Cat elimination problems.

[kittiei]

Hello. I have two female indoor cats (sisters - Pansy and Tulip). They are about 6 years old. I lived in a small one bedroom condo with them until recently. In my condo, I had one litter box that I scooped every morning. Occassionally, Tulip would poop on the floor just outside the litter box. After a trip to the vet (she was diagnosed completely healthy...though a tad over weight) and changing the type of litter, I finally concluded that maybe she was doing it because she was mad at me. She seemed to mostly do it when I was gone for longer periods at a time (like all day at work and then gone one night).

My boyfriend and I recently bought a house. We now have 2 litter boxes for the cats which I still scoop daily. The cats seem to love the house (I don't think they've ever climbed stairs before and they are loving it now). But Tulip has been pooping on the cement just outside the litter boxes every morning now since we moved in 3 weeks ago. I should add that they used to sleep in my bedroom with me when I had the condo but due to allergies, we do not let them in the bedroom at all in the new house.

Is it possible she's not adjusting as well as I thought? Any ideas as to what I can do to prevent this? I read about a product called "Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Ultra Litter Attractant", has anyone tried this and does it work?

My boyfriend would love to get a dog sometime in the near future but I'd like to at least make sure the cats are well adjusted to the house before I turn their world upside down by adding another pet.

Thanks.

 

[stephanietx]

First of all, you need to clean the spots where she's pooped with an enzymatic cleaner to get rid of the odor. Then, add a third box, perhaps in a different part of the house. The general rule of thumb is one more box than kitties, so two cats = 3 boxes.

 

[carolina]

What litter are you using? She might not like the litter or the box. Is the box big enough? Is the litter scented? Box covered or uncovered? Where are the boxes located?
Better than Dr. Elsey's Attractant, your best bet is their Cat Attract Litter (Also Dr. Elsey's) - it does a phenomenal job, and it has the texture the cats love it.

 

[kittiei]

Wow, sorry it took me so long to reply here

I'm using Max Scoop litter, either the stuff for small spaces or multi-cats, whichever is in stock at the time. I used to use wood pellets but Tulip suddenly decided she didn't like them so I switched. I find the clumping litter much easier to deal with anyway, except for the dust.

I bought some cleaner and cleaned the spots and I moved the litter boxes back so they're a little more private. I also took off the plastic things around the boxes that are supposed to help keep the litter in the box, they don't seem to work anyway. Since doing all that, she's only had one incident. The last two days have been incident free. Which is great.

I'm hoping things stay this way. The fact that she was only doing it first thing in the morning was making me think that she might be a little annoyed that I stopped letter her in my room at night. I now let them in the bathroom when I'm getting ready for work in the morning and they happily drink from the tap. Maybe that helped too

Thanks for your help!!

 

[carolina]

You can try Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract Litter to help you further - it is clumping, great odor control, and no dust.... I don't have litter box accidents, so I use their other litter Dr Elsey's Precious Cat Ultra.

Good luck!

 

[kittiei]

Just thought I'd update you all, Tulip has completely stopped going outside the box

I don't know what did it. It may have been the fact that I cleaned all the spots with special cleaner but I think it's mostly that she's finally gotten used to the house and is settling in nicely

I didn't even have a chance to get that Cat Attract litter, though I have tried it in the past with great results.

I'm trying to scoop twice a day now just to make sure she doesn't have any excuses not to keep it in the box

Thanks for your help!

 

[stephanietx]

Good job! Thanks for the update.