Ack! WHAT happened?! HELP!!!

[KittyCrazy]

Since we introduced Molly (4) and Ozzie (10 weeks) last weekend, we moved Ozzie's litterbox to the laundry room and Molly has been using it, too. Well, last night I put THAT litterbox away and brought up Molly's litterbox that she has used for 4 years because it is bigger and it has a dome cover on it (Molly can't keep her big butt from hanging over the edge in an uncovered box apparently). I put a new liner and fresh new litter in Molly's box and placed it where Ozzie's old box was. Now this morning, Ozzie took a big ole poop right in front of us in the living room! ACK!!!! I had put him in Molly's litterbox when I set it up last night but he just hopped right out. I figured, "Well, at least he knows it's there and his same litter is in it". Do you think he won't poop in there because it smells too much like Molly's waste from the last 4 years of use?

[kittycats_delight]

Cats are very fussy about their potties. I have 6 litters for 5 cats and they use them all. But some cats are very picky and sounds like Ozzie is one of them. Ozzie is not happy with the change you have made with his potty and is telling you so in no uncertain terms. Can you have both boxes together. Ozzie will most likely go right back to using his normal box. Put the other box back where it has always been and put the other one in another location. I bet Ozzie will not leave you another present once you replace the new potty with the one he is used to.

Keep us updated and good luck.

BTW...rule of thumb is 1 more litter box than cats. Works well for me. :D

Michelle

[Sevaede]

Maybe he doesn't like the dome covering? Mine were afraid of the covered box I got for them and I eventually just had to remove the cover and then they were happy as cats! ;) :D Or maybe it's confusing for the litter boxes to be moved? Sorry if I am not much help, I've never really had a problem with any of my kitties pottying outside the box. :( :)

[catmandu]

Most Of The Found Cats Will Not Use A Covered Litter Box At All!!
Maybe Thats What Is Making Ozzie Miss The Mark, To Say The Least!!!!

[Freedom]

Cats are VERY particular about thair potties and you made several changes all at once! Changed the box, changed the place, changed the litter and iner (fresh / new ones). WHOA, slow down, hoomom! TOO MUCH CHANGE to the potty!!!!

Return everything to as it was (OK, you don't have to put the 'old'litter back) and don't even THINK about disturbing it for a few weeks. Ozzie doesn't even TRUST you anymore, he doesn't know WHAT you silly hoomom want!!! Let everyone get settled and back to normal. If you want to make a change, do ONE thing and see how that goes, for several weeks. Then try again.

You have 2 cats, you must have at least 2 boxes out.

[KittyCrazy]

Good grief! Thank goodness I found all you cat expert people because I CLEARLY have no idea what I'm doing! LOL

I went down and took the dome cover off of the litterbox and now Ozzie is fine with it....I guess that was too intimidating.

I must not have explained myself well because the "new" litterbox (new to Ozzie anyway) IS where his old one was. So, I think the main problem was giving him a potty that had a big cover on it and it was dark inside. I suppose when you only weight about 2.5 lbs., that would be kinda scary!

I'll keep my eye on the situation and make sure he is OK with it now that the big scary cover is off! Now I'll just have to deal with keeping Ms. Big Butt's poop picked up off the floor. UGH!!!

[moosmom]

I use the "shelter" mode of litterboxing, as I refer to it. I used to have 3 litterboxes for 6 cats, but I had to keep them in the two closets right near my front door. I had to make sure both doors were open when I left, so they had access to their potties. They always had a preference for this one particular box. Mollie Rose dug to China, leaving a pile of sawdust.

Last week I went to Wal-Mart and bought two long, sorta deep bins and filled them with fresh Woody Pet, a litter similar to Feline Pine. Only difference is it's broken into smaller pieces and has no scent. I now have them in my bedroom with an Oust Air Purifier running all the time. I kept the other boxes JUST IN CASE they didn't like this new concept.

What a different it made!!!! No odor. The cats got the idea very quickly and there's no tracking (Mollie Rose LOVES the idea!). You'd never knew I had 6 cats!

[Freedom]

Oh wonderful; I am pleased it was such an easy solution for you!

Now here is a chuckle, nd a reminder that you aren't the only 'first time' cat owner.

Friend of mine took in a 4 year old cat in February a few years back. Never had a cat before. She was living in a large colonial. Her 3 children were grown and gone, the hubby had divorced and left, so it was jsut her and the cat. She placed the ltter box in the 'formal' living room. So she didn't have to go up the stairs to empty it each day. "That room never gets used anyway," she told us. (A group of friends at coffee.)

Come December, she gets ready for her annual Christmas Open House, AND she is hosting Christmas Eve dinner for the extended family. Now, the 'formal' room will be needed. So she took the litter box DOWN CELLAR, and place it next to the washer and dryer. She carried the cat down to show where it was. On letting go, the cat scrambled back up stairs. (We learned later on that she had never seen the cat down there once in the months prior; and kept the cellar door closed up to then, so how was the cat supposed to have explored it anyway?)

Well, can you guess what happened? The cat just kept on using the spot in the 'formal' room, even though there was no box there. All Christmas plans had to be cancelled, a new rug was installed in that room in January, all of us friends had a terrific laugh, and the cat got her wish and had her potty restored to where it had been for the past 10 months! :D

[KittyCrazy]

Oh, Yikes! Your poor friend! LOL

I guess I'm not THAT bad afterall. LOL I've always had a cat....just never more than 1 at a time.

[AnimalLuver90]

maybe You Should Try To Sit Both Litter Boxes Out..But Not Togather..That Way They Have There On Litter Box..Cats Are VEry Picky About Were They Potty...And When They Sence Another Cat..Then They May Not Use It... :)