Please Help- Potty Problems!

[Cleocatra]

My brother's little black cat Mogwai, who was adopted from a friend who had a baby is suddenly not using her litter box. He's tried moving the litter box, and pouring pepper in the various wrong places she's been going, but she finds new ones and is now ignoring the pepper. It's hard to tell how old she is, she still seems young but I think she's had a rough time because her tail seems broken at the end and she has coordination problems- we're not sure if it's her eyesight or neurological. I know she should be examined by a vet but I wasn't sure if this was just a behavioral thing or what. Please help before, as my brother says, they have to get rid of her!

[wolflady]

hello cleocatra,
this does seem to be a problem and sometimes it's hard to pinpoint what is causing it. You might want to check a previous posting called pee on old carpet pee on new carpet, for there are some suggestions there. http://petoftheday.com/talk/Forum9/HTML/000055.html
This can be a frustrating thing for a cat owner, especially if you don't know the reason for the behavior.

What you described sounds like a behavioral problem. you mentioned that your brother adopted this cat from a friend who just had a baby? that could be the cause right there. major life change in the cat's environment. suddenly the cat is living in a new place and is probably a little confused as to why it's original mom gave her away! you might want to inquire the previous owner about the broken tail also. was she abused?

i would definitely take her to the vet and describe the behavior and the events leading up to it. he may be able to help. be sure to keep us posted! i hope everything gets better for your brother and Mogwai!!

welcome to pet talk! i hope you enjoy it here

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"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." - English proverb

[Cleocatra]

Hi Wolflady. Thank you so much for the link and advice. I should have specified that Mogwai had been living in the new place for about a month and up til then she had been using the litterbox regularly. I'm going to e-mail my brother the page you suggested and hopefully there's something there that'll do the trick. And I'll make sure she gets to the vet also. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted!

[wolflady]

Good morning Cleocatra,
Yes, definitely let us know what happens. I can relate to the frustration that behavioral problems can cause. I hope it's something that is easily pinpointed! Good luck and keep us posted