no apparent reason.

At first I thought it was because he was being picky about his litter box. Brody eats in my bathroom for meals (have to separate all the cats during feeding), so the door is shut during that time. I thought I solved the problem by scooping if there was any poop before I locked him in there, but then he did it a few more times even with the box was clean. This was happening before I switched over to the Breeze litter boxes, so I don't think it was the litter change that set him off.

We have another bathroom, and I've already resorted to just keeping that door shut at all times now because of this (he was doing it in that bathtub as well). I can't do that with my bathroom, due to the litter box being in there, and it'd just be inconvenient for me to be honest. He hasn't resorted to going in my parents shower yet, and I'm praying he won't.

Anyway, my only solution so far has been to fill my bathtub up with water til it covers the entire bottom. It works, but I feel like it's really wasteful of water (not that I'm the most energy, etc. conscious person in the world, but still), and would like to try something else. It seems like once I break the 'cycle' for a few days, he'll stop for awhile, then poof, starts up again.

I really can't think of any reason he does this. It's like it's a fetish of his or something I keep telling myself that if he's going to go somewhere other than the litter box, at least it's the bathtub! But still, it's super annoying, and just gross. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I couldn't believe it when I saw your post as we once had a cat that did the same thing. In our case it was definitely behavioral as I had just had a second baby. It was actually our vet at the time that suggested we fill the bottom of the bathtub with water. It did the trick and as long as we left some water in the tub he never used it again. Sorry you are going through this, but has anything changed in your household?

Originally Posted by kady05

I swear, if it's not one 'poop issue', it's another. I've finally succeeded in getting my Ragdoll, Brody's, stools normal (see my previous threads if you're confused), and now this.

I guess I shouldn't say now this though, as they (we have 2 Ragdolls) have done this before on occasion. But now it's just Brody, and it's a daily occurrence. It's been going on and off for a couple months now, and he seems to go in spurts of doing it, for no apparent reason.

At first I thought it was because he was being picky about his litter box. Brody eats in my bathroom for meals (have to separate all the cats during feeding), so the door is shut during that time. I thought I solved the problem by scooping if there was any poop before I locked him in there, but then he did it a few more times even with the box was clean.

This was happening before I switched over to the Breeze litter boxes, so I don't think it was the litter change that set him off.

We have another bathroom, and I've already resorted to just keeping that door shut at all times now because of this (he was doing it in that bathtub as well). I can't do that with my bathroom, due to the litter box being in there, and it'd just be inconvenient for me to be honest. He hasn't resorted to going in my parents shower yet, and I'm praying he won't.

Anyway, my only solution so far has been to fill my bathtub up with water til it covers the entire bottom. It works, but I feel like it's really wasteful of water (not that I'm the most energy, etc. conscious person in the world, but still), and would like to try something else. It seems like once I break the 'cycle' for a few days, he'll stop for awhile, then poof, starts up again.

I really can't think of any reason he does this. It's like it's a fetish of his or something

I keep telling myself that if he's going to go somewhere other than the litter box, at least it's the bathtub! But still, it's super annoying, and just gross. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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If I am understanding correctly you have several cats, and have to separate him in your bathroom during feeding where there is a litter box as well? I don't know your kitties history but a multi cat home often has different behavioral issues. To be honest, my first thought is you should be thankful it's in the tub! Never the less this is a sign of stress........

My Ragdoll uses my bathtub too to do her business in.... we just keep our door closed,but it is a pain in the butt because as soon as we forget it is open bam she is in there.Keeping water in the bottom of the tub would not would because we have a very water obsessed lab that takes any and all opportunity to be in water.
Sorry you go through this it is a pain.

i dont know what it is with cats pooping in bathtubs! Nipper does it but only if i forget to do the litter that day, so he really keeps me on my toes with the litter
boxes!

have you tried placing the litter box IN the bathtub? my mom used to do behavioral counseling at a vet's office, and anytime someone was having an issue with a cat going somewhere other than their litter box, she would suggest that the owner place the litter box in the spot where the cat is going, and then gradually move it back to where it's supposed to be.

Originally Posted by cats4sky

i dont know what it is with cats pooping in bathtubs! Nipper does it but only if i forget to do the litter that day, so he really keeps me on my toes with the litter
boxes!

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i spoke too soon, the litter boxes were clean and i woke up to find a big pile in the tub

Originally Posted by Neely

I couldn't believe it when I saw your post as we once had a cat that did the same thing.

In our case it was definitely behavioral as I had just had a second baby. It was actually our vet at the time that suggested we fill the bottom of the bathtub with water. It did the trick and as long as we left some water in the tub he never used it again. Sorry you are going through this, but has anything changed in your household?

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Nope, nothing has changed. He's been doing this basically since we got him, but like I said, it's gotten worse in the past couple months. No changes though.. well, other than where he eats. But he did it in the other bathroom as well, so I don't think that's the problem. Who knows though!

Originally Posted by cheylink

If I am understanding correctly you have several cats, and have to separate him in your bathroom during feeding where there is a litter box as well? I don't know your kitties history but a multi cat home often has different behavioral issues. To be honest, my first thought is you should be thankful it's in the tub! Never the less this is a sign of stress........

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Yes, I have 4 cats. They all eat separately. The two Ragdolls occasionally eat dinner together (the other boy is my parents cat, I live with them), but not always. I'd love to be able to feed them all without separating them. My one cat, Toby, has to be on Urinary tract food, and will eat anything in sight if given a chance (ie: he'll go eat everyone else's food). I used to be able to feed Toby and my other cat, Sneak, together, but now that Toby is on his special food, I've separated them as well. Brody & Ozzy (the other Ragdoll) have eaten separately from the other cats since day one. Brody is also a food 'freak' and will push everyone else out of the way to eat their food. He's also the one that had all the loose stool issues and now that I've finally solved that problem, I only want him eating HIS food. It's quite a system I have, but they're all used to it and it doesn't seem to cause any of them stress, but you never know. I give them all 20-30min. to eat, then they're let out.

Originally Posted by mycherona

have you tried placing the litter box IN the bathtub? my mom used to do behavioral counseling at a vet's office, and anytime someone was having an issue with a cat going somewhere other than their litter box, she would suggest that the owner place the litter box in the spot where the cat is going, and then gradually move it back to where it's supposed to be.

Click to expand...

Yes, actually we used to have two litter boxes in the guest room bathtub. He would position himself to where he would still poop in the tub and not in the boxes then! It wasn't a daily thing, but he would still do it. I have no clue why he'd choose to smush himself into a spot and do that vs. just going in the box (you have to imagine a bathtub, + 2 good sized litter boxes, + a 12+ lb. Ragdoll, not much room outside the tub!). Anyway, we eventually moved them both out of the tub because my mom was sick of the guest bathroom being the 'cat room'. But putting the one that's in my bathroom in my bathtub wouldn't work, as it's my shower, so it's used daily. The guest bathroom only worked because it was never used.

I guess I'll keep doing the water thing for now! It definitely works, I just wish I could get inside his head and figure out why he does it in the first place!

Originally Posted by cats4sky

i spoke too soon, the litter boxes were clean and i woke up to find a big pile in the tub

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Yup, that's what happens with me! Litter boxes are spotless and he still will go in the tub if he decides to do so. Such odd little creatures

and its just so wonderful when u wake up in the morn and your all ready to get showered and then you see that!

I would take him to the vet for a checkup. Sometimes cats who are having physical problems in that area start to associate the litter box with pain, and go somewhere else instead.

Originally Posted by emmylou

I would take him to the vet for a checkup. Sometimes cats who are having physical problems in that area start to associate the litter box with pain, and go somewhere else instead.

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This made me laugh, just because if you only knew how much he's been to the vet for 'poop issues' since I've had him, you'd laugh too. He's always had loose stools up until a couple months ago. Now his stools are normal, and he's still doing the behavior. Plus, I would think if it was a physical problem, he'd find somewhere else to go when I filled the tub up with water. I'm 99% sure it's a mental/learned behavior kind of thing. He does have an appt. for shots on Wednesday, so I'll mention it, I'm sure my vet will get a laugh from it