Bath Tub As Litter Box

[peapie]

Hi all, We're having a situation we've never encountered before - we have a newly adopted cat (Hallie Ivy) who used the tub as her litter box last night. Here's the background - she's only been with us a day and a half (this is full day number 2) and we got her from a shelter where she had been for about a month. They got her out of a hoarding situation, so really don't know what the exact circumstances or conditions were like. The shelter said she does like to pee in one box and poop in another, so no problem there. We have her set up in the spare room at the moment so it's her safe place with her blankets and food and 2 litter boxes. The first night we shut the door to keep her in there since we really didn't know what she would be like and she used both boxes. Last night we left the door open so she could roam the upstairs and woke up at 4 this morning with a noxious odour permeating everywhere. I checked her box but she had only had a pee in one. Fearing the worst I went on a hunt - and found a rather large pile of poo right by the drain in the tub. I cleaned it out and flushed it away, went back to bed. When I got up a few hours later she had had another sloppier poo in the tub as well as quite a lot of pee. I've never had a cat do this before. Maybe she did this in her first home? The shelter said they didn't have litter boxes there so who knows what it must have been like. I know it's been a stressful time for her with getting taken out of there then the shelter then coming here. Not only is she getting to know us but we have another cat, so they're feeling each other out yet. She also had a meet and greet with our vet yesterday plus a worming tablet, so it's been a lot for her in only a short space of time. Has anyone run into this before or have suggestions? At least the tub is easy to clean, so I'm grateful it wasn't carpet/furniture/beds/floor! The toilet is only 2 inches away - maybe could she be trained to go there? Anyone ever tried? Is it maybe because her litter box and food are in the same room? Open to any and all ideas and thanks ahead of time!!

 

[rubysmama]

Congrats on the adoption of your new cat, Hallie Ivy. Sorry she's having litter box issues. The "sloppier poo" could be from the worming tablet. Is she eating the same food as when she was at the shelter? If not, the food change also could have caused the digestive issue.

How close is her food dishes to the litter boxes? If not side by side, that should be ok.

About meeting your cat. Have you read the "cat introduction" articles? I'll post the links to the TCS articles below.

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Introducing Cats To Cats
The Multi-cat Household

 

[peapie]

She is eating the same food as she was at the shelter and I thought that sloppy poo may have been from the worming tablet, so since she needs the flea/tick tablet I thought we'd give it a few days before we give her that one. Didn't want too much going in her little belly all at once. I've had her two litter boxes at the foot of the bed in the spare room and her food dishes around the corner of the bed as far away as I can get them. I tried them up on the dresser but she didn't seem to care for that. I tried to stick them in a corner so there's a definite separation.

The vet suggested putting another litter box in the bath tub since she let it all out in there, so we now have one in the tub and another on the floor - 6 in the house altogether for 2 cats! I'm hoping once she gets comfortable and in her own routine we can start taking away some of the boxes.

The articles have some good ideas - thanks for passing that on. This is the second full day we've had her and she finally got brave enough to venture downstairs tonight and I think that's pretty good. She growls and hisses at Casey when he moves too fast or gets too close to her and he backs off. He was a little bent out of shape tonight when she came into the living room - think he felt as long as she stayed upstairs that was fine, but this was his territory. He didn't do anything or approach her, just went on full alert. We've tried to keep the atmosphere very calm and relaxed and they seem to tolerate each other to a point. She's getting braver and he's not quite so sure about that. She likes the safety of the spare room and Casey will go in there to look at her - if he gets too close she does the low growl. We did have one endearing moment yesterday - she'd used the litter box in the room and just left it on top. Casey had a look and a sniff and then buried it for her - then gave her a disgusted look that said "barbarian!". I'm hoping if we just keep it slow and no one feels too threatened we'll get there in time. I hope!!

 

[rubysmama]

Sounds like Casey isn't too upset about the newbie is his home. LOL'd at him covering for her.

Hopefully the litter box in the tub will work for now, and then eventually you can scale back from 6 litter boxes!

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[peapie]

I will keep you posted and I appreciate the help and advice! We've always had cats but have always had them really young - Hallie is about 2 - so this is new for us dealing with someone who isn't a baby. This is day 3 and we feel fine leaving all the doors open now so she can wander around as she likes. We shut her in the spare room when we're out of the house though - don't trust her quite yet with Casey. We had more poo in the tub last night but the one box I had put in there she had a wee in, so tonight I'll put both in and see how we go. Casey sleeps downstairs at night and last night she snuggled up between us and slept until 4 this morning, when she decided it was time to play and we had to shut her out of our bedroom. Casey is a big, soft marshmallow and Hallie is a little dark spook of a cat - different as night and day, but she has a sadness about her that just tugged at our hearts, like she just needed a chance and someone to care. Thanks again for the help :- )

 

[Kflowers]

If you put the litter box in the tub be certain you totally and completely close up the drain with a stopper kitty can't remove. Stoppers are favorite toys. You do not want the litter going down the drain.

I always dreamed of cats who used the tub instead of the litter box. Particularly when I was counting pennies and dragging 25 lb bags of litter home. Never happened.

If you are thinking of getting an air freshener for your bathroom, choose carefully. Cats are sensitive to many of them and some aren't all that good for people. I remember the one time I used Fabreeze because it was the day before my 17 year old cat had his first of many grand mal seizures. It worked, but I never used it again from the mental association.

You could use a box of baking soda with holes poked in it, similar to what you do for the fridge.

 

[peapie]

Good idea about putting the drain stopper in - I hadn't thought of that but it makes sense. I just scooped the solid stuff out with TP to flush and used a paper towel to get the litter, but the stopper would be a safer option. I gave it a shot of air freshener last night but I like the idea of baking soda. I'm not a huge fan of air fresheners (they make me sneeze) but I'll look into getting some more natural remedies - thanks for suggesting that.