HELP before we surrender this shelter cat -Litter box woes

[igorlover]

Home: 2 story home, no children. Quiet atmosphere. Tons of toys and a huge cat tree to lounge on.
Cats: 2 declawed cats- Igor/male/age 7 and Luna/female/age 4

Brief background: This January (2014) my husband and I adopted Luna, a partially deaf female cat from a shelter. She joined Igor, a very sweet male cat. We quarantined Luna to a large room to herself for two weeks with gradual introduction. Now both cats live with each other happily. Luna was in a foster home with children, dogs, and other animals who 'picked on her'. She was advertised as a 'non lap cat'. Within the 1st day of owning her, she got comfortable and is a HUGE lap cat. So when we moved her litter box downstairs, she had an accident. We figure she forgot where the box was and went where it was. So we physically took her down and showed her the basement. she used the box, and life was good.

Suddenly, a few months ago, she began to go outside of the box to poop and pee. The box had been moved inches away for a good floor sweeping.. was she confused?? I didnt know. But she continued to go outside of the box. After several weeks we took her to the vet to rule out medical issues, and she was treated for a UTI despite not being able to see if she had one. We quarantined her back to the large room and she used the box just fine.

Luna will use the box upstairs just fine, but likes to go into the basement and poop on the ground. I’ve physically scrubbed the entire vicinity with a brush and bleach, and used Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Stain and Residue Remover all over the basement.

We have 3 litter boxes, 2 covered, 1 not covered and she’s still doing this. Everything else about her is normal. I have never heard of a cat doing this. I’m thinking a last resort is locking the basement and moving the boxes upstairs in the living quarters. I’m beginning to suspect this may be why she was a stray in the first place.

Here's a list of all the things my husband and I have Tried:
-quarantined to one room (she uses it 100% successfully)

When not quarantined to one room we’ve tried:
-Special cat litter
-normal cat litter
-having 3 clean boxes (2 covered 1 uncovered)
-placing food and water near areas where she shouldn’t be going
-putting the waste into the box
-placing treats near the box
-physically placing her in the box
-treated by vet in case of UTI
-contacted the shelter for advice
-taken to the vet for advice
-routine box cleaning


I do not want to give up on this cat, but I don't want to deal with this for another 10 years. Does anyone have any new suggestions? I need an expert please. We've talked about surrendering her back to her rescue, but we really really don't want to. After 6 months of dealing with this, we have run out of ideas and we are getting burnt out.

 

[vball91]

It does appear that you have tried a lot of things to resolve this and I can definitely sympathize with your frustration. I do wonder if there's something about the basement that's causing this behavior if she uses the boxes upstairs without difficulty. I would definitely try keeping her out of the basement. Also maybe try a longer quarantine period in one room.

 

[mani]

I agree with vball91.

Is the floor cement?  If so, from my experience, the only way to remove the odour, after using the enzyme cleaner (not bleach), is to seal it.

The declawing may be an issue; I'm presuming that happened quite a while ago?  There are studies that indicate that arthritis can be an issue as the animal ages and the process of digging and covering may be problematic.  There could be ways around this, but I'm from a non-declawing country so I'll leave that up to people with more knowledge.

She sounds like a real sweetie apart from this issue.. I do hope we can help you resolve it. Luna seems so happy with you.

 

[goholistic]

Hmm... 

  I also agree that if she's going fine upstairs, then there may be something about the basement.

  It seems to have all started when you moved the litter box downstairs.

Some cats get really anxious with change. I have one. Caesar does not tolerate any changes to his litter box. One time I switched from one brand of unscented clay litter to another brand of unscented clay litter, and he was not happy. Went outside the box. I brought back the old brand, and voila, back in the box. I wanted to move the litter box to another part of the room and I had to move it just a few inches every few days. It took forever and at one point the litter box was in the middle of the room! 

There may come a point, if not already, that you just can't force it. Cats are of the most stubborn creatures, in my experience, and you may have to give in to where she feels most comfortable. Luna may be the type of cat who likes routine and an environment that is relatively unchanging.

One thing I do not see on your list is non-medicinal behavior aids. Have you tried Feliway diffusers or Spirit Essences?

I do hope you can get this resolved so that Luna can stay with your family.

 

[igorlover]

We have not tried the defusers, but it's worth a shot. We can't part with her. As silly as she is for doing this, we love her. Just wish we could figure out how she works mentally. Lol

 

[mrblanche]

Question: It's not clear to me. Is there still a box upstairs that she is using OK, or is the one in the basement the only one, now?

 

[catsallaround]

Have heard of cats avoiding basement because of the appliances there(water heater/ac/furnace...)  Is it possible something like that spooked her.  I would try boxes in the main part of house and locking basement and see if that solves it.

 

[chwx]

You say 2 are covered and one is uncovered, which box does she pee in successfully and what options are in the basement? Some cats like a box to pee and a box to poop, if the one she pees in is uncovered then maybe try uncovering one in the basement for her to poop in?

 

[igorlover]

You say 2 are covered and one is uncovered, which box does she pee in successfully and what options are in the basement? Some cats like a box to pee and a box to poop, if the one she pees in is uncovered then maybe try uncovering one in the basement for her to poop in?

1 covered is upstairs that she uses. 1 covered downstairs and 1 uncovered downstairs.

Another thing is that both cats seem to use the boxes. It's hard to know if she's sometimes using the downstairs box if at all... Basically all 3 boxes are being used but I know luna is the one pooping outside it downstairs

 

[tabbycats]

You know she is using the upstairs box but do they both use it and share it ok? I'm wondering if your other cat primarily "owns" the downstairs boxes so she goes outside of it when she's down there? Is she comfortable and relaxed when in the basement? If not, going outside the box leaves her scent around stronger which would make her more comfortable there and help increase her "ownership" of the area. Also, besides covered/uncovered, are the downstairs boxes more or less equal heights and widths as the upstairs box (just as easy to get in and out of and move around in, same amounts of litter, etc). Just ideas...but simply closing off the basement and keeping the boxes upstairs may be the easiest solution.

 

[bonepicker]

Each cat should have their own box on each level. Two cats x 3 levels is 6 boxes.

 

[wasabipea]

This might sound silly, but my basement is super dark, and I had to get one of those work lights with the cage and an LED bulb and leave it on all the time. They didn't like the total darkness.

Also, my boy cat would sometimes "miss" and I put the boxes on a tarp. That could make your problem worse though...

 

[7th cat]

Hi I have three cats and two litter trays one cat will only go outside to go to the toilet so the two boxes are used by the two cats. First of all I had to find the litter that they were both happy with. Basic from Sainsbury was the light gravel they liked.
Next I found that if one cat was caught shirt and did a wee in the wrong box the other cat gets in the litter tray but bottom sticks out and she does it outside/ beside the tray. So I put newspaper underneath the tray larger size than box so catches any accidents. Works for me hope it helps.