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Cat Poops On Floor When With Other Cats |
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We adopted an adult male cat (already neutered) about three 3 ago named Henry. We already had two adult males who we raised from kittens. All three are indoor only. At first, there was some hissing and growling but they soon learned to live in peace. However, about 1 year ago, Henry started to occasionally poop beside a litter box. I never found urine outside the box, only poop.
We have not changed boxes or litter. We have not moved or adopted any more animals or made any other changes that I can think of. At first it looked like he would refuse to use the box if it was too dirty. We became more diligent about cleaning all the boxes. However, the frequency of his going beside the box continued to increase to almost every day, even within hours of clearing the box. We had him checked by the vet to make sure he doesn't have any infections or problems, clean bill of health.
Then, a couple of times, it looked like one of our other cat's was bullying Henry near the litter boxes but I couldn't tell for sure. So, we've been keeping Henry and his box upstairs and our other two cats in the basement with their boxes. Henry uses his box correctly. However, if he manages to sneak out to the basement, he'll run straight down and go beside the boxes!
I'm at my wits end. I can not continue to keep his box upstairs. Our house is too small and there is just no good place to put it. I can't allow him to use the floor in the basement either, that's just gross! Any ideas? My husband is threatening to take Henry to the SPCA and I'm running out of time to solve this problem.
Colleen from Ohio
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RE: Cat Poops On Floor When With Other Cats
I am a foster parent for a no-kill shelter and have lots of experience with strange cat behavior. This sounds, like some one already said, psychological. Your cat is showing his subservience to the other cats by not invading their territory...ie. : litter box. I would put a sheet of heavy, waterproof plastic, such as Glad bags, on the floor under the litter box area so it extends the "bathroom area" out past where he poops, tape it securely to the floor, put several layers of newspapers on top of the plastic with the litter boxes on top, and just keep changing the paper and scooping the poop!
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RE: Cat Poops On Floor When With Other Cats
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Post By Biff (Guest Post)
(07/01/2008)
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What happens when you put a separate new, clean litterbox in the spot where he poops in the basement?
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RE: Cat Poops On Floor When With Other Cats
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Post By Thrifty Fun (Guest Post)
(07/01/2008)
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Put newspaper on the floor under the pans. Let Henry go on the paper. Put several pages down. Put kitty litter on the poop and let it harden, then remove the few pages necessary. See if Henry will go where the smell of the litter on the paper is. Eventually, you could try to put newspaper into an empty litter box, introducing litter gradually. Cats do some strange things all of a sudden, but it takes a while for them to go back. You could also keep moving the upstairs litter box slowly towards the basement to see if he will keep using it even after it is replaced in the basement. I have done this with a cat who had to get used to going down to the basement and didn't want to. Slowly but surely, he made it! You don't have to move it by inches, feet will do. Good luck.
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RE: Cat Poops On Floor When With Other Cats
This sounds like a territorial, psychological problem to me. Something is going on with these cats, and Henry is retaliating. Try googling for more info on the net. There may be sites that discuss this. What about laying down a protective layer of newspaper around the other cat's litter box. This would temporarily give Henry a spot to show his disdain for the other cats, and make clean up easier.
Also you could try talking to your vet, or if he or she is not helpful, try a different one, or a vet college where they may be more interested in psychological pet problems.
Good luck with Henry's problem.
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