Foster Cat Peeing And Pooping On Furniture!?

[atp0726]

I am fostering a female stray cat that had kittens on my property and just had her spayed a few weeks ago. Currently, we have her living in our basement while we find her a home.

I just realized this morning she has been peeing and pooping on a couch I covered with a blanket for her to hang out on.

She currently has a litter box with pine pellets that she has been using. I use the pine pellets with her kittens which i also have in the home so it was easy to to use them with her. She's been using the box too so not sure if its an aversion to the pellets. I clean the poop out right away but the pellets absorb the pee and turn to sawdust. Maybe she can smell the pee still and doesnt want to use it? Should I try clay litter?

I am fairly certain she has worms. When I had her spayed through a local shelter program de-worming wasn't an option. I called my vet and they said I would need to bring her in with a stool sample. Since I am just fostering the cost was a bit prohibitive. If we were going to adopt her I would bring her in.

The basement has windows but it does get fairly dark at night. I directed a solar spotlight in a window for her but that may not last all night. I know cats can see much better than us at night but does she need some light at night to see the box?

Now I am wondering if someone dropped her off in my neighborhood not because she was pregnant but maybe because they were experiencing the inappropriate elimination with her.

 

[abyeb]

Thank you for helping this kitty! Have you taken her to the vet to rule out any potential medical causes? Inappropriate elimination can be symptoms of IBD, colitis, kidney or liver disease, FLUTD, and anal sac disease, but there's probably other things too that I'm unaware of. Your vet will be able to check for these, as well as any other issues that could be the cause. If she's an older kitty, arthritis could also be a potential reason. Stress could also be a cause of inappropriate elimination, but it's always best to try to see if there's an underlying medical cause for something like this, before trying to work on behavior.

 

[susanm9006]

If she has been an outdoors cat her whole life she is used to going wherever she finds a good spot, so using a litterbox may be something foreign to her or she may not like the texture or odor of,the litter you are using. I would try a different litter like a fine scoopable kind and scoop it a couple times a day to see if she will consistently use it. You can clean the sofa with an enzyme based cleaner like Nature’s Miracle andmthen I would make the sofa inaccessible or cover it something like a heavy plastic tarp which may not be as appealing to her.