cat had kittens-now wont poop in litter box

My bengal cat had her kittens and was fine about using her litterbox before she had them. Since she had them she will not go in the box. She pees in the box but she will hold her poo (for days) untill she can get out of the birthing cage and poop somewhere else. On my living room chair ,in my son's closet.
What could the probelm be??? The only thing I can think of is that her litter box is too close to her kittens and she dosent want to poop too close to them because it's unsanitary-but could she be THAT smart????
I just moved her litterbox outside of the birthing cage so we'll see how it goes. I'll let you all know if this cat is that smart.

maybe not unsanitary but the smell in the wild could attract predators? just a shot in the dark

That's an intersting idea. Also, the cats don't like to poop near where their food and water are.

Originally Posted by maverick_kitten

maybe not unsanitary but the smell in the wild could attract predators? just a shot in the dark

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maybe.....well whatever the reason, hopfully moving the box away from the kittens will solve the problem. I wonder if anyone else has had this same situation?

Originally Posted by elizwithcat

That's an intersting idea. Also, the cats don't like to poop near where their food and water are.

Click to expand...

Actually the food dishes are very close to her and kittens but not as close to the litter box. And she had no problem with the litterbox with the food even closer to it before. The water is on an upper shelf away from the litterbox. So i don't think that is the problem.

Ok I took her litter box out of the birthing cage and put it in a rubbermaid tub with a hole on one end and put it outside the cage and left the cage doors open. Now not only is she not pooping in the litter box but I discovered a huge pee spot on my sons bed! Thank goodness he rarely sleeps there (he prefers my daughters bedroom floor or the couch).
So now I have her back in the birthing cage and the litterbox in there. Now she will not poop or pee AT ALL. She is holding it untill she can come out.
I don't know what to do! I guess she can't hold it forever but i'd hate to keep her locked up. Im hoping this will at least resolve once the kittens are weined as she didnt have this problem before they were born. Any suggestions? (besides those already posted in the sticky)

one more thing-will she teach the kittens to poo and pee outside the box? Im concerned about that too.

just wanted to add one more thing. I do handle the kittens a lot and it stresses her out when they cry-do you all think this is the problem?

Goodness that is a worry, sorry I don't have any experience with this.

If you can give her two litter pans in the same room as the kittens, but not close to where she eats, or where the family is that will help.

She simply sounds like she is overwhelmed, and I understand your need to want to hold her kittens, but you should wait until they are at least 2 weeks old before doing a lot of handling. She needs time to adapt to her family and meet their needs. If you are bottle feeding, then do so in the same room she is in, and don't hang on to the babies any longer than it takes to feed their their portions. She should be seeing to their elimination needs by licking them to stimulate them.

Basically keeping the room fairly dark, keeping it quiet and making sure she has everything she needs will go a long way in settling her down to being a mom-

OHHHOKay I guess *sigh* I will try and keep my hands off those babies untill next monday. I do need to move them to change the bedding but other then that i'll try and leave them alone. Hopefully that will help. I hope that she dosen't revert back once I start to handle them again though.