Pooping On Rug, Don’t Know What To Do

[Rei's Mom]

So my girl, Rei, has pooped on one of our rugs the past 2 days. No idea why. Her litter is fine, it’s the same I’ve been using. I have 3 boxes (2 cats). I clean the boxes daily. I’m lost. She just turned 1 and this is definitely not normal behavior for her. The man of the house says she has to go if he catches her again. What do I do?

 

[Furballsmom]

Ask him if he can be more patient with the fact that she's not doing this to be a meanie, and she's not doing this to be obnoxious. She's been perfect up to now, and this isn't normal for any clean animal especially a cat. There's something wrong.

Get some puppy pee training pads, and you'll want to run her in to the vet.

 

[Tobermory]

When something is wrong with our kitties, it takes a lot of patience to work through possible solutions. If only they could tell us what’s wrong!

Could she be constipated? They get very uncomfortable and when nothing happens for them in the box, they keep trying no matter where they are. Have you changed their food recently? Do you feed canned food or dry?

Is she in any kind of medicine?

Has something changed in her environment to cause anxiety? Is the other cat blocking access to her favorite box or lying in wait and pouncing or chasing when she leaves the box?

 

[tinydestroyer]

I agree about urging him to be more patient. You will have to determine if it is behavioral or health related first, so I agree, too, that a vet visit is in order. Is she going #1 in the box? Is she de clawed or has she ever had any bad experiences with digestive issues or litter boxes? Do you have more than one cat that might be territorial of the box?

In the meantime, here are some options for stain and smell removal on the rug. Hopefully, they'll buy you and your cat some time until you can figure out what's up:
- get as much of the feces off the rug as possible
- use an enzyme stain remover
- white vinegar may help break down resistant parts
- oxy clean or oxygen bleach may work on fabric woven rugs

And here's some articles about box issues:
How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide

16 Experts Reveal The Most Common Litterbox Mistakes (and How To Avoid Them)

Good luck, and keep us updated!