Adult Cat Started Pooping On The Carpet

Hello All,
I Have 2 Cats, One Is 12 Years Old And The Other Is 4. Both Have Been Potty/litter Box Trained For A Long Time. Recently My Son Moved Out And My Family Room Is Currently Vacant, Just Shampooed It And Since My 4 Year Old Is Pooping On The Carpet Once A Day. I Have Washed And Sprinkled "get Rid Of Pet Odor" On The Areas, I Have Put His Nose In The Poo And Spanked Him Hard. Still Doing It. Both Cats Have Always Shared The Same Litter Box. Their Litter Has Been Tidy Cat, But Recently Started Tidy Cat With Crystals. Any Suggestions, I Am Getting New Furniture And Don't Want Poo In My New Family Room.
Blessings, Frustrated

First, please - please - please do not put your cat's face into it's own feces and then spank him! This will not help your cat and could possibly make him scared (which could cause more accidents) and resent or be scared of you!!! Remember he is an animal - you need to be patient with the little guy.

If there has been a significant change, such as someone moving out of the house, your cat may be confused and/or stressed and therefore be going potty in places aside from the litter box. Also, even a slight change in a cat's litter can affect them.

Do you currently have just 1 litter box? If so, you might want to get a second one.

I have also heard that sometimes (when you have a new cat or kitten) one thing that might help is placing your cat in the litter box and to gently take and move his paws in a scratching motion/mimic a cat burying/moving around the litter. He will fill the litter under his little paws which might help him remember this is where he needs to go! and sometimes this helps. (I did this when I first brought my little one home to have him remember where the box was and what to do there )

If you catch him going to the bathroom in the living area, try to bring him to where the litter box is and when he does go praise him and give him a treat. Also do this when he goes to the box and does 'his thing' by himself.

There are also threads you can read at the top of this Behavior Forum and there are many experienced cat owners here that I'm sure will give you great advice.

I would also suggest getting him to a vet. Inappropriate eliminations outside the litterbox are sometimes a sign of an underlying health problem. He may be sick or in pain and trying to let you know.

Like the others have said, as hard as it is to not lose your temper you must bite hold off. A quick yell to let him/her know that this is unacceptable will do the trick. Then it's time to clean up the doo doo. When cats who use the litter boxes start going outside of them they are trying to tell you something. They may be sick, litter dirty, stressed, etc...... Be patient with your kitty!

(and now to control MY temper ) Please Never Ever hit (not even softly) your cat. like all the others have said THIS WILL NOT HELP.
Ok,
1-the newly cleaned carpet- the cat could be wondering were the familliar scent went. Cants are VERY sensitive to sents and their repetitiveness. When you cleaned the carpet it could be that the cat need to "reclaim" it as his own.

2- new cat litter- again goes with 1, a sudden change can worry your cat, instead of suddenly changing litter mix them together halff and half for a while then switch over completely

3-nose to poo- that isnt going to help anything, typically when you find the "preasnt" its a while after the cat has left it, the cat will not know why you are punnishing it. it will learn to associate you with bad and pain. that is never a good thing. The way i think of it, s when my cats do something that REALLY makes me mad, i have to think would i want someone 10x as big as me coming up and hitting me hard for something i didnt know was wrong according to "human standards"

If you keep hitting your cat he will bite you or worse. Please stop terrorizing him for something he can't help. Get him to the vet it is possible that because your son is gone your cat has stressed out and is quite ill.

I agree. our 13 yr old cat recently was pooping on the capet because we got a new puppy too soon perhaps after adding a new jr. cat to the household. Sasha is a very quiet, introverted guy but this was too much for him. My partner and I had a heated discussion over an issue and I noticed Sasha pooped on the carpet in our "nice" living room even more. He was telling us to cut it out! Relax and deal with our situation differently than we were. Now, our household is different from yours in that you haven't exactly added a dog but the message of STRESS that Sasha sent to us is the same. Do take your kitty to the vet, please do not scold or punish him (they aren't wired like humans - don't project our rationalizations onto kitties, it won't work) but have a complete blood test done and take a good, hard look at every action you are taking inside the house and change it - have patience. Be good to your kitty in every way. Encourage with lots of praise and you'll need to work to calm your house down. We are still working on that, too!

A friend's cat recently started to poop on his carpet. He took the cat to the vet, and the cat turned out to have an infection (can't recall where!) but as soon as the treatment started, the pooping on the carpet stopped. So I would agree with what the others have already said - take the cat to the vet, get him checked out. It might be as simple as that!

Sue

Please, please don't hit/swat or put your cat's nose in it...He doesn't understand this and will likely become neurotic and aggressive as animals do when this occurs.
Take him to a vet is my suggestion also and go from there...

It always upsets me when people hit their cats because their not to know?!.

Theres obviously something wrong so please take it to the vet, either that or stop hitting it which is possibly making it worse

Originally Posted by Harry15

Like the others have said, as hard as it is to not lose your temper you must bite hold off. A quick yell to let him/her know that this is unacceptable will do the trick. Then it's time to clean up the doo doo. When cats who use the litter boxes start going outside of them they are trying to tell you something. They may be sick, litter dirty, stressed, etc...... Be patient with your kitty!

Click to expand...

Please don't yell at your cat.It does no good but add more stress in the life of your cat. If health issues have been ruled out then you look at the litter pans and how often they are scooped out, then you look the stress in the home and other issues. But health issues need to be addressed first.

I dont mean to be rude but smacking your cat and/or rubbing his nose in his own waste will not help, it will just make him unable to trust you. He is probably marking his territory as you have shampoo all the smells out of the carpet. Keep him out of the room and go back to your usual cat litter, if you still want to change it, have a half and half new type/old type litter tray in the room as well as the usual tray it might help. Also you may have to take him to the vet for a checkup as things outside the norm may mean that he is unwell.

Don't push your cat's nose in his feces. Never spank him hard! This is abusive.

Now, I would suggest before making any changes, make sure your cat is not having a medical problem. Try a vet.

If he is medically sound, let us know, and I can give your futher advice.