My cats are frickin' PUNKS!!!

[Samantha Puppy]

For background, please see this thread (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83702).

As of noontime yesterday, it appeared that my cleaning the poop, laying down papers and blocking off the alcove where the box had been was working. That was, until one of the girls peed in the kitchen - which they've never done before. So after dinner, I moved one of the boxes back out to the alcove where it was and it appeared we had two happy baby cats.

I went downstairs this morning to get some clothes out of the laundry room and someone had pooped NEXT to the moved litterbox (and yet, off of the papers - thank you soooooo much). I am at my wit's end! The litterbox is literally, 2 inches from where the culprit pooped. WHY would they do this? What can I do to combat THAT?

I'm beginning to regret ever moving the boxes. If I'd known it would've caused this much of a problem, I wouldn't have done it. It also scares me because the other litter box used to be upstairs in what will be the baby's room very shortly. The door is closed to the room right now so they can't have access to it, but what if once the door is open (once the baby's here), they start going in there again? *sigh*

Anyone want two tuxedo kitty punks? :rolleyes:

[catnapper]

I'm sorry they are continuing to do this. They are getting odler now, and maybe trying to establish dominance with the boys? With each other? How old are they now? (I forget)

Have you recently changed litter? Maybe they don't like the new brand. Cats don't like change AT ALL, and moving the boxes, while changing litter brands could really upset them. Maybe just moving the boxes was enough change to upset them.

How many boxes do you have all together? The girls are gettign bigger, and now may feel they need more room and more choices. I fluctuate boxes based on how many cats I have. Right now, I have 6 boxes for the 7 cats. I know I shold have more, but I scoop 2-3 times a day. When I had 4 cats, I had 3-4 boxes (more boxes for when they were having bouts of "tummy issues")

[jazzcat]

I just read your other thread and saw you sprayed Nature's Miracle. It may take several treatments and allowing it to thoroughly dry to totally get rid of the smell so they don't keep going back to it.

I agree with catnapper too, maybe something is different about the box or if everything is the same you need to change it or buy a new box. I don't really know, sorry. How frustrating.

One other thought might be Feliway but I don't know if it would help this situation. It is suppose to help calm the cats so if they are stressed for some reason it might help that. I has helped me in the past with Ripley's stress and spraying.

[Samantha Puppy]

The girls were born in mid-late February (I dubbed their birthday February 22nd). I haven't changed the litter, I have used Fresh Step the entire time with all four cats. The only difference is when I put the litter box BACK out where it was, I put it on top of the newspapers I'd laid down (in case something like this happened). It had just been on the carpet prior to the move.

We have two large, covered Booda Dome litter boxes for four cats.

http://www.petco.com/assets/product_images/2/2350350021C.jpg

We scoop 2-3 times a day and that's always been plenty for them... *sigh* I'm just so frustrated. And if I'm frustrated, you can bet that if this keeps up my husband's gonna go through the roof.

[kittycats_delight]

I'd suggest investing in a couple of more litter boxes. My Vixen is very anal about her litter and this developed later. She was fine until she was about 6 months old. Then she started. I have 2 boxes for 2 cats. 2 large covered cat boxes. I need to get another but there is simply no room here for another one. For Vixen one box is for peepee and one for poopie and lord forbid if Lilith does poopie in peepee box or vice versa. I found when I did not have as many boxes as kitties Vixen would have "accidents" as she has a habit of holding until she can't hold anymore. And if Lilith was occupying the box then she just went outside the box. This could be occuring. Maybe possibily there is another cat in the box when they want to use it and they just can't make it to the other.

[Samantha Puppy]

The problem with getting another litter box is that there is literally nowhere else but where we moved the old boxes to. We had one box in the baby's room on the second story since we got the girls, and the other box in the alcove in the basement. Since we don't want the baby's room to smell like cat poop (and we're also going to be painting/decorating soon), we moved the box that was upstairs into the laundry room in the basement - which is RIGHT next to the alcove where the other box had been. We also moved the alcove box into the next room, right next to the other box. We showed all four cats where the boxes were.

We don't want any litter boxes on the main floor or the second floor. We want them to be in the basement - namely, the laundry room. And there's really nowhere to put a 3rd box, unless we kept the one in the alcove and two in the laundry room - which defeats the purpose of cleaning out the laundry room to move the stuff in there so it wouldn't stink up the finished part of the basement.

Sorry, I'm rambling. I just don't get why they would poop NEXT to the litter box when it was put back exactly where they wanted it! :(

[kittycats_delight]

You may not want litter boxes on the main or second floors but you need them there. Like I said if they wait to go there is no way they are gonna make it from the second floor to the basement to use. If you don't want to see the bozes then maybe hubby could build a nice covered box with an opening that can match your decor and no one will know there is a litter box there except you and the cats. But trust me on this one. If you don't have boxes on every floor you can almost be assured you will have accidents. Kittens play and play and wait til they just can't wait no more to use just like little kids you need to have a litter box close so they don't have accidents just like little kids.

[aly]

I've seen some really nice decorative boxes that you can put litter boxes in. There is a hole on one side for the cats to go in, but to everyone else, it looks like a piece of furniture. I've seen some homemade ones that were really nice too.

I have one of these and love it (but you can find much nicer ones)
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2962&N=2002+113307

[Cataholic]

I suspect something happened to make them stop using the box, and now you need to make the box (es) even MORE presentable. I would suggest removing the covered dome things. Some cats do not like them. Maybe yours DID like them, and have stopped. My cats are generally too big to use covered boxes, and there is some theory about covered boxes creating an unsafe (to the cat) place to do thier business.

I would work double time to make sure this is corrected before the painting/new baby, etc. I know you are probably thinking, "well,duh, I want it now, idiot!", but, I just want to emphasize the importance of doing anything possible to make it work. I might even go back to making things exactly how they were, and moving a bit more slowly. Just a suggestion.

[catnapper]

The best thing I ever did was put a litterbox in my office closet. I put it on the floor, and put stops on the door to keep it from closing fully - so the cats woudln't be locked in or out. It gives the cats their privacy, and the most unexpected bonus: nobody uses the closet as their junk dumping ground anymore! :D

It doesn't smell (I promise!) and is a sinch to clean - just open the door, bend down, scoop, close door. Since the door doesn't close completely, the cats use their paws or noses to open it to enter.

With the addition of more cats, I added another box under my desk. Its oushed back far enough that even if I stretcg out I don't put my feet in the litter. Scooping is admittedly a pain, but nobody has a clue its there (unless they are a cat)

I too was determined not to have litterboxes on the first floor. It was easy to avoid with just one or two cats... a necessity when I had 4 cats.

[catnapper]

Originally posted by Cataholic
I would suggest removing the covered dome things. Some cats do not like them. Maybe yours DID like them, and have stopped.
She's completely right! I forgot about that! I have covered boxes... all without their lids. Allen decided he wouldn't use them. But the brat still wanted his privacy... so he'd wait til we were out of the room the box was in to do his business. I think my closet is the favored box for all the cats because it offers them privacy without feling closed or caged like they would in a covered box.

I tried to give the covered box to Minette, but she too won't use it.

[Samantha Puppy]

I can't take the domes off... I have a dog who would eat the waste if there weren't a top. *sigh* And yeah, Johanna, I know this has got to get fixed NOW... I'm wishing we never, ever moved the one box.

I read that sometimes there's a medical problem when a cat won't use the litter box as before. Maya was "stopped up" last weekend, but I gave her some hairball remedy which seemed to help but may she's still sick or something.

[aly]

I forgot to mention that you might also want to try Cat Attract litter additive..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7700449075&category=29853&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1

[lv4dogs]

I know it's not what you want to do but you may have to. Have one box per cat. Move at least one of the boxes back upstairs, even if you try it in a different location. Is there a corner or closet somewhere you can put one in? Like mentioned before they have some great box covers that look just like furniture.

I too keep one of the boxes in a closet like catnapper. I have stoppers so that they can't get locked in or out. It works great, it keeps the smell down AND the dogs can't get to it. (But my dogs are big dogs).

Another idea you can try is to put the litter boxes exactly where they were when they used them & slowly move them to their new destination. This mayl take weeks or months (depending on the distance & how the cats adjust) but it may be worth a try.

I oh so want to move the litter boxes but this is the reason I haven't.

[catcrazylady]

I wish I had a great suggestion but I don't. It's simply a matter of figuring out what the problem is and eliminating it. All you can do is try one thing and then another until you can determine why they started this.
It may be just because you took the box from the soon to be baby's room. Hopefully they will adjust on their own and stop or you can eventually figure out what will make them happy.

Good luck because I know it's very frustrating. Hang in there and don't give up. You will come up with a good solution for you all. It's just going to take a little time.;)

[catmandu]

THAT,IS A HARD THING,TO READ OUR CATS MINDS,AS TO WHY,THEY DO,OR DO NOT USE THE LITTERBOXES.

SAM,HAS RIUNED AN OLD CALENDAR,BY PEEING,ON IT,AND ITS RIGHT,IN FRONT,OF THE LITTER BOX,MAYBE HE THINKS,THATS,IF ITS CLOSE,IT COUNTS.
WE HOPE,THAT YOU CAN CLEAR,THIS MESS UP,SOON,FOR THOSE CATS SAKES.