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Old April 27th, 2005, 03:32 PM
Detour Detour is offline
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Help, our cat poops on the floor but pees in the litter box

We adopted a 10 month old kitten from the SPCA, and since then we've had a lot of problems with her. When we first brought her home and for the first three days we had her she was great. She adjusted to her new home and used the litter box, and was quite affectionate.

On the fourth day she stopped eating and started hiding. We brought her to the vet and found out she had an infection from being spayed two weeks earlier. So we gave her antibiotics and she started feeling better. The thing is, after the antibiotics she started pooping on the floors instead of the litter box, which she will still use to pee in.

We've tried numerous things, such as confining her to a smaller area, putting out three litter boxes, trying different litter, using bitter apple spray in areas where she went on the floor, and positive encouragement when she was in the litter box, all to no avail.

This has become a 2-3 times a day occurance, and we thought that it might be diahrea so we took her back to the vet, who checked her out and said our cat was healthy, and she had no idea why she would be pooping on the floors like that when still she pees in the litterbox. She gave us antibiotics to use just in case it is some sort of intestinal virus causing this, but her lack of answers have left us quite worried.

Our cat is a sweetie, she's affectionate and playful - but we can't keep cleaning up after her 2-3 times daily, and we're afraid if we bring her back to the shelter they may put her down.

Does anyone have any insight into this?
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Old April 27th, 2005, 05:10 PM
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What are you feeding her ? Pooping 2-3 times a day seems excessive.
What kind of litter box do you have ? (one of my cats pees, but refuses to poo in a covered litter box, seems really strange, but true)
What kind of litter do you use?
Where do you keep the litter box ? ( some cats like total privacy, especially when pooing)
Do you have any other pets or kids? (my smallest cat poos on the floor ocassionally, because the other, ,bigger cats chase her out of the litter box)


Oh by the way WELCOME!! (started talking about poo before saying Hi, sorry )
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Old April 27th, 2005, 05:22 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Bitter apple wont' help here, since it's only good for animals who chew things.

Since this behavior started after she had the infection, I really think this is related. There is always a reason when cats start avoiding the box.

She may have had pain when she went in the litterbox, and then got more pain when she was straining to go. This made her think the litterbox itself is causing the pain, so she tried to find a place where she could go without pain.

If you're sure she's healthy and not painful , you need to confine her to a smaller area, like a large dog crate, with a litterbox and little else until she is using it reliably. You must do this no matter how long it takes. The shelter will surely kill her, since they cannot adopt out a cat who is messing on the floor.

I agree that going two or 3 times a day is a lot. What and how much are you feeding her?
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Old April 27th, 2005, 05:37 PM
Detour Detour is offline
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What are you feeding her ? Pooping 2-3 times a day seems excessive.

We thought so too (one of the reasons why we brought her to a vet), we are feeding her the same food she had in the shelter, and the same amounts. I should clarify, at first it was 2-3 times a day, now it is 1-2.

What kind of litter box do you have ?


We are using open litter boxes.

What kind of litter do you use?

We are using two kinds - The World's Best brand, which is corn based I believe, and also a pine based litter, which is the litter she used in the shelter.

Where do you keep the litter box ? ( some cats like total privacy, especially when pooing)

We placed one under the bed where she was pooping (didn't help, she just poops beside the box), one in a closet, and one under a side table. They are private locations that are easily accessible.

Do you have any other pets or kids? (my smallest cat poos on the floor ocassionally, because the other, ,bigger cats chase her out of the litter box)

Nope, it is a quiet household.

Thanks for welcome.
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Old April 27th, 2005, 06:02 PM
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This may not be relevant but has she been dewormed? I'm guessing that the shelter cannot afford the best food. If you can afford to buy better quality food - no corn or by-products in the first five listed ingredients, or even better no corn at all - you might see a change. You could buy the smallest bag and just see what happens. Did we discuss the consistency of the poo? (only cat lovers can understand our interest in such an arcane subject ). Don't give upon her yet. There is a solution for this.
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Old April 27th, 2005, 06:05 PM
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AAlot of shelters can't afford to feed good quality food, so you should look into changing her do a good quality food (gradually) soon.
As for the pooping, you may have to try Lucky's advise (keep cat in crate with a litter box until she starts using it) That is after all heath problems are ruled out.
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Old April 27th, 2005, 08:21 PM
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Shamrock Shamrock is offline
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Hi and welcome to you.
The suggestions you've been given are the best avenues to work towards solving this problem. A gradual food switch is advisable, and could make a difference.
You could perhaps try a covered box, though it sounds like she has privacy and quiet.
Though the frequency would indicate more of a diarrhea - could it be constipation? Are the stools hard, maybe causing her straining?

I've had same problem with one of my cats recently - pooping on the floor, but intermittently- two or three times a week.
The vet suggested possible constipation - and more water in his diet.
I 've increased his wet food, decreased the dry. I've also been giving him Petromalt hairball formula every day.
In the last couple of weeks, he's pooped just once on the floor - kind of encouraging. I am continuing to monitor this behaviour.
As he always goes to the exact same spot, I've been treating this floor area with strong natural lemon scent as a deterrent. ( cats dont like citrus smell)

Good luck with this! Its a frustating problem.. but a solution can usually always found, and especially with such a young cat.
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Old April 28th, 2005, 04:04 PM
Detour Detour is offline
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Regarding the food, it is a good quality brand, I'm at work right now so I can't remember the exact title. She has been dewormed as well, the last time being just over a week ago. It's definitely not constipation, it is a loose, very smelly stool.

We're starting to get really concerned for her as she peed on the floor this morning too. We just had her at the vet yesterday so I'm not sure what to think about whether this is a health issue or a behaviour issue. We may end up taking her to another vet for a second opinion.

Thanks for all of the input and suggestions.
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Old April 28th, 2005, 04:40 PM
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I am flummoxed (not hard). I'd keep giving him yogurt, his gut is obviously acting up. There's also something called probiotics, in a pill, that is supposed to repopulate the gut with the good kind of bacteria, which antibiotics strip away.

My cat had diarrhea when he was wormed (Drontal) - but it didn't last.
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Old April 29th, 2005, 08:54 AM
Detour Detour is offline
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Eureka!

Our diligence has finally paid off, she pooped in the litter box last night! We did end up slowly changing her food over the last couple of days and a few other things that hopefully will make a permanent impression. Thanks again for all the suggestions everyone, hopefully our kitty is back to using the litter box for good!
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Old April 29th, 2005, 09:02 AM
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I am so happy !!!!! I'm glad everything is going good, I hope it lasts, I have my fingers crossed for you
Hopefully, soon you can get down to business ( of loving and enjoying your furry companion )
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Old August 25th, 2007, 05:08 PM
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gail52 gail52 is offline
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poo problem

I figured since i was reading all this stuff because my new kittie has a little problem i think. I had 2 cats and on just died 2 months ago, well being the heartbreaker sofie is my husband brought her home the day after carly died, but shamie who was here first does nothing but his and growl at her and the little one runs crazy after her, but my litter pans are in the basement 3 of them, so not sure who is doing the dirty,but shamie never did this so i fugure its little kitty, she poos on the basement floor but yet all 3 pans have poo in them any clues? I never thought of the older one dhasing the other out of the pan but if they are not down there the same time how? thanks for all the listening and how is everyon?
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Old August 25th, 2007, 05:37 PM
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she poos on the basement floor but yet all 3 pans have poo in them any clues?
It could be that you need to clean the litter boxes more often. I scoop mine twice a day. Cats don't like having to walk in their own waste, so if all 3 boxes have poo in them already, she may just not want to go in them.
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Old August 28th, 2007, 05:33 PM
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yea I don't so it everyday but like yesterday we changed the litter and loo and behold
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Old August 28th, 2007, 05:50 PM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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"she just poops beside the box"

Have you been able to observe as she does this? One of ours sometimes missed the box because she likes to perch on the sides of it and is sometimes facing the wrong way and the poop goes outside the box. We fixed by putting the litter box inside a bigger cardboard box
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Old August 29th, 2007, 12:31 AM
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LOL, that is funny. I think you have to train the cat to solve the problem. Cats poop is so very
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Old February 6th, 2008, 07:43 PM
Chynnah Chynnah is offline
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Question My cat poos on the floor too...

My cat Chynnah, is 8-1/2 years old and has ALWAYS gone pee and poo in her covered litter box. From day one she has had the same litter box and the same litter. About a month ago we moved into a new home. Well, it's new for us. She was great for her first two weeks in the house. She used her litter box and there was never any problem. Suddenly, she started to poo on the carpet near the fireplace. The first time there was three piles and since I didn't know how old it was, I never scolded her. The next time was about four days later and there was another three piles. I scolded her that time. After that it has become a daily occurance. Each day, there is ONE pile of poop, I pick it up and toss it in her litter box. I cleaned the are with "Spot Shot" as it is all I have available at the moment, but she still goes back. I next saturated the area in baking soda and left it for two days, and it still never deterred her. I heard that cats don't like lime, so I squirted the area with lime juice today to see if that makes a difference. Each time she does it, it is during the night. She is rarely alone, gets fed ONCE a day, pees in her litterbox, and only goes poo in the same areas near the fireplace. I haven't found poo anywhere else in the house. My theory is that there has been a 'dirty' cat in this house before and she smells its odor. My question is why is she doing this and what can I do?
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Old January 14th, 2011, 09:45 PM
comk4ver comk4ver is offline
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same issue!

so I've had my cat Dexter since he was born! and since he was a baby. He's pooped outside the box. (side note: our funniest story was when he couldn't find the litterbox and started crying and we ran to him and put him in the litterbox!).
We've feed him a mixture of Science Diet and Nine Lives.
He had a littermaid, then a huge open litterbox and now a black open tub.
We used to use Fresh Step we now use Arm&Hammer Litter
We keep the litterbox next to the door that leads to my room. And the place where he keeps pooping is right next to it!
we have five other cats and he tends to try and dominate them so there's no harrassing...
The strange part is that it's mostly my bedroom door either behind it when it's partly open (so it gets spread when i go in) or in front of it when it's completely closed. But, he pees in the box and the weirder part is when we try to catch him which is done by keeping an eye on him he'll go in the box but if we don't watch him he goes by the door. He's seen the doctor and we were told he was okay... he does have tapeworms but the stool is "normal" in comparison to the rest of the bunch.i keep thinking i should try an enclosed litterbox but, i keep thinking it's something else because the other times when the door is blocked off like us watching him he'll go under the table or by the front door next to the entertainment center. It's so strange...
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Old January 14th, 2011, 09:51 PM
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Sounds to me like you need to have a few more litterboxes around. With six cats you should have a minimum 7 boxes; all kept very clean. Room permitting of course. If he is going right beside the box he is trying to tell you something. Like the box is too dirty. Or he doesn't like the feel of the litter.
Have the tapeworms been treated? I hope so. Left alone they can cause a ton of health issues not only for him but for your other cats which they will be spread to. They all need a course of worm medication from the vet asap please.
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Old January 14th, 2011, 10:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
so I've had my cat Dexter since he was born! and since he was a baby. He's pooped outside the box.
Just so I understand, you're saying he's pooped outside the box since he was a kitten? Do you know for sure if it's always him, or could it be one of the other cats?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
We've feed him a mixture of Science Diet and Nine Lives.
. More on this later.....


Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
We used to use Fresh Step we now use Arm&Hammer Litter
Are these scented litters? Have you tried anything else?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
We keep the litterbox next to the door that leads to my room.
Just the one box? For 6 cats? How often do you clean it? Have you tried putting boxes in any other locations?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
And the place where he keeps pooping is right next to it!
How big is your cat? Are you sure he isn't just hanging his butt over the edge?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
we have five other cats and he tends to try and dominate them so there's no harrassing...
Is everybody neutered? What does he do when he "dominates" them?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
He's seen the doctor and we were told he was okay... he does have tapeworms
Having tapeworms is not "okay". Repeating what 14+ asked, is he being treated for them?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
but the stool is "normal" in comparison to the rest of the bunch.
What is wrong with the other cats' stool?

Quote:
Originally Posted by comk4ver View Post
the other times when the door is blocked off like us watching him he'll go under the table or by the front door next to the entertainment center.
Have you ever actually caught him in the act? If so, what did you do?

Now, about that food. Without going into exhaustive detail, dry food is really not a good choice for cats, and those 2 dry foods in particular are pretty bad. Way to high in carbohydrates, which can cause long-term damage to feline organs, and way too low in moisture, which results in other serious health issues like bladder and urinary tract problems and kidney disease. For more detail, please read this link: www.catinfo.org

Now I totally realize that feeding 6 cats wet food can get pretty expensive, but there are ways to cut costs. Not only that, but you'll save money in vet bills in the long run. It's worth thinking about.
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Old April 14th, 2012, 12:47 AM
comk4ver comk4ver is offline
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Unhappy

Quote:
Just so I understand, you're saying he's pooped outside the box since he was a kitten? Do you know for sure if it's always him, or could it be one of the other cats?

Quote:
Are these scented litters? Have you tried anything else?

Quote:
Just the one box? For 6 cats? How often do you clean it? Have you tried putting boxes in any other locations?

Quote:
How big is your cat? Are you sure he isn't just hanging his butt over the edge?

Quote:
Is everybody neutered? What does he do when he "dominates" them?

Quote:
Having tapeworms is not "okay". Repeating what 14+ asked, is he being treated for them?

Quote:
What is wrong with the other cats' stool?

Quote:
Have you ever actually caught him in the act? If so, what did you do?

Now, about that food. Without going into exhaustive detail, dry food is really not a good choice for cats, and those 2 dry foods in particular are pretty bad. Way to high in carbohydrates, which can cause long-term damage to feline organs, and way too low in moisture, which results in other serious health issues like bladder and urinary tract problems and kidney disease. For more detail, please read this link: www.catinfo.org

Now I totally realize that feeding 6 cats wet food can get pretty expensive, but there are ways to cut costs. Not only that, but you'll save money in vet bills in the long run. It's worth thinking about.

The Response:
My apologies for the long delay but, I've had alot of meical issues with my oldest cat Tahoe see below.

No, it's Dexter... we've caught him in the act plenty of times. No, we don't use scented litter just regular http://www.amazon.com/Arm-Hammer-Mul...4380123&sr=8-1

We tried that non clumping clay litter us the humans hated it due to the odors... We have tried placing two other litter boxes one under the table and one in a different corner and that didn't work out either. We clean the litterbox as often as they use it. He's not that big actually, he when he does use the litterbox for poop he tends to squat on two legs and hang using his two front legs as if standing weird... Weirdly, he scratches the walls and plastic corners to get litter even though obviously walls and corners don't have litter. We though he was a little weird but, I've seen some youtube videos and they do it too so I guess this is semi-normal behavior for a cat.

YES, they are all neutered and spayed! Mostly, I've seen humping behavior between him and his brother William, and small spats between him and the other males (three others beside William). He does tend to get really angry/pissed off when he sees a local black stray cat like psycho spitting, bring out a mop, his mother slaps him to snap him out of it behavior. However, when this does happens we try to talk to him and then give him affection: scratching under the chin, petting, however, this black intruder is a recent development and there's no corralation between the black cat and his defecating.

The Tape worms are addressed as soon as we see them with the tapeworm pills as seen here! http://www.1800petmeds.com/Tape+Worm...prod10415.html

Nothing is wrong with their stools actually, I was just using them as a reference actually! You know if you get five people and you compare a sixth they should all look like if they are all on the same diet.

When we catch him in the act, we sigh and proceed to clean it, what else can we do? He's a cat, but we definately don't rub his nose in it or yell alot. We just say DEXTER! But we don't harm him, hit him, or do anything about just get paper, soap, water.

Actually, in the beginning I read somewhere that wet food promoted worms heaven knows where the hell I picked that up however, my oldest Tahoe has feline sterile cystitis, we've been prescribed Purina UR Urinary Tract Cat Food 16 lb as seen here: http://www.amazon.com/Purina-Urinary.../dp/B0050JLCUS

However, seeing as to how the I've been reading petinfo.org and other such material I'm adding 1/2 cup of water to both his meals I try to ensure that he eats the kibble and water. I've also gotten themn the 360 drinkwell fountain as seen here http://www.amazon.com/Drinkwell-D360...4381042&sr=1-1

in an attempt to ensure all my felines are drinking enough water I as have a second water bowl with just standing water that is replaced with fresh water whenever it gets on piece of fur or speck of dirt/litter spot.
I do actually plan to move them all to wet food most notably to nine lives urinary tract wet can food only because I have two cats one whose infection cleared completely the second one (idk what to make of it; he's not in pain but he pees ALOT it sounds like a hose has been opened, but his behavior is strange because he'll start talking alot but it's not painful almost like saying I want to use the bathroom but I'm afraid it'll hurt, and I have to place him twice in the box before he uses it then he'll use it, so I am now trying to associate the litterbox with treats and petting as a good thing... We think he has just gotten used to going everywhere he please, we didn't attempt to correct or admonish him during his active cystitis because he was in pain we could tell because he would hide and start making I'm hurting meowing noises.) and I plan to stay away from the fish and chicken flavors. Only because I have read that chicken and fish have been shown to aggravate the cystitis condition.

Also, we have noticed that Dexter's defecating outside the box has subsided alot. But, we do notice that it occurs mostly when the feedings don't occur on schedule eg 6/7am and 5 pm. We notice that Dexter's attention seeking behavior is done in order to convince us it's time to feed starts around 415-445 pm that's we the extra vocalization happens. So if the feeding is gone past five thirty then that's when it'll happen. Although sometimes, it happens even if the food was given at the right time but, when that happens it's cause the litterbox was dirty.
We really believe that he does it to get revenge and get our attention sort of well, you obviously didn't HEAR me the first fifty times but, this will bring you out! But, he's a cat for crying out loud, revenge I hope isn't a concept that he's learned...

I'm sorry that I also included my other cat's health issue it just dragged me down so much I was remotely contemplating putting him down because of how painful he was crying... But, he's okay now so far I want to keep fighting for him.

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