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More cat advice sought. (Warning: Poopies.)
Ada's taken to going to the bathroom in incorrect locations lately. Last week she peed on the rug next to her litterbox. Yesterday she did her number-twos in the laundry basket in our bedroom.
Becuase she is stealthy, we don't discover the accidents until long after they're perpetrated, so we haven't bothered punishing her. But we'd like her to cut it out, just the same.
Thoughts of things we might be doing wrong, or which we should be looking out for?
Becuase she is stealthy, we don't discover the accidents until long after they're perpetrated, so we haven't bothered punishing her. But we'd like her to cut it out, just the same.
Thoughts of things we might be doing wrong, or which we should be looking out for?
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On the other hand, none of that is wrong with my cat, as far as we can tell, and she still pees inappropriately.
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It might also be the litter, though I think she did this with the small litter too, so I'm not sure?
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There's no real way to punish an animal for going to the bathroom -- it'll only confuse the critter into thinking it is bad whenever it takes a piss/dump.
Is there another cat or dog in the home who could be interrupting or 'excavating' the cat's bathroom activities?
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Sometimes this is a stress thing. Has something changed which would give her a reason to be unhappy? With A, we controlled this for years by eliminating her stress by keeping the house cleaner (she didn't like stuff on the floor), but eventually she became so stressed by the presence of other cats that we had to confine her, and that controlled it.
Often it means she is unhappy with the state of her litter box. It could be:
- the location. Can you move it?
- The smell. Can you replace all of the letter (if you use clumping), scrub the litter box, scrub the floor around it?
- The frequency with which you clean it. Switch to every day.
- the kind of litter. Switch away from clumping, or to it. Switch away from covered, or to it. Switch from clay to grain, or vice versa.
Also could be a UTI or some such. Definitely get her tested.
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1) Change the litter. Try scented litter if you're using unscented now, unscented if you're using scented. In either case, dump the old litter, wash the litter box with soap and warm water, and put in fresh. Try two litter boxes with different litters and see which one she prefers. Make sure the area around the litter boxes is clean. If it's carpeted, throw some baking soda around to help deal with any residual odours that might be there.
2) For both pooping and especially urination make sure the area where they've done it is very well cleaned. In cases where I've had cushions peed on I've washed everything I could and rubbed baking soda into the bits I couldn't wash to help kill the odour. Scented cleaners may help, or not.
3) IF you catch her in the act, be mean to her. Don't let her get away: hunt her down and catch her. Be noisy about it. She should be scared.
Hitting cats doesn't work, in my experience. Things that do work including picking them up by the scruff of the neck, holding them very close to your face and roaring at them really loudly, which feels both foolish and mean at the same time. You want them to look away from you: supposedly staring in the eyes is a cat dominance challenge, and whoever looks away first loses. This is consistent with my experience.
Also, running cold water over their head for a few seconds by picking them up by the scruff of the neck and holding them under the faucet in the bath. This kind of thing has to be done IMMEDIATELY upon catching the cat in the act. For urination, I've also grabbed the cat and used it as a rag to soak up the urine, then given it a quick douse under the faucet to wash it off, then dried it with a towel and left it locked in the bathroom for a while. This probably leaves a residual urine smell on the fur that we can't detect but the cat can for quite some time after, which seems to act as a significant deterrent.
I hate doing any of these things, but tried various extreme approaches in desperation when the problem was becoming chronic and I was worried that I was going to have to have the cat killed (which would be what giving him to the SPCA would amount to) or have my furniture ruined. Nothing else I tried worked, although changing to scented litter definitely improved things.
Of the things I tried the running cold water over the cat's head seemed the most effective, although that may be simply because it's the one I feel least terrible about doing. He hates it, but it does not particular harm. The few times I've done it--because the behaviour stopped almost immediately--he's come creeping into my lap for a cuddle an hour or so after, so in his case it certainly didn't do any lasting harm.
The problem did not absolutely vanish--once or twice at this time of year he typically poops on the floor someplace (he did it this week for the first time in over a year) I scrub the litter boxes and maybe add some extra deodorizer or cedar chips to it, and all is well. Some years he has had minor problems with urination at the back door if other cats have been marking their territory on the porch, which I deal with by having an old washable rug there, and which hasn't been much of an issue in recent years.
There may also be urinary/kidney issues involved with this kind of behaviour, so if it persists give your vet a call. My problem cat has a clean bill of health in that regard, though, so it isn't by any means the only cause.
And whatever you do, if you are mean to the cat in any of the ways I suggested above, never tell anyone about it unless you're willing to deal with angry and outraged responses.
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