Litter Box Help-911!!

[breeagrees]

Hello all, I am new to the site and have read alot of posts, but short of spending all my savings on hiring Jackson Galaxy to come to my home, I have tried everything that I know and none of it is working, so I am hoping for some new insight.

Back Story: (I'll try and make it short)

Ms. Big Kitty Pants came to me from a friend who has had her since a kitten. She pooped in the litter box until about the age of 3 and then she just stopped. Then when she turned 10 they got pregnant and didn't want "cat treats" laying around once the baby came, so I agreed to take her. I THOUGHT I could get her to start pooping in the box again, I mean, I do know quite a bit about cats. Took her to the vet,changed boxes, changed litter, moved placement of boxes, tried a calming collar etc etc. All the things the experts say you are supposed to do. With NO success.

She pees in the box, but then gets out to poop. We didn't mind if it was right in front of the box, but lately she has taken to pooping on the bed, couch, and pretty much anywhere in the house.

She is a tad overweight, so I tried a flat box with Cat Attract litter and she pooped in it once, and then stopped.

I dont' know what to do because my husband has had it with her, but I can't stand to get rid of her. I know this can be fixed, I've seen it before. I just need help, and quickly!!!!!

Any input at all would be SO MUCH appreciated!

Thank you!

Bree

 

[NewYork1303]

One thing to try is confining her to a small room with the litter box for several days. This can help her rebuild litter habits since she'll be so close to the box at all times.

 

[breeagrees]

I have been wanting to try that, but we don't have a smaller room besides a bathroom, and when I lock her in there she just poops in the bathtub. When I lock her in a bedroom, she poops everywhere. I have boarded her before and they said she used the litter box. I think I need to invest in a dog crate 

 

[molly92]

I'm kind of inclined to think that something health wise is going on. Maybe it's just some mild discomfort that didn't really register with the vet. This is what my cat did when she was constipated and associated the pain with pooping with the litter box and tried other places. There might be some minor digestive issue. I would get a second opinion from a different vet, just to be sure, and think about adding probiotics and/or enzymes to her diet to see if that helps. Then, I definitely agree with the confining her to a small space for a while to re-teach her to use the litter box, but if there is a medical problem and it doesn't get fixed first, then she'll go right back to not using the litter box again. And while you're trying to resolve the issue, I found that laying newspaper out in the most likely spots made clean up a lot easier.

 

[breeagrees]

I will be taking her to the vet this week for another check up to make 100% sure it is not a medical condition