Mushi is doing it again.

lilleah

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Alright...So Mushi used to poop right outside the litter box all the time..Then he stopped. For an unknown reason..He just stopped.
For quite sometime my house was actually able to smell alright because there wasnt a pile of poop sitting next to the litter box everytime I got home.

Well for about 2 weeks now, he's been doing it again. It is just horrible. It'd be different if it were on hard floors and easier to clean up, but that part of the carpet is now so smelly, because he poops twice a day on it.

So 2 questions...How do I get Mushi to poop in the litterbox again?!
And what can I use to absolutly RID the carpet of this awful smell.
It's just terrible. I want to throw up.

I do scoop the litterbox, if not every-day, then the next day. The litterbox itself isn't smelly. Just Mushi's poop on the floor does, and I scrub it, but it just doesnt help.

People are going to start thinking us humans are just pooping wherever we want, because it smells that bad.
 

larke

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Sounds to me like he's trying to say he needs a separate pooping box, maybe one with soft litter that doesn't smell like jasmine or whatever :-), and doesn't have a cover holding in the smells, and after all he's a perfect, beautiful fastidious cat that can't be expected to do things in the same place after all! What do you think?
 
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lilleah

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Originally Posted by Larke

Sounds to me like he's trying to say he needs a separate pooping box, maybe one with soft litter that doesn't smell like jasmine or whatever :-), and doesn't have a cover holding in the smells, and after all he's a perfect, beautiful fastidious cat that can't be expected to do things in the same place after all! What do you think?
What do I think?!



Well his litter is normal fresh-step litter, they've been using it forever. And if it's not fresh-step, then it's tidy-cats. Sometimes I mix the 2. So no..I dont use "jasmine" smelling cat litter. I wasn't even aware there was such a thing.

And yes..My litterbox DOES have a cover. However, like I said, The litterbox itself does not stink. At all. They both pee in there, and it's clumping litter, so I'm able to get them clumps out whenever I do.
Plus, it's not the pee that stinks. Kipper's poop doesn't stink at all. So, whenever I go to scoop, opening the litterbox does NOT stink.

that can't be expected to do things in the same place after all!
What?
 
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lilleah

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Oh and I forgot to add...
I DID have another pooping box in there. But Mushi STILL did poop outside of that one too. And Kipper didn't want anything to do with it all. Most of the time it sat there with nothing in it but clean litter.
 

pami

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When you added the 2nd litter box did you space it far enough a part ? Maybe taking off the cover on the box, some cats dont like to have covered boxes, just to see if that will help ......

Its kind of a trial and error thing to see what works.

My cat Kiko was pooing just outside the box and for me adding more litter boxes for a total of 7 completely eliminated the problem ..... it was something that he developed after about 2 years of not having a problem at all .....

Get some enzyme cleaner at your local pet store and clean the poo area on the carpet so it will completely take away the smell ..... and you might try to add a temporary cheap rug over it ... just in case he decides he still wants that spot.....

Good luck I know how frustrating it can be !!!
 

squirtle

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Do both of your cats share a box? You should really have 1 box per cat PLUS an extra one if possible.
Have you tried scooping the box more than once a day or every other day? Sometimes they are just picky and won't use a dirty box. The box may not smell dirty to you, but they can smell better than we can.
Also, have you tried replacing the entire box? The box can absord odors over time and Mushi may be picking up on them.
It is possible Mushi doesn't like the cover on the box... or doesn't like the location of the box. Is it in a private area?
You say that Mushi is going next to the box and no where else, right? It could just be that he would prefer a bigger box...

Is there any other behavior changes that you can think of? If so, it might not be a bad idea to have a vet check him out to make sure he is healthy.
 

jlutgendorf

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Have you caught him in the act?

Is he pooping in the box, with his butt hanging outside, or is he not even going into the box and is just pooping beside it?

If his butt is hanging out, get him a top entry box, where he can't scoot his butt out. Many people here have simply used large rubermaid containers with a large hole cut in the lid, or up high on a side.

Julia
 
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lilleah

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Originally Posted by squirtle

Do both of your cats share a box? You should really have 1 box per cat PLUS an extra one if possible.
Have you tried scooping the box more than once a day or every other day? Sometimes they are just picky and won't use a dirty box. The box may not smell dirty to you, but they can smell better than we can.
Also, have you tried replacing the entire box? The box can absord odors over time and Mushi may be picking up on them.
It is possible Mushi doesn't like the cover on the box... or doesn't like the location of the box. Is it in a private area?
You say that Mushi is going next to the box and no where else, right? It could just be that he would prefer a bigger box...

Is there any other behavior changes that you can think of? If so, it might not be a bad idea to have a vet check him out to make sure he is healthy.
Well I have a covered litter box in our living room closet. The closet IS most definatly in a private area..Very private. You'd never know there was a litter box in our living room if it didn't stink so badly.
And then..I had another smaller litterbox in that same closet..just on the other side. That's the one they never used.
I just put that one back in there 10 minutes ago, after scrubbing the floor again, and febreezing the heck out of that whole closet.
If I dont scoop once a day, then it's certainly the next day. No, I havent tried scooping more than once a day. Maybe I shall.

Both litter boxes are "newer" I just replaced the old covered box with a new one like a month ago, and the other un-covered one (that I just put back) is only like a month old too. Both boxes are the Jumbo sized ones. They take up alot of space in that closet, that's why I dont understand why he chooses to put his poop elsewhere. They are Extra-Large boxes. Because both of these guys are little fat-butts.

Have you caught him in the act?

Is he pooping in the box, with his butt hanging outside, or is he not even going into the box and is just pooping beside it?
Why yes I have actually. He just poops in the closet. Not really even near the litter box, or with his butt hanging out or over any box. He pees in the box though. Pooping beside it is the words.

I might try that top-entry Idea. I'm willing to try it all.
Anyone got pictures of that so I've got a better Idea of how that's supposed to be?
 

squirtle

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I would try putting the extra box somewhere other than the closet for awhile. Just to see if it makes any difference.

On a side note... Dori will not poop in her box if she has all ready done so in it. She will stand at the box and meow her little heart out until I scoop. As soon as I do, she walks right in and goes. Mushi could just be that picky.
 
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lilleah

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Originally Posted by squirtle

I would try putting the extra box somewhere other than the closet for awhile. Just to see if it makes any difference.

On a side note... Dori will not poop in her box if she has all ready done so in it. She will stand at the box and meow her little heart out until I scoop. As soon as I do, she walks right in and goes. Mushi could just be that picky.
Ok. Thank you. I will put it elsewhere for a while just to see.
And I do know that Mushi is very picky. He's always been that way, but he had stopped for a while, and then just started doing it again. I thought it would go away, but after a couple weeks I just couldnt stand the smell anymore.
But I really thank you all for the ideas. I sure hope it helps. I'm very interested in this "top entry" box idea. I'll have to get to the store tomarrow & get one of those.
He's got a vet appt. comming up within the month, so I'll mention it to them too.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by lilleah

He's got a vet appt. comming up within the month, so I'll mention it to them too.
definitely mention it - i had a cat that decided to stop using her box for poop. i was young & ignorant & didn't realize what it could mean. come to find out, she had an intestinal problem. by the time we caught it, the habit was solidly in place
i had to re-home her.

if you can't find a top-entry box, you can make one easily from a large rubbermaid tote. just cut a hole in the lid with an exacto knife.
 
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lilleah

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Yikes. An intestinal problem?! That wouldnt be any good.
Maybe I'll see if I can get that vet appt. a little sooner.
 

natalie_ca

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Maybe he doesn't like the smell of poop in a covered litter box. I know when I go camping I can't stand to go to places that have "out houses" that confine the smell within walls.

Take off the lid and leave the box uncovered.
 

commonoddity042

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Originally Posted by squirtle

On a side note... Dori will not poop in her box if she has all ready done so in it. She will stand at the box and meow her little heart out until I scoop. As soon as I do, she walks right in and goes. Mushi could just be that picky.
Wow. There's no way I could do that (job). What does she do when you're not home? Do you just leave her in a roomful of clean litterboxes?
 
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lilleah

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Well I was moving some stuff around yesterday night, and I noticed in my daughters room that it smelled a little funny. Well then I did some investigating, and sure enough...
There is a robe just soaked with kitty pee. Oh man..That reek is Terrible!
The robe went straight into the garbage. And I used that enzyme stuff to scrub that entire corner.
So now what?
Is that a sign of another underlying problem that I don't know about?
Sound like a UTI?
I sure hope he's ok..I've got alot of things going on next week, but I'm definatly scheduling an appt. for him for next week.
Should I plug in the "Feliway"? I have it, but it ran out of stuff, and when I bought another refill, I just decided things were to the point of OK, and didn't bother to plug it back in.
I had Feliway for the introductions for Mushi & Kipper, and used it back when Mushi was having this same problem. And everything went ok after that..
Hmm...Well I guess all that's left is the vet appt., because there's obviously more going on than Mushi just not liking the covered litter box.
 

furry4fury

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good luck, I hope that everything is ok for Mushi and yourself. Its tough when these pets of ours can't speak up and tell us what is wrong. That's why it's so important we keep close tabs on their behaviour and check with others who have the same pets, so that things like this don't have to be detrimental to our pets. Again good luck.
 
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