Cats randomly stop using litter box

Hi All,

I've got two male kittens, about 10 months old. They're brothers, both fixed. We had an incident a couple of months ago where one of them urinated just outside the litter box.  We kept an eye on him, but it didn't happen again, so we assumed it was a one time deal for whatever reason.

This morning we found that one of them (not sure which one) had pooped on our carpet. It was close to the litter box but not close enough that maybe they were in the litter box and had their butt hanging over the side.

Has anyone had this happen? Just a one-off of not using the litter box? They both seem healthy - running around and playing, and don't seem to strain when they use the litter box.  A friend has suggested the litter box may not be clean enough for their liking, so I'm changing  the litter out completely tonight.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Do you only have the one single litterbox?  It's recommended you have one for each cat, plus an extra one...so you would need 3.  Usually adult cats don't like to share boxes, or so they say....mine share them, but I have 3 in the house so they can choose.  It may be that one of them has decided he wants his own bathroom.

The clean issue--that causes it too.  Some are pickier than others about what is under their feet when they step in, plus, they are stepping on somebody else's pee and poo clumps if they are sharing a box.

If adding another box (or two, depending on your living space limitations) doesn't work, then try changing the brand of litter.  Some prefer a different feel under their paws.

They can be picky little critters, but usually you can figure out the issue through the process of elimination (no pun intended!)

We do have two, and I've seen them using both boxes. I'm not sure if they each have a box they use or if they use both boxes indiscriminately.

We've always used the same brand of litter -  this week I noticed it was a bit more sandy in texture than the previous bag. However, they've used the box all week so I'm not sure that's it, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks!

I always use Tidy Cat (I just can't bring myself to spend a lot of money on something that they poo on and we ultimately throw away!!) and it was always fine and dandy with them, but lately it seems the texture has changed a lot.  Mine like the softer, sandy type rather than the rocky-type.

Are they growing into being big boys?  One of mine kept hanging his butt over, and I gave in and bought one of those gigantic litter boxes for the laundry room.  He loves it now and it stopped my problem with the over-the-side thing.  I saw others posted you can get a regular Rubbermaid tub and use as one too if you need a bigger one (that would have been cheaper, but my dummy self didn't even think of doing that!)

Oh yeah...something else...if it's uncovered, it could be it's not private enough for the one committing the offenses...I've seen others post about that on here as well.  Could be location or he might want one that is covered instead.

Here's my big one.  My big boy (near 18 pounds) is in it in the picture.  He has plenty of room in there.  He was the butt-hanger!  And neither of my boys cares about privacy or modesty, they go in front of anybody

sometimes they don't like the texture. I had a long haired female who pooped on the carpet. I was using clump litter. she hated it. I ended up getting nonclumping litter no scent=no perfumes and she stopped pooping on the carpet. sometimes you have to snip the hairs on their butts if its long. just be careful not to puncture skin from sissors. mine lay on the toilet seat and hand their butt over the edge and I can hold tail with one hand and snip with other. I use haircutting sissors that were only $10. 

Or the vet tech can buzz the furr off their rearend if its too bushy to cut. my honeybee came to me with long snowpants in the back. took 3 tries of shaving to get enough gone so she wasn't having hanging stuff after bathroom trips.

foxxycat said:

 
sometimes they don't like the texture. I had a long haired female who pooped on the carpet. I was using clump litter. she hated it. I ended up getting nonclumping litter no scent=no perfumes and she stopped pooping on the carpet. sometimes you have to snip the hairs on their butts if its long. just be careful not to puncture skin from sissors. mine lay on the toilet seat and hand their butt over the edge and I can hold tail with one hand and snip with other. I use haircutting sissors that were only $10. 

Or the vet tech can buzz the furr off their rearend if its too bushy to cut. my honeybee came to me with long snowpants in the back. took 3 tries of shaving to get enough gone so she wasn't having hanging stuff after bathroom trips.

Click to expand...

I gave up and bought a small pair of dog clippers, the cordless kind. I was terrified I would cut Wurp and, knowing him, he might murder me in my sleep if I did LOL.  I have to catch Wurp in one of his rare good moods and just buzz down his "bloomers" and up under his tail.  He does okay, I have to catch him in the right mood!!  I think they were like $9 at walmart.  It's just the little one for like poodle trims or whatever, I think it was called a trim or finishing clipper.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!  It seems to have been a one-time thing, still no idea why though. Both cats have used the boxes fine all weekend, but we are looking at getting a couple of bigger Rubbermaid storage tubs. Here's a picture of them informing us they've commandeered the bed. 

I had a very Large cat. He did not fit in a regular size litter box. I had to get him an extra large litter box. Problem solved. R.I.P Kittyboy.[emoji]128549[/emoji]

They look like pretty good size boys (and very handsome!). I hope it was a weird one time event!