My cats are pooping all around the house. Help please?

Question

Although I clean the litter box out every 3 days my three cats have taken up a nasty habit of pooping in cornors of the house instead of their box and I dont know how to stop it. Its getting frustrating cleaning up after them every day or finding a puddle on my computer desk. Please help me. Im hoping maybe someone else out there has a similar problem and found a solution they can share. I love my cats very much and this habit only started. I use the same litter as I always have so I dont know the reason for this sudden behavior

Answer 1

Every 3 days!  One litter box with 3 cats!  No wonder they are using other places.  The rule of thumb is one litter tray per cat plus one extra.  Some cats (often long haired) do not like to pee and poo in the same place.  The fact that it has only just started could relate to sexual/social maturity but you don't say how old your cats are so I can't be sure.  However, they might just have had enough.  

Make sure that the litter you use is as close to sand as possible (soft of their paws).  Don't use one which is scented as when it gets wet the smell given off from it can be objectionable to cats and if you are using a tray with a hood you should also remove this as, when cats start to get bigger, they sometimes find it difficult to get comfortable inside and also the smell will be worse because it is confined - very helpful for you but not for your cats.  Make sure the trays are big enough for them to turn around in and deep enough to have a good scrape around.

Make sure that you THOROUGHLY clean all areas used inappropriately with biological washing liquid and allow it to dry before letting the cats back into that area - or the enzimes won't have time to work.  

If it continues, you may have to confine your cats to one room with plenty of litter trays and when they start to use them properly you can then allow them into the rest of the house and GRADUALLY move the litter trays to the place you want them to be.

Another suggestion would be to use Feliway artificial pheronome diffusers which create a calming atmosphere for cats (your vet can advise) as they may be stressed for some reason.  Make sure you position the litter trays in quiet and discrete places where other cats cannot look in and intimidate your cats - away from windows/glass doors.  Also make sure that the trays are kept away from their food/water.

Answer 2

perhaps every 3 days is not good enough for the finiky cats.. try cleaning it daily to see if that helps?

and also, if there are specific spots they usually go in.. spray some cat cleaning anti-spray in the area so they wont think about re-soiling it.

Answer 3

put down pieces of tin foil in the corners that you don't want your cats to go in. cats HATE foil, and they will never go in that spot again.

Answer 4

they have a spray to stop your pets from using the bathroom in any other area than where u want them 2 i guess the smell makes them not want 2 use the bathroom there ........check out petsmart or google it :)

Answer 5

Every three days? Do you have only one litter box?

I have three cats, and trust me, I literally have to clean it out everyday.

it may not seem dirty, but after three days, no cat would want to step in there ha. You may want to try using a different litter. Perhaps you use scented? Try using unscented if you do. Also, keep the litterbox somewhere slightly obvious, maybe somewhere near a place that your cats often are. If you keep it clean, it won't smell and you can put it in more rooms (we keep ours in the kitchen, and really barely notice it). if that doesn't work try getting another litter box.

But really you need to clean the box out more than every three days. Think of how it would be to not flush for 3 days, and then stand in it. Yuck!

Answer 6

LOL^^^

Hi there, payback is a b*tch. :)

Answer 7

something that will help, but does get tedious.. clean the litter box everyday. the older cats get the more picky they are about their box.. if its not to their satisfaction, they won't use it. another reason cats "act out" is if they feel lonely. like when u take a trip somewhere.. they rebel. like tearing up your favorite tee or pooping in the corner.

just make sure your babies are getting enough love and that they have a nice fresh litter box everyday.

:] I'm positive it will stop, at least that's how it was with my cat. :]

Answer 8

Well If your cats are Males then it sounds like their "spraying" when a male cat feels like his terrarory is being taken they "spray" (pee and p**p any where they feel the need) If its a Female, then shes in heat.

If Your Cats Are Fixed....

then maybe you need to buy another litterbox, (If they all share 1 litter box)

And if theres more than 1 litter box, start buy this stuff you can spray on your carpet to prevent your cats from peeing and pooping on it (Spray where they pee and p**p the most)

~I Hope I Helped!!~

Answer 9

Are you saying that you have three cats, only one litter box and you only clean it every three days? Well that's your problem!

Always scoop litter boxes at LEAST once a day, and change the litter at least once a week.  When cleaning the box, use a mild detergent and finish by rinsing very thoroughly.  Never use strong-smelling pine cleansers or ammonia.  If you want to disinfect the box with bleach, dilute it with water first.  Rinsing the box with boiling water is also effective.  With covered litter boxes, the smell can be worse, especially with high humidity, so you must be willing to clean it more.

Here are some suggestions to your litter box problems:

- Provide a box for each cat

- Provide constant access to a box

- Go back to previously used brand of litter and/or

- Discontinue new disinfectant

- Move box to where it was previously used

- Eliminate new or frightening noise near litter box

- Move food and water away from litter box

- If cat is only going in one spot, put the litter box at the exact location and gradually move it back to where you want it at the rate of one foot per day

- If there are several places, try putting dishes of cat food in those areas to discourage further elimination there

- Experiment with different textures of litter (cats prefer sandy litter)

- Use a covered litter box for cats that stand in box but eliminate outside of it

- Keep in mind that some cats are rather picky, and prefer to have two separate boxes (one to pee in and one to p**p in)

Answer 10

Hi there... many cats abhor sharing litter boxes with another cat.  Consider having one litter box per cat plus one extra.

As a general rule, it's important to clean a litter box frequently as cats are extremely sensitive to odours.  

More litter box hints: http://cats.about.com/cs/litterbox/a/lit...

House soiling issues by Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures...

Answer 11

Usually, I have a three strike rule, and then I throw the cat outside b/c I can't stand the odor of animal f***s and urine around the house.  I DO NOT put up with that.  But here is what you do if you want to keep them inside cats.

Clean the box with dawn dish soap every time you fully change it out, which you should do about every week to two weeks to get rid of the deep down smells of the litter box.  The dish soap will also actually help keep your house more deodorized in the long run cause it will keep the order down in the litter itself.  I don't know what you use, but I personally recommend Tidy Cats Scoop Multi-cat  cat formula.  Its a little more expensive, but if you also buy the arm and hammer litter box deodorizer, then you've got the best combination that I've ever come across to keep litter box order down, especially if you keep cleaning it as often as you say you do.

As far as the "accidents" buy something like urine be gone, or something similar and clean up the mess as soon as you find it completely get rid of the smell of the urine and f***s.  If you catch them doing it, immediately reprimand them and move them to their litter boxes.  

You can also provide them with a second one to use, as it may just be one cat who has become territorial and doesn't want to share the box anymore.  this usually happens most often with male cats who lives in a house with females.  They stop wanting to share the box and won't use it if the females do, but they will use a second box.

This also happens if you recently added another cat to the population.  That could be the problem.

Just keep up on it and the behavior should stop. I blot the stain with paper towels, then spray lysol on the area on the carpet, then spray it with Urine be gone, saturating the area and a space around it, then I leave it there until it air dries.