3-month-old kitten will not poop in the litter box

[jwheeler]

Hi everyone,

I am in search of some advice regarding my parents' new 13-week-old male orange tabby, Chance, who they just adopted a little over a week ago from the local humane society after losing their 17-year-old cat to cancer this summer.  Both myself as well as my parents have had cats our entire lives, but we have never experienced this problem before, which is why I have come here in hopes of getting some advice for them.  Chance has absolutely no problem peeing in his litter box, but just will NOT poop in it.  He much prefers my parents' living room carpet!  

  My mother called me tonight and informed me that he did it again this evening.  Whenever my parents see him starting to squat on the floor, they will scoop him up as quickly as they can and take him to his litter box, which is very easily accessible to him and is always clean.  They will then put him down in his box and he will start to squat and it will seem like he is about to do his business, but then he stops, jumps out of the box, and runs back to the living room, where he proceeds to poop on the carpet.  We are all stumped.  He is acting like a perfectly normal, healthy kitten aside from this issue, and his stools do look completely normal, according to my mother.  He is eating and drinking just fine and is very playful and affectionate.  My parents absolutely love him and are having a blast with him, but they are really hoping to find a solution for this litter box problem.  It's very strange that he will pee in his box, but he just refuses to poop in it.  

He had a full vet exam and was neutered and had vaccines right before my parents adopted him and he was given a clean bill of health.  We are all assuming that this is some sort of a behavioral issue, but we have no idea how to address it since we've never dealt with this before.  

If anyone has any tips/advice on how to deal with this sort of issue, my parents and their nearly new beige carpet would greatly appreciate it! 

 

[vball91]

Some cats do not like to poop where they pee. I would try adding another litter box.

 

[jwheeler]

Just an update:  My parents are still having litter box issues with Chance.  They have now had him for an entire month and he still won't use the litter box.  My parents have tried everything.  They bought a smaller box, tried a different brand of litter, constantly show him the box and encourage him to use it, and whenever he poops on the floor, they have put his poop into the box in hopes that Chance will start to associate it with the litter box and realize that's where he's supposed to go, but no luck as of yet.  He is now 4 months old.  He is still acting 100% normally otherwise.  He has a great appetite, drinks plenty of water, and loves to play.  He's an extremely active little guy and will play with just about anything.  My mother finally called the shelter they adopted him from today for advice and they said the next step would be for them to take his food, water, and a couple of his toys and lock him in the room where his litter box is for 24 hours.  I personally don't know how much I agree with that.  I honestly don't think that will work.

There is one thing that occurred to me tonight.  While Chance is currently the only cat in my parents' house, they keep his litter box in the same exact room that they kept their old cat's box in, who passed away this summer, which is in their spare/guest bathroom.  Is it possible that the scent of their previous cat is still in that room and it's bothering Chance and that's why he doesn't want to go in there and use the box?  Maybe moving his box to a different location in the house would help?  Like I said, this just occurred to me a little while ago after talking to my mother on the phone and she told me what the shelter advised them to try.  

Any ideas?

 

[deborahlee]

My first question ... is he declawed?   If so, the litter might be irritating his paws.  They may need to use a different kind of litter.

It's possible the scent of the other cat is throwing him off.  It would be worth trying it in a completely different place.  However, he might still me marking territory in the places he smells the other cat.

The small room won't work, too many places for him to go.  You need to get a crate and keep him in the crate with his food, water and litter box until he figures out how to use it, and until he uses it consistently.  Usually about 3 weeks.  They don't like to go where they eat or lay, so that might get him using the box.  You can keep the crate in the living room so he's not left alone, and interact with him, but leave him there until he gets the idea.

Feed him at regular intervals instead of free-feeding so you can get an idea of when he might have to go (shortly after eating), and if you must take him out for a little while, do it at the times when he most likely won't need to go.

 

[jwheeler]

 
My first question ... is he declawed?   If so, the litter might be irritating his paws.  They may need to use a different kind of litter.

It's possible the scent of the other cat is throwing him off.  It would be worth trying it in a completely different place.  However, he might still me marking territory in the places he smells the other cat.

The small room won't work, too many places for him to go.  You need to get a crate and keep him in the crate with his food, water and litter box until he figures out how to use it, and until he uses it consistently.  Usually about 3 weeks.  They don't like to go where they eat or lay, so that might get him using the box.  You can keep the crate in the living room so he's not left alone, and interact with him, but leave him there until he gets the idea.

Feed him at regular intervals instead of free-feeding so you can get an idea of when he might have to go (shortly after eating), and if you must take him out for a little while, do it at the times when he most likely won't need to go.

He's not declawed, so that wouldn't be the issue.  He has also been neutered already.  They do feed him around the same times each day and they don't free feed unless they are going to be away from home for a significant amount of time, but that is very rare since both of my parents are retired.  When my mother called me tonight and told me that the shelter had advised her that they keep him locked in the room with the litter box for 24 hours, I immediately disagreed.  In fact, it sounded completely ridiculous to me.  I know it won't work.  I'm going to suggest to my parents tomorrow that they try moving the litter box someplace else, maybe into the laundry room or their other bathroom.  I'll also mention the crate idea to them.  I've always crate trained my dogs, but never had to crate train a cat before.  My parents never let their cats outside, so I'm sure their last cat's scent is all over their house.  She did live there for 16-17 years!  Maybe that is the issue after all.  Hopefully he will get the hang of the box soon.  

 

 

[deborahlee]

The reason leaving him in the room won't work is because the room is too big and he will have too many places to still go out.

What works is confining to a smaller space like a crate.  They won't want to lay in their poop and that's how they get in the habit of using the litter box.

Once they get in the habit, you stop using the crate.

I doubt just moving the box at this point is going to work, because he's marking the places the other cat would hang out, not where he would go to the bathroom.

And that is everywhere.