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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / June 2004Outside the box frustration - Update
Hi all, I thought I'd get back to you to note my frustration has not abated... sigh... I told you my cat (3.5 years) started pooping outside the box about 2 months ago. She only did it downstairs in the back room where 1 box is (2 more are upstairs). I tried moving the 3rd box upstairs to the spare bedroom where the other boxes are. That was a mistake, because now she does the outside the box thing on the carpet in that spare room. In answer to potential questions or questions that came up before.. Since I last posted I have tried different depths of litter, added an extra box, and sprayed this "Keep away" stuff on the rug - nothing seems to deter her from leaving me a solid little "surprise" She just went to the vet and is in good shape. The vet says it's likely behavioral and "isn't it at least good it's easy to clean up?" The poop is healthy looking "soft formed stool" NOTHING changed around here. We got a new cat a year ago and those 2 get along great. The other 2 cats seem to ignore she does this stuff, which has gone from happening once a week to happening about every other day. She is the most 'cuddly' of my cats, and I pet her and sleep with her and THINK I treat her well... I am now so discouraged I am only trying to get her to poop outside the box downstairs again. At least that was in a back basement room (though note, I do have my home office downstairs, so I am there EVERY day), as opposed to on the rug upstairs. Generally, the situation has only gotten worse. I really want to not freak on this, but when I see that sh** on the floor, I find myself very MAD anymore, and I don't like that either... Please note. I want to give a bit of info that only cat lovers might even listen to... Lia (the "bad" girl) is IMHO the alpha cat here, but also the most into sitting on my lap, being petted, following me around, etc. She is SO much pushier than the other two, eats the treats first, licks up all the hairball meds first, etc. Her litter mate, Jack, is skittish, though she will let me pet her at arms length, or sit on my lap nervously IF Lia is not in the room. Our newest girl, Sam, who was out on her own for her whole first year, won't let me touch her. So I have an odd little mix here. Not your usual cuddly baby lovey cats. BUT Lia is the one who is so lovey, so.. why would she be "acting out" at this moment in time? I know there are no miracles, but I'd love any advice to make this stop. PattyC > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > >PattyC Perhaps she wants to be an "only" cat. She may seek extra attention by doing this. > > Hi all, > > [quoted text clipped - 53 lines] > Perhaps she wants to be an "only" cat. She may seek extra attention > by doing this. I hear you, but.. why did she not feel that way six months ago or a year ago? (And how did she know that I'd know that she is the culprit??? Actually, it took me a few weeks to know who it was, though I was always thinking it was her....) Have I spoiled her too much? I don't want to pay a behaviorist but wonder if there is some clue as to how I might act that could influence HER???? PattyC >> > Hi all, >> > [quoted text clipped - 79 lines] > >PattyC I have had no experience with this problem but then I have had "only" cats. If you are able to pick her up and carry her to her own litter box every so often, perhaps she would get the idea that is what you want her to do. This is just an idea I had -- remember, no actual experience. Best of luck. circa Thu, 03 Jun 2004 23:16:22 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, PattyC (pattycnospam4303@verizon.net) said, > I told you my cat (3.5 years) started pooping outside the box about 2 months > ago. She only did it downstairs in the back room where 1 box is (2 more are > upstairs). I tried moving the 3rd box upstairs to the spare bedroom where > the other boxes are. That was a mistake, because now she does the outside > the box thing on the carpet in that spare room. Okay, I read your entire post, but I didn't see you say anywhere that you'd *gotten rid of* the box that seems to be the trigger. Have you tried that? Laura  SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated. > circa Thu, 03 Jun 2004 23:16:22 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > PattyC (pattycnospam4303@verizon.net) said, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Laura Sorry if I miscommunicated, but there is no one box that is a culprit. I routinely rotate all boxes, and she has done the outside the box thing whether the box is the blue one or the green one, etc. Or whether it's the small or larger one. I don't think the boxes themselves are part of the behavior.... PattyC > I told you my cat (3.5 years) started pooping outside the box about 2 months > ago. She only did it downstairs in the back room where 1 box is (2 more are > upstairs). I tried moving the 3rd box upstairs to the spare bedroom where > the other boxes are. That was a mistake, because now she does the outside > the box thing on the carpet in that spare room. <snip> > I know there are no miracles, but I'd love any advice to make this stop. Well, I have two thoughts. It could be a habit. Habits, while often begun as a stress reliever, can continue long past the end of the original stressor. To break bad toilet habits, one has to start from the beginning. One cat, one box, one room, until she is using it all the time. The smallest space necessary to force usage. If you have to crate her for a small time, you have to. It's better than eventually rehoming her due to your frustration. Cats live in shelters in cages longer than she'll need to be crated. Or, it could be that there is something she doesn't like about the boxes that you haven't identified yet. Since you said she doesn't do it *every* day, do you know if she just doesn't defecate daily or if she sometimes *does* use the box? If she does use it sometimes, *when*? That is key to knowing what she doesn't like. Does she go only if the box was unused? Does she only go after another cat has used it? Does she only go if one particular cat has/hasn't used it yet? Confining her to a separate room with her own box will tell you if it is something about the other cats' usage she objects to. If she stops going outside the box when the other cats aren't sharing, you know that's it. If she doesn't, at least you've ruled it out and can concentrate on how clean is it, type, etc or other behavioral causes. Just my rambling 5 cents... Signature-- ~kaeli~ Local Area Network in Australia:... the LAN down under. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace >> I told you my cat (3.5 years) started pooping outside the box about 2 months >> ago. She only did it downstairs in the back room where 1 box is (2 more are [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > >Just my rambling 5 cents... I had a really weird thought when reading this. Could one of her *other* cats be sick with something as yet unknown, and she's avoiding the box because that cat uses it too? Also, I didn't see if you use more than one box - if not, perhaps try that. I'd suggest trying the above idea - if she uses the box consistently when confined, then I'd look at a couple of things: 1) my weird theory above 2) she's decided she does require a perfectly clean box to go in. My cat's the same way - if I forget to clean the box, I'm likely to get a suprise, though usually it's right in front of the box (hint, hint). jmc Patty - You didn't say how far from the box your kitty poops, or whether you've ever observed the cat "in action". Our eldest kitty (16 yrs) has stiff hips and, unfortunately, frequently fails to squat low enough to keep from peeing over the edge of our cat box and sometimes poops over the edge, barely missing the box. We simply use lots of newspaper around the box and do regular clean ups cause we love the little dear. Jim > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > > PattyC |
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