Elsa my pooping kitty....

[kathy77]

we adopted 2 male kitten, both neutered 4 and 5 months old, in September. Introduced them to our 12 yr old female cat, Elsa. they boys and Elsa do great together... no issues at all. the boys play with her, but mostly with eachother. Elsa is a bit of a slug, sleeps all day on the bed and at night in the recliner. plays with toys and goes outside a little thru the cat door. recently, she has started pooping in the den!!! uses the litterbox to pee...but big poops in the den!! I have caught her "in the act" and spanked her on 3 occasions. stops for a couple of days, then right back to pooping on our wood floors!!

litter boxes are cleaned 4x a day and she pees in the litter box...so what do I do??? boys use the litter box...its only Elsa. I'm open for help....

 

[vball91]

Please don't spank her. Cats do not associate punishment with the trigger very well, so all punishment does most of the time is build fear. It's usually not very effective.

If the pooping outside of the box is very recent, I am not sure if the addition of the two young males is related. It may be if they are ambushing her when she uses the box, or if there are not enough boxes. At her age though, I would recommend a vet visit to rule out a medical reason. You also mention big poops, which is not normal.

 

[kathy77]

I think she is holding it in til after bedtime...Elsa is a big cat, I don't think her poops are overly big. What medical condition would cause this? Started mid November on occasion, now it's almost nightly. I have 2 large litter boxes and the boys don't ambush her...

 

[vball91]

Try putting a box where she is pooping in the den. You can gradually move it to a more convenient spot if it works.

There are many possible medical reasons, from constipation to kidney disease that could cause inappropriate elimination. It's a sign that all is not right in her world. It can be time consuming trying to figure out what it is that's wrong though. Patience and a good enzyme cleaner really help.

 

[kathy77]

any suggestions on a cleanser?? hate to introduce another litter box in our den... don't want the boys using it and starting an issue with them. poops are not hard...firm but not hard and when I got her, she was not straining.

 

[vball91]

Nok-out, Fizzion or Nature's Miracle.

 

[dianamc]

I suppose this is a simple question, but do you have enough boxes?  The recommendation I've seen is one per cat plus one, which would be 4. Now I have 1 cat and 1 box but so far no problems .(I used to have a regular box and a Breeze system, but she had undiagnosed urinary issues.) If you still have only one box , adding one or two more might relieve the stress.

Sorry, I see you have 2 but I would still try that third.

 

[kathy77]

thanks for the great suggestions.... will do a cleanse on her and add a 3rd litter box. Promise to keep you posted...

elsa2.jpg

• kathy77
• Jan 4, 2014

this is our girl above on the fence.... hoping she will start to go outside more...right now she wants to snuggle in the bedding all day! below are our boys, Baxter and Simon. both rescues....

baxter christmas eve.jpg

• kathy77
• Jan 4, 2014

simon christmas eve.jpg

• kathy77
• Jan 4, 2014

 

[vball91]

What gorgeous kitties! Just to be clear, the enzyme cleanser is for the soiled areas, not the cat.

 

[kathy77]

oh...that's good to know!! :-) guess I would have figured out the cleanse was for the floor not Elsa when I bought it!