We Had Our First Accident, Help Me Fix It

[artem]

I have a kitten named Hunter who is about six months.  He has been pretty good with litterbox use until today, when he pooped on the floor.  I'm not sure what the exact issue is, as there are a few possible candidates.  On Saturday, he had a vet visit and got his e-collar off (he was chewing at the surgery site after being neutered).  He's been pretty good about using the litterbox with the e-collar but he seemed a bit disconcerted to have it removed.  This weekend, we also had visitors over.  I've had guests before with no problem, but I think this is the most likely source of stress.  As Hunter likes jumping on beds, I had to shut him in the bathroom with the litterbox at night and during the day my friends weren't great about leaving the door open for him in case he also needed to pee.  I tried giving him treats near the litterbox after they left, but he seemed reluctant to step in it.  I'm not sure if he just didn't want to eat in it or if he no longer likes it.  The third vague possibility is I watched a video with a cat meowing, which seemed to really freak Hunter out (he is an only cat and it looks like he probably does not like other cats).  This was around the location of the accident and possibly around the time, although I am not entirely sure when the accident occurred and it could also have been while my friends shut him out of the bathroom.  He just had a vet check two days ago and is in good health but if we continue to have litterbox trouble, I will have him reexamined when we go back in two weeks for an unrelated issue.

Anyway, what I've done is left the current litterbox, with the same litter, in the same location while making a second "litterbox" out of a spare box, filling it with the clumping litter I want him eventually using, and putting it in the room he pooed in.  If this does not work, I will pick up a third box but hopefully the second box will resolve the problem and I can then work on slowly moving him back to the bathroom.  I have also cleaned the site of the accident with enzymatic cleaners and checked the apartment for other spots, but that appears to be the only one.  Is there anything else I need to be doing?  I was hoping to wean him off of free-fed dry this week, as according to the vet he is too heavy, but I think I should give it back until we have the potty issue resolved.  I'd really like to nip this in the bud, so if anyone has any thoughts, please contribute.  I am 95% sure it's stress as he has had a very stressful weekend, but if there's anything else I should be doing, I will.

 

[momto3cats]

It sounds like you're doing all the right things at this point. He really should have reliable access to a litterbox, especially as he's a kitten and can't "hold it" as long as an adult would. If he can't always get to the usual one while your friends are there, put the second one (and third?) in a room he can get to, and show it to him so he knows about it.

It's always a good idea to have more than one litterbox in any case, in different parts of the home. The general rule is to have as many boxes as you have cats, plus one.

 

[artem]

Normally that door stays open but my friends were not good at remembering.    We only have one litterbox as we live in a one bedroom apartment and he doesn't have any four-legged roommates, but if he'll use two, I'll keep two, even if I don't love the idea of having one in the middle of the living room. Funnily enough, I think Hunter's on the same page.   He doesn't seem interested in the new box now that I've moved it.  Should I move it back into the bathroom, to give him the choice?  I'd like him using the new litter eventually anyway and I know the normal "right" approach is to give kitty two boxes to pick from and only make the switch if he prefers it.

The good news is, today he's been going to the old litterbox perfectly.  *shrugs*  Maybe someone just shut the door when he needed to go.  Either way, next time I have the same people over, I'm going to ask them to stay in a hotel.    Hunter's been okay in the past with having one person sleeping in the living room, but maybe two guests at once was too much.  My other friends were also better about leaving the bathroom door open or making sure the cat was on the side with the litterbox when they closed it.

I'm going to continue monitoring him, as it was a stressful weekend, but my guess for the moment would be that he just got locked out, in which case I can't really blame him for turning to the floor.  Although he does seem pretty tired today.  I'm hoping it's just a response to a busy weekend, as he was FAR more active than usual and was up all night with me during a bout of insomnia, but I'm a little worried he may be getting a URI.  Two days ago, I stopped to look at the adoptable cats when in PetSMART and I'm 95% sure one of them was sick (the rescue worker was elsewhere, or I would have said something as a sick kitty deserves a quieter place than a pet store to recover).  I left as soon as I noticed and Hunter isn't sneezing or twitching like the other cat was, he's just a little lethargic but I am worried as there was air flow between the rescue kitty to me.  Any particular symptoms I should be looking out for?  Could this be yet another potential source of litterbox woes?

Also, is it normal for him not to want to eat a treat in his litterbox?  I was worried he had litterbox aversion because he did not want to step in the litter to take the treat, but today he's been going in no problem and burying his waste with his normal relish.

 

[Ms. Freya]

It sounds like all of the events (vet, guests, e-collar) just threw him forca bit of a loop. I think you're right to monitor him and just try to keep his routine as normal as possible.

The main symptoms to look for if you're worried about a URI are sneezing and loss of appetite/energy. From what you describe, it's a low chance that a healthy kitten like Hunter will pick something up from your brief contact, but keep an eye out for sneezing, loss of appetite and lethargy.

 

[artem]

Yes, I think he's fine.  He seems himself again, although he slept two hours longer than normal.    He was probably just tired, between a busy weekend and staying up with me.  But I am going to keep an eye on him, as I know there is a small possibility I transmitted something.

And the two boxes are now both in the bathroom and he hasn't used the second one yet, but sniffed it with more interest when it was in designated "potty space".  He clearly knows where he's supposed to be eliminating but I get why he'd have a slip-up, all things considered.

 

[artem]

And yet another complication arises.    We had poo in the apartment again today, but it was not a potty accident but something stuck to his fur after he tried pottying in the litterbox.  It came off on its own before I could remove it and I cleaned it up as if it were an accident.  Now I'm wondering if that may have been what happened the first time, as the two "events" looked similar in size and consistency and he's never had litterbox issues before.  And he definitely knows where the "potty room" is, as he refused to use the second box until I moved it into the bathroom.  I guess I'll never known, but am going to need to look into possibly trimming some of the fur near his anus as I'm sure having poop stuck to him isn't fun for him either.  But that's what I get for buying a longhaired cat.    And yes, his fur is combed and brushed daily to keep him looking and feeling his best.