So very tired of poop...

[dignan17]

We've had two cats for most of their 9 years (sisters). When we first got them, they were great from a behavior standpoint. Always peed and pooed in their litter boxes, good eaters, never scratched furniture, and rarely got on counters and tables.

About 3 years in, we started dreading a sound we would hear at night: cat claws on laminate. It meant that, once again, a cat had pooped on the floor and was trying to cover it up. At first she did it every once and a while, but it soon got to be every night. We think we know which one it is and that it's only ever one of them. They both pee in the boxes and one of them poops in it.

We moved about 4 years ago and the floor pooping stopped for a small while (like a year) but then picked up again. Now she does it every single time and it's driving me insane. Here are some of the details:

- It's always in the same general area. In our old house, the same 2 sqft area immediately outside the litter box, in our new house the same 10 sqft area on the other side of the basement but still basically near it.

- I've tried everything.  Covered/uncovered boxes. Big/small boxes. Baking soda. Keeping the box pristine. Leaving it a little dirty. 3-4 different kinds of litter. Keeping the litter level low/high. 1 box. 2 boxes. 3 boxes. 3 different kinds of food.

- We asked the vet, and he said her butt was a little inflamed, but I went through the prescribed regimen, got a clean bill of health, and nothing changed.

I'm at a loss. I can't keep cleaning up poop from our basement floor. The cats have effectively barred us from one entire floor of our house, and I can't let my toddler play down there because it's too unsanitary. The damn cats are driving me crazy!

PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[moorspede]

Hang in there, there are lots of things you can try. 

Stay with three boxes, one for each cat plus one. It will mean if they both have their own boxes there will be one left over. Or if one prefers to pee in one and poo in the other then again, one left over. 

One cat has been doing it since she was three? 

I'm wondering if all the litter boxes are in the basement? Ideally they would be placed close to where the family are. 

Here's some reading:

[Article] Litter  Box Location Secrets

[Article] How Often Should You Clean the Litter  Box?

[Article] 16 Experts reveal the most common litterbox mistakes (and how to avoid them)

[Article] How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide

The first thing I would try is to re- position the litter boxes. Try placing one upstairs closer to where you all congregate. 

Are you using an enzymatic cleaner to clean up after the messes? It's extremely important to get rid of all the smell, cats can smell a lot better than us and this stuff gets rid of the smell for them. If they can smell it they will continue to use the area as a toilet. 

Then I would move one box very gradually toward where the cat poos until it is there.   

Another thing you could try, there is a litter with cat attract in it, you could try it, people say it works about half the time, I'd assume if the source of the problem is still there then it doesn't work. You can also get cat attract by itself, it only works with clumping clay litters. 

If this does not work please come back, there is bound to be someone who can help you try something else. 

 

[mtl00]

all i can think of is get a 10 ft square litter box and put the smaller one into the bigger one where it originally was

 

[bjustjenny2]

I have used Cat Attract when my cats have strayed form the litter box because I have not been a great kitty mom (too long between scoops) or my girl is recovering from a UTI.  It has always worked well for us.

 

[dignan17]

I'll start with Cat Attract as the easiest solution. Did you use the litter or just the stuff you can add to whatever litter you already have?

All the other suggestions are great (except maybe the 10 sqft litter box j/k, I liked that one too).

I just can't move these boxes. There's really no other good place to put them, and the cats otherwise have no problems going to them. Also, when we were in our condo, both litter boxes were directly next to the areas where there were most often people in the house. The primary one was about 4' from our couch where we spent most evenings, and the other in the bathroom attached to the office where I worked every day. She would still poop outside the one next to the couch almost every night. And she'd do it directly outside of it.

I would also ascribe the behavior to the lack of attention they've received since our son was born about 2.5 years ago, but she was doing it well before that, when she had our full attention and received tons of affection.

Her behavior is baffling. At this point, I'm fully prepared for these two to be my last cats. I estimate I only have...4 to 12 years more of this to live with...

 

[moorspede]

It may have been caused by something years ago and has just become a long standing habit. If it's not a cleaning problem, if they don;t require their own personal litter box (plus one) and one cat doesn't like to do one thing in each litter box it may just be that one had a problem years ago but it's just become habit. You could retrain your cat to go to the litter box. 

It works this way, you isolate the cat in a small room. You place a litter box on one side and the food and drinking bowls, and bedding on the other. You wait until it does it's business in the litter box and you let it out for a bit of exercise then you put it back. You need to closely supervise her, if she goes to the toilet outside your work will be ruined. 

You need to do this for about three to four weeks if she has not been to the toilet outside the box. 

Meanwhile, you need to thoroughly clean the areas where she's defecated with an enzymatic cleaner so that she doesn't just go back to her old ways.

If you choose to do this, you need to visit her regularly so she doesn't feel like she's been locked away and left, and you need to clean the litter box after use. 

.

 

[bjustjenny2]

I have done both. As significant as this problem is, I would suggest using the litter straight away. Most recently, we start with a completely clean litter box, brand new Clump and Seal litter and sprinkle the stuff on top and that works well for us.  I know this next bit of information won't solve this problem but you might want to think about it.  Think about her food.  Food full of filler and "junk" will make her poop smelly and she will poop a lot more.  Poop is poop whether it's smelly or not right?    Good luck and keep us posted.