Pooping behind the furniture

Piwacket is a 12 week old female kitten who likes to poop behind the furniture. She is the newest member of our 2 cat household. Most of the time she uses the litter box, but like a small child she seems to go where it's convienent for her. We've grown an attachment to her already and don't want to get rid of her. I'm open to suggestions.

First off, please take your kitty to the vet and have her checked for UTI. That is the most important thing to do here. Sometimes when a kitty or a cat is pooping or peeing outside the litterbox it is their way of getting our attention and saying "Hey I don't feel well."

Once she has been vet checked and cleared of any problems. Confine her in a small room for a week. Try using different size litter boxes, one with a top on it maybe, use different levels of litter, and make sure you keep the litter box cleaned. I scrub my boxes out daily. It is a pain to do, but it stops the inappropriate behaviour.

If there has been a recent change in the household, either large or small this could also affect the kitty and make her poop outside the box. Honestly, this complaint is one I hear the most often, and I have had many wild litters in the house where they either want to poop behind the couch or on it. Don't give up on your kitty for doing this, get her vet checked please.

Perhaps the litterbox is too far away when she's playing? I don't know how your house is set up, but with one so little she may not think she can make it to the litter box so she found a place closer (or she may not want to stop her game for as long as it takes to go all the way to the litterbox ). The rule of thumb is at least one litterbox per cat (plus one in some cases) and/or at least one on each floor.

If she's pooping in such a private place, perhaps the other cats are picking on her when she tries to potty in the box, so she runs to a place she is "safe" to do her thing. Try setting up a box for her in a place where the others can't get to her -- where she has a little privacy.

Also, I agree that the problem may be that she is so young that (like human toddlers) when the urge hits, she just can't make it to the box in time.

Thanks for your suggestions. Piwacket will be going to the vet very soon for her first shots and I'll have her checked out. I've already started to keep the litter boxes cleaner and have one on each floor. We are also making a point of putting her in the litter box at regular intervals in the hope that she will get the idea.

I'll keep you posted.

Piwackets Pal, Linda