Why does my cat mess on the rug in front of the litter box?

[Breezy Top Cat]

My 9 month old Siamese cat, Oliver, poops on the rug in front of the litter boxes. He started this about 3 mos ago, so we added a 2nd larger litter box. Both are covered boxes. This didn't help so then we tried scoopable litter in one and regular litter in the other. He is the only cat we have indoors and he is declawed and stays in full time and I clean the boxes out every day or every other day. We are now in a desperate situation and even though I have cleaned the rug and do so each time, my computer room rug needs to be replaced (where he is confined at night so we can sleep). His filthy litter box habits have him walking on thin ice. He doesn't do it every day but sometimes he does--there is absolutely no pattern to it. Sometimes he will do it two times in one day or he will wait about 3 or 4 days before he will do it on the rug again. There is plenty of stools inside the litter box so he is using it. I have also tried to put newspaper in front of the litter boxes and he will mess around the edges of the paper on the carpet. Another problem-- He has an undescended testicle, so the vet told us to wait to see if it would come down on it's own before neutering him. It needs to be surgically removed from the abdomen and I am not so sure I want to sink any more money into this guy. He is the most loveable cat we have ever owned, but also the one we have hated the most for his dirty habit. I have asked the vet if neutering him will cure this problem and he said no, it would be more to help prevent spraying--something he hasn't done yet. I will not tolerate a cat messing in the house. Any suggestions? He is on his way down the road, but I feel like no one else will accept this behavior either and it wouldn't be fair not to mention it to them. I tried bringing one of my barn cats into the house for company since I recently heard that Siamese cats need companions, but this hasn't helped either. After 7 days he is just growling at the other cat (a neutered male) but less and less each day. We got Oliver as an 8 week old kitten and he has always been very VOCAL to the point that we can't sleep because he runs thru the house at night screaming like he is hurt or something. We recently tried leaving him loose at night again and he woke us up 6 times within an hour with his screaming and running from room to room. This cat has 3 MAJOR issues - his terrible litter box habits, an undescended testicle, and his screaming at night---this is also nothing new so he isn't calling out to females. He has screamed a lot since the day we brought him home at 8 weeks. I guess it's just one of those wondeful Siamese traits. He is very loving and affectionate and wants to be on you and in your face. We have a LOVE/HATE relationship with this cat. I just can't figure out what changed to make him start messing on the rug---but never pottie. PLEASE HELP! My teenage son is very attached and I don't want to take his cat away, but I can't handle the filthy mess.

[relish]

Our cat did that to for a while. She had always used the litter box before so I took her to the vet. Nothing was physically wrong with her. Well, we got to talking about my work schedule and he decided that my job was the problem. I had recently started working 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week and the vet thought that Emma was acting out. I couldn't change my hours so I started skimping on my house work in order to have more time with her. She stopped doing it after about a week. My vet also mentioned that if that didn't work, there was a special kind of kitty litter that had some kind of cat attractant in it. I don't remember what it was called anymore but maybe your vet would know. Good luck!!!

[neko1]

My Aby does that too. But for him, he just does it out of spite. Like if we are cleaning his ears or clipping his claws, that night he'll poop right in front of one of the boxes. Also, if we don't feed him when he wants to get fed, he'll do it again. It doesn't matter if the boxes are clean or dirty, he's just spiteful. We've pretty much given up on trying to do anything about it, we just clean up the poop and go about our merry way.

[Breezy Top Cat]

If we could just figure out why he is doing this. I can't tolerate the mess and the awful smell--he has a tendancy to be loose--not diarrhea but mushy. Sometimes he tries to bury it and once, in the process, pulled the cord to the electric pencil sharpener and it dropped down into the pile and my husband discovered it. He was so furious he threw the pencil sharpener away and was ready to toss the cat. He was gagging while cleaning it up and it made a huge mess on the rug. His bad points outweigh his good ones at this time and we see no improvement. I also think he is acting out. If I have caught him on the counter or something and scolded him with my voice and mean expression he will certainly do it again. BUT there are times we can't pinpoint any reason for it. We also thought it was lack of attention and that is why we brought in one of my other cats to see if they would buddy up together. Nothing has changed as far as our schedules or anything--go figure!

[PayItForward]

Originally posted by Breezy Top Cat
My 9 month old Siamese cat, Oliver, poops on the rug in front of the litter boxes. He started this about 3 mos ago, so we added a 2nd larger litter box. Both are covered boxes. This didn't help so then we tried scoopable litter in one and regular litter in the other. He is the only cat we have indoors and he is declawed and stays in full time….

Here is my guess…you took your cat to the vets at 6 months old and your vet suggested a standard neuter/declaw package. Then within a few days or weeks of his declaw Oliver developed this litter tray problem Am I right ?

Sadly what vets ‘forget’ to tell cat owners is that declawing carries a risk of the cat developing behavioural problem, the commonest problems are elimmating outside the litter tray and biting.

I strongly suggest you get Oliver feet x-rayed by another vet to see if the original declawing was done properly asap.

The declawing operation cuts off the nail, nail bed and the top section of the toe and if the bone splintered during the operation leaving bone fragments in the remaining toe tissue, this could be causing him pain leading to the litter tray problems. Sometimes a second declaw with a better vet may help relief the problem.

….and I clean the boxes out every day or every other day. We are now in a desperate situation and even though I have cleaned the rug and do so each time, my computer room rug needs to be replaced (where he is confined at night so we can sleep). His filthy litter box habits have him walking on thin ice. He doesn't do it every day but sometimes he does--there is absolutely no pattern to it. Sometimes he will do it two times in one day or he will wait about 3 or 4 days before he will do it on the rug again. There is plenty of stools inside the litter box so he is using it.

Cats need a clean box to use, if the box has plenty of poo in it the box is too dirty and of course he won’t use it until you clean it. Try scooping twice daily or straight after he uses the box. Every two days is not often enough.

Another problem-- He has an undescended testicle, so the vet told us to wait to see if it would come down on it's own before neutering him. It needs to be surgically removed from the abdomen and I am not so sure I want to sink any more money into this guy.

All cats develop problems during their 20 year life time and require various levels of vet care throughout their lifetime. As a cat owner you have to pay for all necessary vet care when your cat needs it, that is basic cat care 101. If you can afford an unnecessary and expensive operation like a declaw you should have the money for this health related operation that is actually beneficial for your cat. Please consider setting up a saving account for Oliver’s future vet bills or insure him with pet insurance, so money will not be an issue for future vet care.

I will not tolerate a cat messing in the house. Any suggestions? He is on his way down the road, but I feel like no one else will accept this behavior either and it wouldn't be fair not to mention it to them.

If this resulted from having him declawed it is your responsibility to look after this damage cat for the rest of his natural life. I doubt you were/are educated in the problems of declawing before you had it done but this is not your cat’s fault, why should he be the one to suffer.

I tried bringing one of my barn cats into the house for company since I recently heard that Siamese cats need companions, but this hasn't helped either. After 7 days he is just growling at the other cat (a neutered male) but less and less each day.

Introduction have to be completed very slowly and supervised to be successful. Try this method to introduce him to his friend.
http://www.piftails.com/introducingnewcat.html

We got Oliver as an 8 week old kitten and he has always been very VOCAL to the point that we can't sleep because he runs thru the house at night screaming like he is hurt or something. We recently tried leaving him loose at night again and he woke us up 6 times within an hour with his screaming and running from room to room.

Siamese cats are very vocal this is a characteristic of that breed, if you wanted a quiet cat the last breed you would buy would be a Siamese. Where did you adopt/buy him from, I am surprised that no-one told you about this issue before letting you adopt him.

This cat has 3 MAJOR issues - his terrible litter box habits, an undescended testicle, and his screaming at night

This cat is suffering from being ill, declawed and misunderstood, none of which is HIS fault.
I hope you address each issue in turn starting with the paws and try and help this poor cat, as he has been though a lot in the last nine months.

[Breezy Top Cat]

Pif, I really appreciate your advise and never thought of a problem w/ the declaw surgery itself. I have owned two other cats that were declawed and never had a problem with them. I have also owned a Siamese and two siamese mix cats before and love their voices, but this cat literally SCREAMS like he has a tail pinched in the door or like something is killing him. The money isn't a problem BUT sinking another $100 into this problem cat is, if he doesn't get better. We have even thought of consulting a pet psychic! I can handle the screaming at night--it wakes us all up but it is now a fact in our household--we would rather let him have free run of the house 24/7 but can't do that. We need our sleep too and even though he still wakes us up it is less often than when we have tried him being free. Our friends all comment about how loud he is when we talk on the phone and they hear him in the background. If the declaw was the problem, wouldn't he just poo in his box and not cover it, instead of pooing in his box and covering it and also pooing on the rug outside the box and trying to bury it and smearing it everywhere? The vet suggested that I dump all litter every day. I haven't tried that because he will use it when it is dirty but picked/scooped out. Ocassionally he will poo on the rug even if I just cleaned out the boxes. I just don't understand why he has started this. He was declawed at 4 mos because he was tearing a hole in my rug and holes in the screens and I was afraid he was going to get out. I love him being declawed because now he can safely run free in the house during the day while we are gone. I have also heard that cats can bite after being declawed but he LUCKILY hasn't developed that habit. I would say he developed his bad litter habits at 5 or 6 mos of age. He also runs a lot thru the house and we have mostly hard wood floors and you can hear his feet thumping as he runs. I would think if his feet were sore that he wouldn't do that and would act like they are sore. I really think it is a behavior issue, but am desperately trying to find out the cause and the solution. Thanks for your advise and I welcome more if you come up with other suggestions.

[PayItForward]

Originally posted by Breezy Top Cat
Pif, I really appreciate your advise and never thought of a problem w/ the declaw surgery itself. I have owned two other cats that were declawed and never had a problem with them. I have also owned a Siamese and two siamese mix cats before and love their voices, but this cat literally SCREAMS like he has a tail pinched in the door or like something is killing him.

Oliver might have pinched nerves or crippling pain in his feet. Please get his feet x-rayed to rule this potential (and I would say very likely) problem out.

The money isn't a problem BUT sinking another $100 into this problem cat is, if he doesn't get better.

See my above advice, he is not a problem…he has problems there is a difference.

If the declaw was the problem, wouldn't he just poo in his box and not cover it, instead of pooing in his box and covering it and also pooing on the rug outside the box and trying to bury it and smearing it everywhere? The vet suggested that I dump all litter every day. I haven't tried that because he will use it when it is dirty but picked/scooped out. Ocassionally he will poo on the rug even if I just cleaned out the boxes. I just don't understand why he has started this. He was declawed at 4 mos because he was tearing a hole in my rug and holes in the screens and I was afraid he was going to get out. I love him being declawed because now he can safely run free in the house during the day while we are gone. I have also heard that cats can bite after being declawed but he LUCKILY hasn't developed that habit. I would say he developed his bad litter habits at 5 or 6 mos of age.

Typically time scale for litter problems to occur after declawing, he is upset and he is showing you that. Oh by the way kittens can be very naughty but once they reach a year of age they stop doing damage and clawing things etc, but as kittens claws are taken off at 6 months old cat owners like yourself never get to find this out for yourself.

When you get your next cat please consider try post training and soft claws and by a year of age your cat will be well behaved with no need for declawing…no more poo on the floor either.

He also runs a lot thru the house and we have mostly hard wood floors and you can hear his feet thumping as he runs. I would think if his feet were sore that he wouldn't do that and would act like they are sore.

He has no choice but to walk and if he is in pain he will run so he can reach his destination quicker so he can get off his painful feet. Cats hide their pain very well, as in the wild any sign of weakness would shorten their life. The thumping happens as declawed cats have to walk on different parts of the foot than a healthy clawed cat would.

I really think it is a behavior issue, but am desperately trying to find out the cause and the solution. Thanks for your advise and I welcome more if you come up with other suggestions.

I am currently training to be a cat behaviourist and the golden rule is never see a cat until ALL physical problems have been looked into by a vet. No professional cat behaviourist will give any advice unless your cat got a clear bill of health from one vets and in some cases insist that a second opinion is seeked before behavioural options are looked at.

The main reason for this is that as cats are so good at hiding pain even if they are close to death, hence a cat which has not had a vet check could die whilst a behaviourist is trying to help him.

I am giving you valuable and free advice…take your poor crippled cat to the vets and get him checked out, you need to find out if he is spending every day in pain or not.

If you love this cat take him to a vet straight away, don’t let him suffer any longer than he needs to.

If you get a clear x-ray and his claws are not growing back within his foot and there are no bone splinters causing infections in his foot tissue and no nerves are pinched or damaged....…then you can come back for advice saying it is behavioural.

I doubt it is behavioural from the facts you have posted but if it is…then we’ll look into other possibilities after a full vet exam including paw x-rays.

[PayItForward]

I have also posted a link to your thread on the main cat forum, this way you should get more people giving you advice for Oliver.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...threadid=68317

[moosmom]

PIF,

Thank you SO much for setting this person straight!! Everything you've said is what I would've said, only I wouldn't have been as nice. Breezy Top Cat should've considered that a pet is a lifelong commitment, PERIOD. If her kid were having problems, she'd take him to the doctor without even CONSIDERING the cost, right? Well, why the hell not take the cat to the vet and quit whining about how much it's gonna cost. BTP is the one who caused the cat to have litterbox problems in the first place by declawing.

Did BTP ever think that maybe the reason this poor cat is screaming at night is because he's in pain???

Personally, if she's not willing to care for this poor cat, she should consider finding him a loving furrrever home with someone who's willing to make that commitment. Otherwise, he'll more than likely wind up in a shelter and deemed unadoptable because of the problems SHE created.

UGH!!! It's people like THAT that really piss me off!!

[PayItForward]

Originally posted by moosmom
BTP is the one who caused the cat to have litterbox problems in the first place by declawing.

I do agree with you however vets who do not explain the potential problems are also responsible than naive owners like this lady who just declawed on vets advice (from the sound of it)

Remember we need to educate those who declaw, hopefully this lady having experienced the problems first hand will vow to not declaw any other cats in the future.

Personally, if she's not willing to care for this poor cat, she should consider finding him a loving furrrever home with someone who's willing to make that commitment.

Problem is who wants to adopt a pooing cat which cries all night...She would be very lucky to find a new owner willing to take on this poor troubled cat.

This is why it is so important to see if the problems can be resolved by a vet.

Though I am at a loss as to why she does not want to take poor Oliver to the vets...that is beyond me.

If someone told me my cat could be in pain, I would be straight down to the emergency vets if I had to hock all my belongings to afford it.

I hope Oliver is taken to the vets soon and I hope BTP posts an update on him very soon.

[CalliesMom]

"I do agree with you however vets who do not explain the potential problems are also responsible than naive owners like this lady who just declawed on vets advice (from the sound of it)"

PIF, I'm glad that you mentioned this. I was very ignorant on declawing and yes, I should have done more research which was my own fault...so cannot completely blame the vet here. However, when we first talked to the vet in Tucson about getting Callie declawed I asked if she would be in pain and if there were any side effects from removing her claws. The vet told me "no"
Come to find out, this vet was so bad that she would even let her vet techs do the declawing. ARGH ARGH!!! Let's just say when I found this out, the cats never went back. Callie was the sweetest kitten, but her behavior did change after we had her declawed. She became more independent; wanting to have less and less to do with us. Though she does ask for scritchies, she doesn't beg as often as the other and prefers their company over ours.

I will NEVER EVER declaw another animal. This website has taught me a lot and there are so many other ways to train your animals not to scratch on furniture. But then again, my cats mean more to me than some stupid piece of furniture anyway.

[PayItForward]

Originally posted by CalliesMom
PIF, I'm glad that you mentioned this. I was very ignorant on declawing and yes, I should have done more research which was my own fault...so cannot completely blame the vet here.

I agree the owner should do research too but we are trained to believe professionals and when your vet tells you something you believe them.

But vets have little or no training in behavioural issues for cats, I inwardly laugh at some things my vet tells me about my cats. Like doing happy feet is because my cats feet were tired...ermm no it is a comfort thing as I had come to pick him up from the vets and he was very happy to see me

However, when we first talked to the vet in Tucson about getting Callie declawed I asked if she would be in pain and if there were any side effects from removing her claws. The vet told me "no"

Well, if you were given full disclosure you would not of gone ahead with the operation, as a vet clinic makes around 50% of their profits on the declawing operation alone of course they will push owners to do it.

I will NEVER EVER declaw another animal. This website has taught me a lot and there are so many other ways to train your animals not to scratch on furniture. But then again, my cats mean more to me than some stupid piece of furniture anyway.

This is wonderful to hear and if you ever need advice on post training or triming claws post and the PT crowd will help you.

[CalliesMom]

"Well, if you were given full disclosure you would not of gone ahead with the operation."

I guess I trusted that a vet would care more about the health and welfare of the animal than making $100. Obviously, I was wrong.

[CalliesMom]

Originally posted by CalliesMom
"Well, if you were given full disclosure you would not of gone ahead with the operation."

I guess I trusted that a vet would care more about the health and welfare of the animal than making $100. Obviously, I was wrong.

"Well, if you were given full disclosure you would not of gone ahead with the operation, as a vet clinic makes around 50% of their profits on the declawing operation alone of course they will push owners to do it."

I also did not know this bit of information. PIF you are very knowledgeable and I think you will do quite well in the animal behavioral area. Good luck!

[Lime_Kitty05]

My female cat Thunder does that too we have 4 cats and we know shes the one doin all the mess we have even see her. She will even do it right in front of you. She will pee all the tile right when everyone is in there. and she like poops every day on the steps. My mom whats to just get rid of her. she wont stop doing it. Shes fix and shes started maybe about 4 months ago and she is 3 years old. any suggestions for what i should do i clean the litter box right after they use it, but thunder choses not to use the box? what should i do im desperate!!!