Cat messing out of his box

[rebs]

Hi i am new here, I have been looking around the forum for help with my problem, but haven't come accross anything.
I have 2 male indoor cats, but the younger one who is 1 year old, is messing outside his litter box, he has done this since the day we brought him home (he was around 16 weeks.) We have tried everything we can think of, we had him neutered, we have 3 litter trays around the house - tried just about every litter avalible, even tried just newspaper, but nothing has made a difference. He will use the tray to urinate, each and every time, but he refuses to use his tray to do the other, he messes in the same place over & over, even after using surgical spirits to clear his scent ( recommended by the cat protection, where we got him from) we really don't want to return him, he is a great cat in every other way, but we don't have any idea's left. The vet has given him an all clear - so we are left scratching our heads, any help / advice would be great...Becca

 

[sar]

Hi and welcom to TCS!

Primarily, I would clean the area of "poopage" with Simple Solution (or any other enxymatic cleaner)

Have you had kitty checked by the vet to make sure that there are no health issues involved? This would be a main thing you need to check!

Having done the vet check, it might be worth while confining kitty to a room with a litter tray, food, water and bedding - this should help reintrocuce him to using the litter tray!

Possible positive redirection may be required - such as placing kitty nin the tray when he appears to being going to the toilet and giving him a trat afterwards as a reward!

I'm sure others will be along soon to give some advice too!

Good luck and please let us know how things go - don't give up on this kitty!

 

[rebs]

Thanks for your reply, Yes he's already been checked by the vet, who gave him the all clear, the vet also pointed out it was unlikely to be an health issue has he always poops in the same place. We already confine him to the kitchen at night, even the cat protection are at a loss of what to try next, and say maybe he needs to be an outdoor cat,

but the traffic is too busy where i live - so i just don't know anymore.

 

[beckiboo]

I would get a dog crate, and shut him in there unless he was being closely watched. If he has been pooing outside the litterbox this long, he thinks that is what is supposed to happen.

Also, if he is pooping in the same place, what happens if you put a litterbox there? Would he poop in it? Even if it is the middle of the kitchen, that would be better than him going on the floor. Then after a few weeks, the litterbox can start scooting towards a better location...hopefully kitty will follow!

 

[urbantigers]

If he's peeing in the tray ok but pooping outside it's likely to be litter related. He may be comfortable using the litter for the peeing but not like it for the pooping (different posture and some litters can feel uncomfortable). He also may not like peeing and pooping in the same tray. I know you say you have 3 trays for 2 cats which offers up a pretty good choice but is there always one that's unused? Try adding 1 more tray (or even 2 more if you have room!) just to see if ensuring there is always a clean tray for him to poop in makes a difference. Have you tried a fine grained litter that won't feel uncomfortable for him to stand on? Larger granules or wood based pellets can be uncomfortable for some indoor cats as the pads on their paws are soft since they don't go outside. The fact that he's always going in the same place and will pee in the tray indicates is's a problem with the litter and/or tray and not a behavioural problem.

 

[rebs]

Thanks for the replies, i have tried alot of different litter - wood based pellets, paper, currently i am using a natural mineral (like fine gravel.) I did wonder about his pads etc - because even though he will pee in his box, he almost likes pearches his back end over the tray with his front legs on the top of the box (he hates standing in his tray - even when the litter is new fresh & clean.)
I will try the extra litter tray idea though, not thought of that, i have tried a dog crete before, he cried all night long, then in the morning nothing, soon as i opened the crete up he ran over to the other tray pee'd then pooped on yep - the floor, lets just say thats the day i nearlly got covered in it, while trying to get him into the tray, lol.

 

[lotsocats]

Please click here to read about how to stop poop problems.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I have NO clue - but we had a female that did that too - she would use the pan for wetting, but pooping on the carpet besides the pan. Did it her entire life.

The ONLY thing that worked was to have the pan on tile or linolium flooring - if it was on carpet or a rug, forget it.

No one came up with a logical explanation either.

 

[purrpaws]

I read that cats won't poop where their food is, so you might try putting his food where he's pooping? He might just go right beside to food bowls then, though.

 

[beckiboo]

Originally Posted by Rebs

Thanks for the replies, i have tried alot of different litter - wood based pellets, paper, currently i am using a natural mineral (like fine gravel.) I did wonder about his pads etc - because even though he will pee in his box, he almost likes pearches his back end over the tray with his front legs on the top of the box (he hates standing in his tray - even when the litter is new fresh & clean.)
I will try the extra litter tray idea though, not thought of that, i have tried a dog crete before, he cried all night long, then in the morning nothing, soon as i opened the crete up he ran over to the other tray pee'd then pooped on yep - the floor, lets just say thats the day i nearlly got covered in it, while trying to get him into the tray, lol.

I would try the crate again, for longer, until he is pooping in the box.

Festus had a problem after a bad case of worms, where she was pooing in the bedrooms. After a few days in the cage, she was cured. (Of course my kitties don't mind the cage...the first time I opened it instead of Festie coming out, two other kitties got in with her! LOL!) But in my mind, a kitty who is pooing out of the box is totally unacceptable-and that habit must be changed.

I don't mean be harsh about it. You are not punishing him by putting him in a cage, just letting him learn that it is ok to poo in the litterbox. Something must have scared him when he was little or something, so he needs to relearn this behavior.

Good luck. You are way more patient than I could be!