Desperate - Please Help

Hello, I am new to this awesome board and I need help. I have a problem with my 3 year old White Persian. She is a very sweet cat and I love her to death, but I am finding myself in the position where I am going to have to get rid of her if I can't solve the problem I'm having with her. Boo is a cat that hates dirty litter boxes and to be honest, I was not the best in cleaning out her litter box regularly. So many times she would poop outside the box but always near it, never peed outside however. We keep her litter box in the laundry room. By the way, I also have a 6 year old male cat and they share the litter box. I have never had any problems with Tigger, my male. Anyhow, I started cleaning the litter box more often making sure it was to her approval and she seemed to be doing ok. Then this past June I had a baby and Boo has started, pretty much since the baby, pooping and peeing on the carpet in the family room downstairs. I do not know what to do, I have been cleaning her litter box every day and she still does it almost every day. I have started a daycare in that room and I just cannot have her peeing and pooping there. Plus my baby will soon start crawling and walking around and I don't want her to be coming in contact with her stools or urine. Why is she doing this? Could she be jealous of the baby? Could it be stress? Can it be that she is already used to pooping outside of the box that she doesn't care any more? I'm at a loss and this is very frustrating for me and my husband. We actually gave her to one of my husband's clients on a trial basis and the first day she was there, she pooped on this lady's couch!!! So needless to say, she is back. Please help!!!

First off, she may need a vet appointment. Not making the litterbox can often be a sign of a problem. She may be associating the box with pain she is having due to crystals or infection or other issues.

If it is not medical, then try 2 boxes for each cat in the house. Diffrent locations if you can manage it. The way I understand it, cats do not like to do both "things" in the same box.

Has she been to the vet lately?

As a general rule, I think it's best to have one litter box per cat - most cats don't like sharing. Maybe the problem started initially because she had to share the box, and now, with all the changes in the house (baby, daycare etc) her litter box problems are made worse because of the stress and uncertainty she's feeling. It might be a good idea to change the location of the litter tray (especially if you're going to have lots of children in there) and get an extra one just for her. With all the upheaval in the house, it's important that you spend time with her and give her lots of affection and attention so she feels secure.

I would take Boo to the vets pretty darn quickly. Sounds like Boo is quite stress and stress in cats lead to illness.

You should add more litter pans, and you should start cleaning them out more. Just because we think the litter pans are clean, cats are pretty picky and if the litter isn't being removed when it is soiled and new litter just poured on top it is a pretty clear bet your cat will poop elsewhere.

But she sounds major stressed and I would get her to the vet first. Persians are quite sensitive and they respond to stress usually with illness.

How ironic, I was talking to a vet yesterday about Boo's problem and she never once mentioned to bring her in for a check up. I do see your guys point however.
Boo is a very laid back cat, she is actually deaf so she is not bothered by many things that regular cats would, like a vacuum, you could be vacuuming next to her and she could not give a darn about it. LOL So I had my doubts stress would be the cause, but I guess you never know.

Oh! one more question. Boo has always been fed Iams and I've heard many bad things about Iams lately. I even know one of my neighbor's dog who was fed Iams and constantly pooped in the house but once switched to a better brand he stopped. Could this also be the case for Boo??

Hiya! I've always found the opposite to be true with IAMS (though I've heard bad things aboout them lately, too). When my cats are eating IAMS there seems to much less litterbox waste. And, their coats are fantastic! That must say something for IAMS... I'd love to hear other people's experience with IAMS.

just because boo is deaf doesnt mean she cant be stressed. cats sense of smell if 14 times strong than our (more so for Boo as shes deaf and her sense would heighten to compensate) so all these strange smells and sights could be freaking her out.

what i would do (and this is just imo) is buy a feliway plug in for the litterbox room as this will help relax her a little.

then i would buy another litter tray or two depending on how much room you have and maybe some cat attract litter ( have never used it but heard it talked about).

giving her away would have scared her even more as shes already feeling unsettled. you need to be patient with Boo as shes probably feeling really uncertain right now. maybe give her more love and attention if you feel she needs it.

as long as she come through her check up with a clean bill of health i'm sure you'll overcome this.

goodluck!

Originally Posted by maverick_kitten

just because boo is deaf doesnt mean she cant be stressed. cats sense of smell if 14 times strong than our (more so for Boo as shes deaf and her sense would heighten to compensate) so all these strange smells and sights could be freaking her out.

what i would do (and this is just imo) is buy a feliway plug in for the litterbox room as this will help relax her a little.

then i would buy another litter tray or two depending on how much room you have and maybe some cat attract litter ( have never used it but heard it talked about).

giving her away would have scared her even more as shes already feeling unsettled. you need to be patient with Boo as shes probably feeling really uncertain right now. maybe give her more love and attention if you feel she needs it.

as long as she come through her check up with a clean bill of health i'm sure you'll overcome this.

goodluck!

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Only comment I have about this message.. and I am ducking from everyone whos going to swat me.. is I have Feliway plugins going here and noticed no benifit in the least, perhaps even more aggression..and it was expensive considering we bought 2 and also refills. It has been a few days at least by now since they arrived. Keep in mind.. many people seem to find them useful.

Apologies for the length of this but as a life long adorer of persians my heart went out to you and your cat. This is sadly one of the prices to pay for the unique and wonderful persian personality. As Hissy says, they are very sensitive cats who bond very closely to their owners and can be deeply affected by change, and serious toileting issues are one of the two major reasons that persians end up being rehomed when things at home go wrong. They are a high maintenance breed who need a great deal from their owners.

It sounds like your girl is struggling to deal with the baby, possibly with new children in the house with your daycare, and had a very natural reaction to being moved to a new home temporarily. It is very likely that it's going to need real time, effort and committment from you to help her overcome this problem, and it may be you that need to think about whether you can manage that at this time- if not then it's important to start taking action to find her a permanent new home that CAN give her that time and input, before her toileting behaviours are so ingrained that it will prevent her being able to settle with new owners. Someone is going to have to make that committment to help her overcome this if it's behaviour rather than health based; just moving to a new home won't fix it. The problem will go too.


If the vet is sure she is healthy, there's several things you can try. It might be well worth confining her in one room that's very easy to clean so you're less worried, and making that room a safe space for her where the baby never goes. Offer several litter boxes, just as the experts here recommend- a minimum of three (two for her plus at least one for the other cat) but at first even more might help- add several comfortable perches, and make it really easy for her to be 'good'. If you spend time with her in there, feed her in there and make it a sanctuary, and things between you get more positive because you're not constantly cleaning up after her, then the stress on both of you should settle. When things are better then you can gradually start taking her with you to visit other rooms with the baby. I would make the family room out of bounds to her if that's a trouble spot, long enough for the habit to be broken, and not even think of reintroducing her to that room until her toileting habits are totally re established. It may be that that room will have to be permanently out of bounds to her, persians have long memories!

It might also be worth looking for the largest litter trays you can find: persians aren't always brilliantly co ordinated and need a lot of space to manoever in comfort. If you're going to beat this though her trays must be SPOTLESSLY clean. Most persians are very finicky and if her tray is dirty or smells when she goes to it, you really can't blame her for finding somewhere else to go. Try giving her just enough litter to cover the bottom of the tray, scooping it as often as you can through the day- with some of mine that's been every time the tray was used if I'm home, they ARE that fussy - and changing the litter every day, as well as wiping out the tray with soapy water if you can't wash it daily. Confined to one calm, safe room with plenty of immaculate trays, you should be able to rebuild good sound toileting habits, and then gradually increase her freedom to whatever extent she can cope with. So long as they have plenty of company, most persians aren't too worried about huge amounts of space: they'd rather be with you than doing anything else.

If you do come to feel that you can't meet her needs, then try and find a persian rescue centre for advice. They are around, the people who run them are dedicated persian lovers and very experienced in dealing with the specific emotional and behavioural problems of this gorgeous breed. They are usually happy to travel as necessary to collect a cat in need, and will be her best chance for serious help to get her toileting habits re established, and they will see to it that she goes to a very carefully chosen home who are prepared for her needs and will make a success of the placement. It's very important not to mess her around any more than is absolutely necessary by moving her to temporary homes and possible homes and then back again- that runs the risk of disturbing her to the point where she will become unhomeable.

Whatever you decide, best wishes to you both, I hope very much your girl can settle down and overcome her current difficulties.

Originally Posted by Cirque

Only comment I have about this message.. and I am ducking from everyone whos going to swat me.. is I have Feliway plugins going here and noticed no benifit in the least, perhaps even more aggression..and it was expensive considering we bought 2 and also refills. It has been a few days at least by now since they arrived. Keep in mind.. many people seem to find them useful.

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i have heard some other people say that or that their cat seems more energised by the feliway. but i think you also got to leave them for about a week before you see the benefit

each cat is different so i think you just got to experiment and see what works for you and your cats.

i wouldnt rule it out as a possibility if you havent tried it though.

Originally Posted by imogen

Hiya! I've always found the opposite to be true with IAMS (though I've heard bad things aboout them lately, too). When my cats are eating IAMS there seems to much less litterbox waste. And, their coats are fantastic! That must say something for IAMS... I'd love to hear other people's experience with IAMS.

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When I first got my Angel I bought a big bag of Iams kitten chow (I'm not sure if he was over 1 year old yet). Shortly after that I started learning about pet food ingredients. The second ingredient in Iams kitten chow is "chicken by products". I never really thought about what "by products" are until I found some eye opening info on the web. By products are all parts of an animal that are not fit for human consumption-- boiled down beaks and feathers, intestines, etc. I also learned that Iams is owned by Proctor and Gamble, which is notorious for cruelty to animals. I feed my Angel Innova. It has no by products or questionable ingredients and the company that makes it is respectable.

thinking about it Iams gave Maverick really bad wind and an upset stomach. but that could have just beend due to a change of diet.

but i have never had that problem with Hill's when i switched her over

Regarding the use of the Feliway diffuser . . .

I purchased one when I experienced redirected aggression with my cats. The immediate effect was one I didn't expect - they became incredibly more active and high-energy playful. If already on edge, the play could become aggression only because the cats were releasing a lot of the stress they had experienced through play. I have had the feliway in place now for 2 months and find that it does help keep the mood more relaxed and mellow, but that the stress that exists initially, still has to be released, so superviwed, highly interactive play is a necessity for the first week or so. Schedule times for play so that the cats know to expect it then and you should see some good results from the feliway soon. I had the unrealistic expectation that it would act like a mood enhancer and make them relaxed. It basically helps them feel safer and more relaxed in their home environment, so they will indulge in those activities that they enjoy when they feel safe and relaxed - such as more energetic play and habitual behaviour such as using the litter box. They will not feel that their territory is threatened so should stop territorial marking and spraying as well.

For your deaf Persian, she will be even more atuned to smells and especially if the urine has gone through the carpet into the underpad, unless you have cleaned both with an enzymatic cleaner, she will smell the spot and return to it. I was going to suggest that you put a litter tray there for the time being and let her use it there, then start moving it very gradually (just by an inch or so a day) away from that spot and towards a more appropriate location, but if you are using the room for a children's daycare, that definitely won't work. In fact, you will probably need to make that room out of bounds for her in some way.

Good luck
Kathryn