Unsure where to put cat box...

[sjcg2010]

Just moved to a new house and got the kitties new litter boxes with covers. Not alot of places to put kitty boxes so we chose at the end of the hallway where there's a sort of shallow nook. Seymour has been doing fine with it Beans however has been pooping outside of the litter box, I though it was their covers so I got different ones with high ends but the top is open, she still eliminated outside of the litter box this morning so I'm thinking it's a location thing since my finacee has been remodeling the room next to her boxes. Our master bedroom is pretty large and quiet, I'm open to suggestions any thoughts?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I agree to try to relocate the box and see if that helps any. There are some cats who prefer to pee in one box and poop in another, so that might be something to consider if relocating the box doesn't help.

If you didn't throw away the 'old' boxes from your previous home, you might also consider using one of them too - maybe it is the familiarity of those boxes that is somehow disrupting Beans, who is already dealing with adapting to a new home!

 

[sjcg2010]

It's weird cause we never had this issue in the other house...I'll try putting one upstairs in the bedroom since it's so quiet up there. Hopefully that helps thank you!!

 

[sunny578]

It's weird cause we never had this issue in the other house...I'll try putting one upstairs in the bedroom since it's so quiet up there. Hopefully that helps thank you!!

Good idea! With two cats, you don't want all of your boxes in one location. Good to have at least one on each floor. You want the boxes in a place where there are multiple points of exit and entry, so the end of the hallway might not be the best spot. Either cat might feel nervous about being ambushed while using the box, so taking the hoods off and making sure that they aren't located in a dead end location helps cats feel confident when using their box. You also might consider adding a third box to the mix, just for good measure.

Please let us know if the issue persists!

 

[sjcg2010]

Thank you, I have 4 boxes so I'm gonna try and space them out accordingly and see if it works thank you so much for the advice!

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go with this.

 

[daftcat75]

I would make sure there is a box somewhere quiet. And I would get rid of the covers. Cats are both predator and prey animals. Pooping is quite a vulnerable time for cats. If Beans can’t see out the box when pooping, she might see that covered box as too risky and eliminate where she can see her surroundings. I have a large litterbox enclosure with an uncovered litterbox inside. There is plenty of room for Betty to walk in and turn around and see outside the enclosure. I can tell which business Betty is conducting by which way she’s facing. She will walk in and squat to pee tail facing out. But she will always turn around to survey her kingdom before she poops. Is the box with the cover big enough for Beans to comfortably walk in and turn around and see outside? If it’s not, she will eliminate outside the box.

Pick some place low traffic, good privacy, and skip the cover. If you go with a litterbox enclosure like I did, take off the service door so that Beans will have a wide open view while she poos.

There’s a side cutout for the cat and a front service door for the human. I took off the front door when Krista (before Betty) was a wobbly one for a while and wouldn’t have navigated the cutout as well as the service door.