Cat Won’t Poo In Litter Tray

[_ashstevens]

Hi,

So I have an issue with my 11 month old cat as she will wee in the litter box, but will not poo in it.

Basically it started in June when she was 4 months old so not long after we got her and she started pooing in the bath randomly. Then it turned to every day. So we kept the bathroom door shut at all times and it stopped and she started going in the litter tray again.

We moved 2 months ago and after a couple of weeks she started pooing on the floor right next to the litter tray. This would happen on occasion but not every day and now for the past month she’s been doing it every single day on the floor.

We haven’t changed litter, we clean out poo as soon as it’s in there and we clean out the entire thing every 2 days. We tried changing the litter to a more expensive one and this didn’t help, we have two cats and had one each for them but they both used the same one so we bought an expensive larger litter tray that they could both use and this made no difference. We tried going back to 2 litter trays incase it was putting her off having to share and that made no difference. She’s not ill, she’s not stressed, if anything she’s more chilled out in this house.

I have caught her in the act twice and put her straight in the litter tray, once she refused to go in there and kept jumping out and was literally about to go right there and then so I gave up and had to put some newspaper down quickly and she went on there. The second time I put her in and she went in there, I’m guessing she was desperate. I gave her treats and a massive fuss after doing it but that didn’t encourage her next time.

I’m making sure I’m not cleaning it with anything lemon smelling and I’m cleaning it properly and disinfecting the floor but it’s not always the same place that she does it. We moved the litter tray recently to see if that made any difference and she just decided to move with it and poo right next to the new spot where the litter tray is !!

Not only is it a pain but I’m heavily pregnant and so it’s very unhygienic but also I’m worried when baby arrives and starts crawling he may go and pick it up or walk in it or anything. I don’t know what to do anymore. Apart from this she is the perfect cat but this is driving me and my partner mad and she doesn’t go at the same time every day so it is impossible for me to be on stand by watching to catch her in the act every day.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[MeganLLB]

Hi! Welcome to TCS! I'm sorry you're having this problem. That sounds frustrating. I'm not sure what to say, but hopefully someone can offer some advice.

I'm having a similar problem with my cat pooping on the carpet upstairs though she will pee in the litter box. I'm not sure though why your cat will go right next to the box and she was going in it fine previously? That makes me think something happened to cause this change in behavior.

 

[calicosrspecial]

Cats go outside of the litter box for two reasons: Medical (pain, infection, etc) and behavioral (stress, insecurity, etc).

A few questions. Are her poops normal? The consistency, etc. Does she go more often lately or less often? Does she seem like she is straining or feeling discomfort?

She does use the litter to pee, correct? Does she cover?

I always like to go to the vet to try to rule out any medical issues first as that is the easiest.

If the vet says things are fine healthwise then we focus on behavioral. With two cats I would like to have at least 3 litter boxes. Also, some cats like more privacy so having one in a more hidden or private location might be helpful. Cats also don't like change so we want to keep their boxes in the same place and not change the litter abruptly. Also, the scent of the litter could be an issue.

Does she get bullied at all? Has the other cat attacked her in the litter box at all?

How does she walk around the house? Tail high or low? Low to the ground or tall? Does she hide or go under things or does she go up in the world on cat trees, beds etc? Avoid any areas or other animals?

If she goes outside of the litter box put the poop in the litter box so it will pick up her scent. Then clean it.

Cats take on our emotions and often we can't see stress, we only see it in there actions. You mentioned you are pregnant. It is possible she is picking up on that and it may be causing her some stress and just the general stress of the changes in the household. Did this start around the time you became pregnant?

So we will try a few things to help her. I would like to step up play with her. Really good play sessions. Stalk, pounce, kill, repeat. Then after a good play session feed either treats or a meal. Also, make sure she has comfy warm bedding, scratching posts, cat trees (so she go go high in the world). And finally just let her know she is loved. Be calm and confident around her, if she goes just calmly clean it up (I know it is hard but it helps). Give her treats, talk softly and lovingly to her.

There has been a lot of change (moving, pregnancy) so I am guessing it is medical (discomfort, etc) or just stress from the changes. Play should help build confidence and reduce stress as will the other suggestions above but play is really important.

I am anxious to hear the answers to the questions also so I can understand the situation better.

Don't worry, the instinct is to use the litter box and cover their scent so we have instinct in our favor. We should be able to solve this.

Please ask anything anytime and I am happy to help you through this. Don't worry, we can fix this.

 

[_ashstevens]

Cats go outside of the litter box for two reasons: Medical (pain, infection, etc) and behavioral (stress, insecurity, etc).

A few questions. Are her poops normal? The consistency, etc. Does she go more often lately or less often? Does she seem like she is straining or feeling discomfort?

She does use the litter to pee, correct? Does she cover?

I always like to go to the vet to try to rule out any medical issues first as that is the easiest.

If the vet says things are fine healthwise then we focus on behavioral. With two cats I would like to have at least 3 litter boxes. Also, some cats like more privacy so having one in a more hidden or private location might be helpful. Cats also don't like change so we want to keep their boxes in the same place and not change the litter abruptly. Also, the scent of the litter could be an issue.

Does she get bullied at all? Has the other cat attacked her in the litter box at all?

How does she walk around the house? Tail high or low? Low to the ground or tall? Does she hide or go under things or does she go up in the world on cat trees, beds etc? Avoid any areas or other animals?

If she goes outside of the litter box put the poop in the litter box so it will pick up her scent. Then clean it.

Cats take on our emotions and often we can't see stress, we only see it in there actions. You mentioned you are pregnant. It is possible she is picking up on that and it may be causing her some stress and just the general stress of the changes in the household. Did this start around the time you became pregnant?

So we will try a few things to help her. I would like to step up play with her. Really good play sessions. Stalk, pounce, kill, repeat. Then after a good play session feed either treats or a meal. Also, make sure she has comfy warm bedding, scratching posts, cat trees (so she go go high in the world). And finally just let her know she is loved. Be calm and confident around her, if she goes just calmly clean it up (I know it is hard but it helps). Give her treats, talk softly and lovingly to her.

There has been a lot of change (moving, pregnancy) so I am guessing it is medical (discomfort, etc) or just stress from the changes. Play should help build confidence and reduce stress as will the other suggestions above but play is really important.

I am anxious to hear the answers to the questions also so I can understand the situation better.

Don't worry, the instinct is to use the litter box and cover their scent so we have instinct in our favor. We should be able to solve this.

Please ask anything anytime and I am happy to help you through this. Don't worry, we can fix this.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me so thoroughly.

Yes her poos are normal and she goes once every day, which she always has done so this hasn’t changed. She doesn’t look uncomfortable or as though she’s straining.

She still uses the litter tray to wee, and she covers it up. When she goes for a poo on the floor she always paws at the floor to try and cover that too.

We don’t have enough space to put 3 litter boxes but I’ve currently got 2 out in different places.

I don’t know whether this is worth mentioning but we had some people round last weekend for a couple of hours and kept the cats upstairs out of the way and had their litter trays in the bathroom up there and during that time she went for a poo in the bath instead. It seems wherever the litter tray is, she refuses to poo in it.

Both cats are very affectionate with each other and groom each other as well as play fight. They’ve never attacked each other and seem very comfortable with each other. However, the other cat is a Male and he was neutered at 4 months (he’s now a year and a half) but sometimes will get on top of her to try and hump her, which she lets him do. I assumed this was a sign of dominance seeing as he doesn’t have ‘those parts’ anymore. She also shows signs of dominance though as she will steal toys off of our Male cat when he’s playing with them or if he’s sat with us, she’ll come over and try and steal his spot.

I wondered if her pooing on the floor could be a sign of her fight to be dominant cat or something?

She is a very loving cat and spends most of her time by my side or sprawled out on the rug or sofa. They have a tall cat tree and a radiator bed downstairs with scratch pads in both rooms and upstairs a smaller cat tree and scratch pads in the hallway and our main bedroom, as well as lots of toys that we alternate. She uses both cat trees but my Male cat mainly uses the one downstairs and she will mainly use the one upstairs. She likes to occasionally lay under the bed but this isn’t very often.

I had wondered whether it could be anything to do with my pregnancy. I got pregnant end of May and her pooing in the bath started end of June but then like I said we stopped her going in the bathroom and kept it closed at all times and she began going in the litter tray as normal for 6 months up until a month ago, but then began going again every day on kitchen floor by the litter tray.

Both me and my partner work from home so they both get a lot of affection, and she tends to get more as she’s always by my side. She gets regular play too but I’ll try and up this.

Her tail is mostly up or level to her body but I have noticed it sometimes down. Off the top of my head I couldn’t say how often this is though sorry.

I will try some of the things you’ve mentioned and will get her checked over by the vet too, I don’t think there’s anything medically wrong with her though. From reading what you’ve said it looks like it could be more stress related? If that is the case, the baby arriving in the next few weeks could add to that and obviously I’ll make sure they’re still getting plenty of loving and not leave them out but my time with them will have to be less because of caring for the baby. I would hate to think either of them were unhappy or stressed though so would love to know what I can do to help this and hopefully stop the pooing at the same time.

Thanks

 

[_ashstevens]

Just to note - she is not a nervous cat and is very sociable and does not ever seem stressed. She’s so chilled out and purring pretty much all the time that’s why I didn’t initially put it down to stress

 

[calicosrspecial]

You are welcome. Thank you very much for the detailed response, this is very helpful.

Very good that she is going normal and doesn't appear to be straining etc. Also, that she does wee in the litter box. Now, she does attempt to cover when she goes out of the litter box so she is saying "I don't want my scent to be around". That suggests to me that it is not her choice necessarily to go outside. So there is either a discomfort that we aren't seeing or the changes you mention (last weekend visitors and the cats being put away).

Was she going outside of the litter box before the visitors? I believe you said she did start again about a month ago. Or did the recent going outside episodes start after the visitors?

Do you have any ferals in your area? Any animals that might be coming around outside or can be heard or possibly even have gotten into the house?

Cats do not like change so anytime we move litter boxes, or change litters, or close of territory it can cause a bout of insecurity which can lead to stress and a behavioral issue like this.

Can you think of anything that may have caused a negative association with the litter box? Did the male bother her when she was in it recently? Or did something fall or make a noise when she was in it? Can you think of anything you may have witnessed?

Has there been an uptick in the boy showing dominance or bullying? This is often a cause of this type of behavior. Whether it may be or not step up play with her and feed after and try to distract him or turn a potential negative (dominance) into a non-event or a positive. Anything to get her peace with regard to any dominance or bullying. I also am wondering about her tail position. Has it been down more often recently? Is she walking around differently? Or being more cautious? Are her interactions with the boy "normal"?

So here is what I am thinking. It still could be medical but it seems less likely since there aren't any obvious signs. But it is always best to get a vet visit. I am wondering about her relationship with her brother. It is possible that it may have taken a small turn for the worse and this could be causing her stress. So trying to make every encounter between them as positive as possible and avoiding any negative encounters could be helpful. Feed them together to make a positive association. Watch how she reacts around him. Etc. And step up play with her as play builds confidence. If you can play with her in areas she may be dominated and where she is going outside of the litter box.

Also, try to keep up a fairly rigid routine. Feed around the same time, play, etc. Cats like routines so that could help as well.

One thing I like to do is make sure they can look out and entertain themselves with wildlife. That also can distract them and keep them from messing around with each other.

Also, step up play with the boy as well. Since a confident cat is less likely to attack or be attacked (and it can drain some energy).

Stress is not always noticeable sadly. It shows up in going outside of litter boxes, how they walk, how they hide or avoid areas, if they are more "clingy". Things like that but it can be very subtle.

With regard to the pregnancy, cats can pick up on the slightest things. Emotions, hormones, changes in routines, etc. But we can't change much of it. One thing we can control is our emotions. So please don't feel bad about not being able to focus on them as much as before. Just love them like you obviously do. Cats are resilient and if we build confidence through play and food, have a set routine, avoid any negative encounters between them, make positive associations between them, and just be calm and confident around them I think they will adjust.

There isn't anything obvious but there are small things that it could be. I think the above should be able to help. Let's see how they do. It really is detective work trying to eliminate things and look for any change. But sometimes we can't pinpoint the cause but building confidence tends to solve a lot of issues. And if we can do it for both cats that is best (though I know time is a constraint).

Please let me know how things are going. We should see an improvement. If you can think of anything else please let me know.