Moving - Issues with a Senior Adopted Cat

Hi Everyone!

I am in desperate need of some advice on ways to work with an ongoing issue I with my rescue cat

I have 2 cats, Minxykitty who is about 3 years old and I've had since she was a kitten and Georgette, a senior purebred grey Persian who I rescued 2 years ago.  When she arrived with us she was underweight, very distant, kept to herself and didn't like to be touched.  Fast forward 2 years and while 90% of her day is spent sleeping, she is now happy and sociable and at a healthy weight.  It has been a very rewarding rescue experience.

Minx & Georgie didn't get along for the first while, and Georgie is on special food that Minx cant eat because it makes her sick. As a result of this, without even realizing it she sort of got her own room in the house (the spare room that nobody goes in.)  She was also given this room because she doesn't poop in the litter box.  She has never once peed on the floor, and randomly one a month she'll do all of her business in the litterbox but in general, no poop in the litterbox. 

I have tried everything.  I purchased multiple litter boxes in different sizes, tried various kinds of litter, I use Natures Miracle and I steam clean the carpets once a week.  She goes in a specific spot in the room, so I've moved the box to that spot.  Then she goes in the spot where the box used to be.  I keep her groomed and make sure the hair on her back end is always short & clean.  I even tried mixing in her litter with dirt, because I wondered if she was just too used to going outside from her days as a stray.  The conclusion I've come too, is that she is a little dumb (I love her all the same though!) and that she just likes to go on the carpet.

Heres my issue:  I am moving to a 1 bedroom apartment in July.  I am seriously stressing about what she's going to do to this new place.  In getting my current apartment in condition to be put on the market, I am getting the second bedroom recarpeted  and I have purchased those foam puzzle mats to put down so that she will go on those and I can just put the mats away for showings.  But what happens when I move to the new place?  I wont have the space to dedicate a whole room for her to poop in.  I've accepted the fact that the odds of me solving the pooping on the floor issue likely wont happen, so more than anything I guess Im reaching out to people who live in small spaces with cats.  How do I keep the smell down?  Im considering keeping her litterbox on the deck, but will that attract raccoons?  Does anyone have tips & tricks for litterboxes in small spaces?  At this point, I will appreciate anything. 

But her face!!  It makes up for all the poop.



Thank you!!

Have you tried Dr Elsey's cat attract litter? That often works where others have failed. The other trick would be to pick up her poop and put it into the litter box. Hopefully, repeating this will show her that the box is for poop too. Also, some cats prefer one box for pee and one box for poop, so maybe offering her 2 boxes might work. I'm sure this problem can be resolved. She's gorgeous btw

I've never even heard of Dr. Elseys cat attract litter - I will definitely give that a shot!  I tried putting her poop in the box, but how long do I leave it there?  I had a sneaking suspicion she was a bit of a neat freak so maybe having it in the box was a further deterrent.  But that's great advice, thank you. 

By leaving the poop in the box she should associate the poop smell with the litter smell. I'd try leaving it until her next poop so she has a visual as well as a scent marker saying 'poop goes here'. I've never had to deal with this issue myself - I'm just going off what other members have said about litter training ferals and semi ferals. Do try the two box method too - either side by side or in different places in her room.

Great, I appreciate it.  Thank you!