recently brought inside stray using bed as litter box

2 days ago I finally brought in a stray that I've been feeding for about a year. He's been holding up well in my bedroom, not clawing the door to get out...not even meowing...I have one big issue though. He poops and pees on my bed! I've been about out of my mind these last few days.. finding out he has FIV, deciding to keep him and now this. I've been cleaning my mattress, carpets and washing my sheets several times a day. Last night out of desperation I cut and taped 6 trash bags to my mattress. I've never had an issue like this I have 3 other cats..2 were also strays and they took right to the litter box. Tonight I actually moved my bed into the living room and put plastic on a large area of the bedroom floor only to have found him peeing on the side of it. I've provided a very small litter box with small amounts of litter with some dirt and gravel mixed in. Also have a rubber maid tub without lid that is cut so he can walk into it. I've now moved out of my room and I'm at lost for what to do. I keep trying to put him inside the box.. But he jumps out. I've put droppings in the boxes with no luck. He's neutered and the vet thinks around a year old. He has had diarrhea since before I brought him inside and received a antibiotic shot from the vet a few days ago.

Oh, dear.  He's probably overwhelmed and confused.  Moving your mattress was probably the best idea, even though I can't imagine how inconvenient it's been for you.  Make sure you soak it down with an enzyme spray.  Otherwise, he (or other cats) will continue to mark it.

The peeing/pooping on the bed made me think maybe it's about smell.  Do your other cats sleep with you there?  He may be trying to get rid of their smell.  Same thing if they ever slept under your bed.  Maybe a good clean up with the enzyme cleaner will help that.

The only other thing I could suggest is Dr. Elsey's Litter Attract.  It has a smell that tells cats "go here!"  It's a little pricey, so you can sprinkle it generously onto his current litter.  It does have a little smell, too, but that is worth getting him to use the box.  BTW - you said the litter box is small.  He may need something roomier (unless the Rubbermaid tub is also a litter box?)  I couldn't tell from your post.

It occurred to me that he may not like the type of litter.  If you are using clay, can you give him wheat or corn?  Or vice versa.  These are just suggestions - my cats will not use anything but clay.

Thank you for helping him and for all you're doing for him.

Right now all he senses are your other cats and he is busy marking territory. Remove him and your other cats from your bedroom until he is more settled. Restore your bedroom as you need your own stress-free sleep.

Isolate him to a utility room or bathroom with a bare floor ( nothing porous ) his food, water and litter box with some newspaper under it. If he goes anywhere on the floor, white vinegar it, if he does anything on the newspaper, clip it off and throw it into the litter box so he senses himself. Since he has not been feeling well anyway along with a shot now he needs a quiet area to calm down. No matter how much you have removed from your mattress or carpet, he will locate his previous deposit and will mark it again. It is so great that you love him that much to sleep somewhere else but try to regain your own comfort or you will get tired out and cranky..He needs to adapt first to the litter box then be let into your own private space. Use unscented litter..

Litter Attract works like a charm.  When I brought my stray inside he didn't want to use the litter box either.  He preferred everywhere but...  The Litter Attract worked immediately. 
 

I have added another litter box with plain dirt in it...so he now has 3 boxes and still not using any of them. I'm going to pick up some cat attract litter when I get paid on the 10th. Hope it works! I'm about outta options.... The bedroom is the only area I have to put him... we're in and out of the bathroom too much and my laundry room is way too small.

If he can't get stuck behind anything, I'd vote for putting him in the laundry.  The small space may help him feel a little more secure.  Wash down as much as you can with an enzyme cleaner first, to erase the smell of your other cats.  That way, the laundry becomes his territory, until proper introductions can be made.  Thank you for having the patience he needs to adjust to an inside home.

I had a true feral come into the house that was used to doing his stuff outside in the garden.  He had no idea about litter boxes at all.  I started him off in the basement, so he couldn't do too much damage - plus I didn't want him giving my indoor cats anything.  Wherever he would pee, I would cover it with some dirt from outside and leave it there.  Eventually, he picked one of the spots and I kept re-enforcing him by putting more dirt on the same spot.  Then, a little litter on the dirt after a few days.  Finally a tiny cardboard wall around it all and lastly the plastic box.  It took a couple of weeks.

I also have had pee-ers and had luck with putting an article of my clothing in a litter box (for cats that pee on clothes) and letting them pee on my old shirt (dont' ask - must be a territorial thing).  Same idea to get them to at least go in one area, then start transitioning them. 

I had another male that wanted to pee on the carpet in the corner and I cut up a carpet sample and put it in a litter tray and put it next to the spot he had chosen.  He started to pee on the carpet sample in the box.  Eventually, I moved the box a foot or so a day so that it was next to the clay litter box.   He really preferred using the carpet litter box to urinate and we had dual litterboxes until the day he died at 18yo.  I used to buy carpet samples at the flea market and throw them away when they got too soaked.

Try anything to lure him away from using the bed.   Even unconventional litter materials.  Probably you could buy a roll of plastic tarp and tarp your bed during the day until you break him.

When I first brought my stray inside and had him in a bedroom, he peed and pooped for a few days on blankets or the carpet.  Before I could purchase the Litter Attract, someone told me to take the poop and bury it into the litter box.  Then sop up as much pee as I could in a paper towel and bury the paper towel in the litter box.  This is the cats own scent and the cat will be attracted to it.  I would say it's worth a try since you can't get the litter attract for awhile.

Also moving to a smaller space might be more comforting for the cat too.  Once the litter box habits are improved and the cat settles down you can move it back to the larger space.
 

Although watching Jackson Galaxy on MCFH, he says that peeing issues are always territory related.  Hard to know what fears are in their little brains.

Aw, I'm so sorry you're going through all of this. He'll catch on though, he will. :nod:

When we first brought Chumley inside, he didn't know to use the box. We picked up his poop, put it in the box (which did have a layer of dirt on it as that's all we've ever needed in the past), and soaked up his pee, and put his pee paper towel in the other box. We cleaned up the poop and pee spots with a good enzyme cleaner (we use NOK Out), and he immediately got it. We gave him three large, uncovered boxes at first, because when they're used to going outside, there's no top, and lots of room, and they don't pee and poop in the same place, so two, large, open litter boxes is good.


But the cat attract litter should help too. :nod:

Just make sure the pee spots are cleaned down to the floor boards - I mean soaked - because otherwise it doesn't remove all the smell. I wrote an article for TCS on removing pee from carpets, but I'm posting from my phone, so I'll have to post the link later. It's in the articles section somewhere.

Oh - I don't know how large the laundry room is. I'd worry about scaring the beejeezus out of him doing the laundry. But a smaller space is better. Does he have "hidey" spots in your bedroom? Boxes on their sides with flaps hanging down? Stuff like that? Poor fella is probably terrified, and peeing, popping around helps calm him down, his scent. What about playing harp music, using feliway, and Bach's Rescue Remedy to help him calm?

Are you spending time just being in there, not interacting? Reading out loud, talking to him softly, etc? I wrote an article on socializing ferals, I'll find that link too. :heart2: :rub:

http://www.catnipchronicles.com/may2012/laurie.htm

This is the socializing a feral cat quickie.

Thank you for all the very helpful advice everyone.
I moved him to the laundry room 2 nights ago after moving everything but my washer and dryer out. I put two litter boxes in with him... one a 50Q Rubbermaid tub with reg clumping litter and the other a normal cat litter box filled with top soil. The first day I found pee on the floor but poop in the top soil box and the 2nd day poop and pee in both with none on the floor! 3rd day now with noting on the floor. I think the carpet was confusing him. I'm not sure how long to keep him in here to know that he gets it? I'm very happy that he's catching on. Poor little guys been though a lot.

freakNpink said:

Thank you for all the very helpful advice everyone.
I moved him to the laundry room 2 nights ago after moving everything but my washer and dryer out. I put two litter boxes in with him... one a 50Q Rubbermaid tub with reg clumping litter and the other a normal cat litter box filled with top soil. The first day I found pee on the floor but poop in the top soil box and the 2nd day poop and pee in both with none on the floor! 3rd day now with noting on the floor. I think the carpet was confusing him. I'm not sure how long to keep him in here to know that he gets it? I'm very happy that he's catching on. Poor little guys been though a lot.

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Such good news.  I would leave him in there a bit longer.  He needs to get himself safe and secure before you try and move him again.