My cat started pooping outside the litter box

I'm at my wit's end with my 6 month old. Ruben used to use the litter box no problems but about 3 weeks ago, he decided our bathroom sink was a better place to leave us his dookies. So every morning, i am greeted by a healthy sized swirl. I decided to put a small bucket on the sink to make it difficult for him to go there. It worked! He couldn't use the sink...so he started using either his carrier or his crate.

I know when he wants to go because he starts whining and pacing around restlessly and scratching the ground (the way they do to cover their waste). So yesterday, when i saw him doing that, i immediately picked him up and put him in the litter box. He immediately got out. So i put him in the box again, and again he got out, whining, wanting to go badly but not being able to use the sink cz the bathroom door was closed and not being able to use the carrier because that too was closed. So that went on for 5 or 6 times. Whenever i put him in the litter box, he would immediately get out even though he really wanted to go. So i gave up and fearing he might do it on the couch or anywhere i would have a hard time cleaning, i opened the carrier door. He ran in so quick and not a sec later, he started doing his thing.

I've had him since he was about a month old. He is a rescue. I have 6 other cats and he gets along fine with all of them. He is the youngest and they all love him. He is not neutered yet.

I brought in a new male cat, about 2 years old, 2 months ago. An extremely gentle soul. Not neutered. I keep him in a separate room because one of my cats, a 2 year old neutered male doesn't like him very much, although he is starting to get used to him now. I noticed Ruben doesn't like him very much too, although not as much as the 2 year old. Sometimes he is ok and sometimes he will just slap him in passing.

Ruben is very active and generally, a very happy cat.

Im going to take him to the vet on Thursday to rule out any medical reasons. If its not medical, what is causing him to poop outside the litter box? And most importantly, how can i get him to use the litter box again?
I've already tried using extra litter boxes but that didn't work. Im thinking it can't be the litter because he was using it fine before?

Any ideas? Appreciate any help!

Taking him to the vet is a good idea.  It's important to rule out any underlying medical issues.  Also,  I can't help but think the fact that you have two intact males in the same house has something to do with it so I'd discuss getting them both neutered as soon as possible.

Is Ruben still using the box to urinate?  

If he likes the carrier so much, could you put a small litter box in there?   Try a different type of litter.  To start with, you might try Dr.Elsey's Cat Attract litter.  A lot of our members have had good success resolving litter box problems with this.  Here is their website:  http://preciouscat.com/product/   You don't have to use it forever, just until Ruben is back on track.  The texture of the litter itself as well as a herbal attractant work to draw cats to the box and encourage them to use it.

The following articles might give you some ideas as well:
[article="32366"]How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats The Ultimate Guide  [/article][article="31189"]How To Choose The Right Cat Litter  [/article]

OK, that's it.  As soon as you said you had six other cats, and you recently brought in another non-neutered male shortly before the problem began, I knew that was the key.  First of all, you need to have everyone there neutered, Ruben AND the new male, and anyone else male or female who is not neutered yet.  WIthin a month of that, their urine will cease to advertise their hormonal condition which will calm things down a little.  Cats can smell 1000 times as well as we can.  They know.  There's a growing hiearachy of boys there.  Ruben is the youngest and he is on the bottom, and the ones on the bottom of the totem pole will stop using the communal litter box. 

See my pretty little Siamese Mix in my profile picture?  That's Alabama.  I never adopted him out after rescuing him because he would always poop outside the litter box, for the past three years.  He is a pariah cat, a scaredy cat, and if anyone looks at him sideways he makes big scared eyes, growls and runs, so even the peaceful cats go after him.  This little guy acts like prey, so the other youngsters treat him like prey.  It's fun to chase him, to tree him, to make him run.  He doesn't think it's fun, however.  He used to live outside when he was a kitten in Alabama, and there were some pretty mean males there.  Over time, the persecution just got worse, and I couldn't adopt him out because I couldn;t promise he would use a litter box in another home.  So finally I separated him from the rescue group and he now lives in the bedroom with the old blind cat and the young timid church rescue female who is a scaredy cat too, although she's getting better.  They ignored each other for the first few weeks, she focusing on loving ME, and he focusing on looking out the window from his safe window sill perch. The blind cat is old, and he ignored both of them, except when she ould try to steal his food after she finished her own dinner, and then he would box her ears..  As time passed, the two younger ones started to bond, and Alabama had never bonded to any other cat before.  Suddenly they were playing, and then he started using the litter box.  I thought it was a fluke, but it kept going and going and suddenly after 3 years of pooping outside the box, he was sharing the box with two other cats.  Wow!  Now he and the little female (Sweetness) actually cuddle and wrestle and play chase with each other, and Sweetness will wash the face and ears of both the blind cat and Alabama.  Everyone in the bedroom uses the bedroom box.

One day when it was nice out, I left everyone else out and left the door to the bedroom open.  The only other cats inside were Grey Boy (see story by my signature) who is slightly crippled, older, and usually not aggressive to anyone, and Wallflower, my 17-year-old former feral, who has no aggression at all in her.  When I got home, Grey Boy was on the bed, not bothering anyone as far as I could tell, and Alabama and Sweetness were on the floor, and Berry the blind one was in a cat bed in the living room.  All peaceful.  But suddenly that evening Alabama pooped outside the box.  Of course the box was clean, I scoop twice a day, morning and night.  Odd.  The next day he did the same thing.  Remembering that Grey Boy had gone in the bedroom, I took the bedroom box out and put in a new one with fresh litter.  Alabama went back to using the litter box.  I'm sure Grey Boy had used the bedroom litter box and after that, for whatever reasons, Alabama would not use it.   Grey Boy is the senior male in the house, and he has been neutered since his accident maybe 3 years ago.  Still, Alabama would not use a box Grey Boy had used.  As far as he is concerned, the bedroom is his territory, and blind Berry and Sweetness are allowed to share, but nobody else is.  Or at least Grey Boy isn't.

We can't totally understand their minds, but I would bet that if Ruben had his "own" room with his own litter box, he would use his box as long as no one else did, just as he was willing to poop in his carrier but not in the communal litter box.  I don't know if you can find a set up that works for him, but I am sure it's emotional and having to do with position on the totem pole that has him not using the box anymore.  Perhaps when both he and the new guy get neutered, that will change.  Otherwise you may have to set up a Ruben's room, and then see who he will accept sharing with -- certainly not the newcomer, because the out Of Box behavior didnt start until he came in, but maybe some of his former housemates. 

In my experience, FIVE cats is the upper limit you can have before they have to work out totem pole positions, and they renegotiate frequently.  It's just what cats DO.   If the fighting gets too harsh, one of the girls will fly in, box some boy's ears, and all will scatter.  The girls are the peace keepers.  Hopefully it won't take you three years to get your situation set up so Ruben uses the box again.  When you DO give him his "own" box, you might try making it appealing by using Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter when you first set it up. 

Let us know how things are going, but get right on with getting those boys neutered.  You will all be happier.

Thank you so much for your replies Margd and red top rescue!

So you guys are saying change the litter and give him his own box. I wound love to try that out and see what happens but changing the litter is just not an option for me as i can't really afford any other kind of litter. Im getting the current litter at a favour sort of deal and changing it is really not an option at the moment. As for providing him his own litter, i don't have a room to spare. So if i put different litter boxes, the other cats will use them.

What other options do i have given the above situation?

I agree that adding another box and getting them neutered is the way to go. Is there a reason you don't want to do this?

katocy said:

Thank you so much for your replies Margd and red top rescue!

So you guys are saying change the litter and give him his own box. I wound love to try that out and see what happens but changing the litter is just not an option for me as i can't really afford any other kind of litter. Im getting the current litter at a favour sort of deal and changing it is really not an option at the moment. As for providing him his own litter, i don't have a room to spare. So if i put different litter boxes, the other cats will use them.

What other options do i have given the above situation?

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If finances are the reason your cats are still intact, we could probably find a low/no cost spay/neuter facility for you..  Just that alone would help.   

I didn't know about the totem pole effect that Red Top Rescue described since I've never had that many cats before, but it makes perfect sense.  Is it realistic to put a small litter box inside Ruben's carrier or crate since he feels safe in there?  Or would the other cats invade there as well?  I'm also wondering - if Ruben has regular habits, can you put him in the crate for an hour or so with the box?  

You have too many cats using the same box and two unneutered males.  You're lucky the males aren't spraying all over your house.  Your kitty is overwhelmed!  Please get the two males neutered and clean the litter box more often.  If you cannot do all of this, then you simply have too many cats to take care of all of them properly.  Your kitty is absolutely stressed out.  If things don't change  his habits may persist forever, and he will develop other problems.

I just read this one more time and still think that neutering is the first step, especially if you have any females.

Second, I now see that you have 7 cats. How many litter boxes do you have? How often do you clean them? This little guy may, on top of hormone competition, be especially picky about a clean box.

Just to add a little thought, it turned out that Alabama is not picky about having a clean box, Alabama is picky about WHO uses his box. I DO keep all my boxes clean, digging twice a day, morning and night, and also picking up any poop that is deposited in one of the livingroom boxes (there are 6 of them) immediately because I don't appreciate the smell of fresh poop myself.   It can be quite messy in the morning with three cats sharing two boxes in the bedroom, but he doesn't care, he'll hop right in and add his contribution to the community box.  But  after Grey Boy had used it, even though the box was basically totally clean, fresh clumping litter, no pee, no poop, Alabama would not use it because Grey Boy had used it at some point during the day he was in the bedroom.  That was an interesting discovery.

talkingpeanut said:

I just read this one more time and still think that neutering is the first step, especially if you have any females.

Second, I now see that you have 7 cats. How many litter boxes do you have? How often do you clean them? This little guy may, on top of hormone competition, be especially picky about a clean box.

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I got one HUGE litter box for Ruben and the other cats he grew up with and cuddle to sleep with. The un-neutered cat's got his own litter box that isn't shared with anyone else. Also the un-neutered cat stays in our bedroom away from the other cats so there is almost zero interaction between then. Everyone else is fixed except Ruben because i feel i should wait to nuture him because he is still a little kid...hasn't matured yet physically and mentally.

katocy said:

I got one HUGE litter box for Ruben and the other cats he grew up with and cuddle to sleep with. The un-neutered cat's got his own litter box that isn't shared with anyone else. Also the un-neutered cat stays in our bedroom away from the other cats so there is almost zero interaction between then. Everyone else is fixed except Ruben because i feel i should wait to nuture him because he is still a little kid...hasn't matured yet physically and mentally.

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I think you have two simple solutions to your issues. 1. Get more litter boxes. Even if it is huge, some cats don't like to share. Two boxes, even if they are large, are likely not enough. 2. Get all of your cats spayed and neutered. Why do you keep the one tom unneutered? And Ruben is plenty old enough. He is an adolescent who has reached sexual maturity.