Post Punk Kitchen Forum

We have a vet appointment next week and I've been reading up about it on the internet, but you guys always seem to have good cat advice, so...

I adopted Olive when she was 2 months old, now she's 3.5. Other than some sneezing, she's been the picture of health. She was the only one of her litter who never had accidents--no litter box problems ever...until last week when she pooped on the bathroom floor. Four times. My immediate instinct was to put a litter box in the bathroom floor. She pooped on the floor next to it.

So we started keeping the bathroom door shut, I started giving her pumpkin and a probiotic in her food because her stool was kind of soft and I thought maybe pooping was uncomfortable and she associated that with her litter box. I also brought a stool sample to the vet to test for parasites--it was negative. I also changed the cat litter.

Her poop looks fine now, not soft at all anymore, though I'm still giving her pumpkin and probiotics. She started using the litter box again, briefly, after we started keeping the bathroom closed, and then she started pooping behind the couch instead. So I put a litter box behind the couch, and she pooped in there once and I was super excited. And then today I got home and she had pooped beside it.

So when we're at the vet we'll see if there are any health reasons behind this, but if it's behavioral...ugh I don't know what to do. A million more litter boxes in my tiny apartment? Different kinds of cat litter? She pees in the boxes just fine so it's not like she hates it altogether. Thoughts?

Oh I'm going to buy some litter attractant tomorrow, so maybe that will help?

I don't have much advice, but commiseration. I had a cat poop repeatedly on my bed for a while, the situation was different though because he was definitely sick. I think once that habit starts then it's quite hard to break. It sounds like you're already working to rule out being sick, so the only other advice I can think of is to clean the areas where she's been pooping reeeaaally really well (so there's no possible way that she can smell it) and maybe put plastic bags over the area for a bit to deter her?

I'm assuming the litterbox isn't covered? And did you try a different litter to see if that would help? We had to switch due to litterbox issues even though our cat had been using the same litter for years.

Neither boxes are covered, and I did switch litters, and both litters have been unscented. Cat attract litter is next though.

Sometimes I find a log of poo outside my litter box, but I think it has more to do with my kitty not sensing that he has a bit more to pass and exiting too early because the bulk of his poops can always be found in the box. Not sure what to do about your kitty though. I assume it's a full poop you're finding outside the box.

Yeah, it is definitely a deliberate, hey, I am going to do my pooping right here because the litter box is just not for me type thing. Ugh. I'm lucky I have the best most understanding roommate.

This is still happening on a daily basis, by the way! Pretty sure it's because she's been having soft stools...and is pooping like three times a day. She's eating limited ingredient food plus pumpkin plus probiotics and if that doesn't work (it's not so far) she gets to be tested for infectious diseases. I JUST WANT HEALTHY CATS.

Some cats like REALLY big litter boxes, like the size of the under the bed storage rubbermaids. Maybe she feels she needs more stretching room?

Have you looked at all at products like Feliway? A friend of mine has a cat that does lots of inappropriate urination due to behavioural reasons and she has had excellent results with it.

I've got a Feliway diffuser already. I really just think she's sick and associates the box with discomfort...though she does poop in it sometimes so I don't know.

That really sucks. I hope you can get some answers soon.

strawberryrock, other than the litter - has anything else changed lately? i know you said she was pooping more - are you scooping out the litterbx more often? has there been any changes in your schedule, visitors in your home, etc. our old kitteh "ms. cat" would poop right outside the litterbox when she was upset about something - no matter where we moved the box. sometimes she would poop outside the litterbox because scooping once a day wasn't enough for her, another was because we had company, changed her food, rearranged some furniture, because there was a new cat in the neighborhood who she could see from inside our home, etc. it was so frustrating - but us trying to keep things more consistent helped out a bunch, fo 'sho.

good luck!

That's exactly what happened to Willow at the beginning of the year: soft stools, several times a day (up to 6 times!), and then pooping outside the box. She got tested for a million things, several times, and everything came back normal every single time. There had been no major lifestyle or food changes for her. The vet gave her Pro-Pectalin: I went through one tube, but the improvement was only minimal at the end of that, so we gave her part of an extra tube and that did the trick for good. She's been fine ever since. I hope Olive feels better soon!

Trying to look on the bright side: at least we have hardwood floors, not carpets!

I'm just here to commiserate! So sorry you're going through this; it's so frustrating. Our cat also poops outside the litterbox and we've tried everything conceivable to fix the situation. (I even had a thread begging for help some months back, haha.)

Hopefully something will end up being successful for you. :)

Just another little thing that didn't occur to me till now :P

I have two cats, therefore I have two litter boxes. They are both in the bathroom, and they used to be on either side of the toilet. That was a pain so I ended up putting one in front of the other- the covered litter box with the uncovered litter box in front of the covered one. And my cats seem to REALLY like this set up. They prefer to urinate in the open box but defecate in the closed box. Since it sounds like you already have multiple boxes... maybe this is worth a try?

Since you mentioned that her poop seemed normal when this started, I'm wondering if the soft poof is not coincidental. Could she be reacting to the presence of the new kitten?

God, this is going to be the most tasteful reply ever, but here we go:

How do Olive's anal glands look? If they're pretty red and look infected, it could be that? When Moos had his infected, he pooped (really soft as well) outside of his box too.

Try providing two litter boxes side by side as already mentioned some cats like to separate poop and pee. Also I have read that some cats don't take kindly to a new cat using it's litter box since some of the point at times for urination or defecation is to mark territory and have "new" urine and fecal matter in the box could really be an invasion in the cats mind. You may want to read this book it has so much great info including dealing with litter box issues:

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Vs-Keeping-Pe ... +household

I actually read that book when I was introducing my last kitten to Agnes (that kitten passed away). Olive is the new kitten, not the established cat, by the way. I had two litter boxes next to each other when this whole thing started, now they are separated because I was hoping that would help. Olive's anal glands look normal. She's getting tested for infectious diseases next week, woo.

For the Cat Shaming tumblr:

Sorry. I got your kitties mixed up! Ok, there goes that theory out the window.

That cat shaming picture is adorable! Bad (cute) kitty!

It would probably be a good idea to do another stool sample. Sometimes you test 5 samples from the same cat and they're all clear and then the 6th one will show parasites (especially in the case of whipworms). If everything is fine and she is still having soft poops, you could try feeding her Hills I/D prescription diet. I know Hills is crappy food, but as a last resort, the I/D does work for many animals with tummy troubles.


This is a bit strange. Were they with a mother until 8 weeks old? Or were they found without a mom? The only times we see young kittens not pooping in the box is when they are found outside without a mother. I don't know if they miss out on learning from the mother's example or what.

Did you try the Cat Attract litter yet? I know some people who have had success with that.

I did try Cat Attract litter and it helped and then I went back to normal litter and she was still good for a while and then she went back to pooping on the floor, so I've been planning on getting more.

And yeah, she and her brothers were found without a mom at 5 weeks. Her stool is going to be tested for everything at some point this week.

My cat did this twice (well, she's 21 now and often has accidents, but that's different), and both times it was because her anal glands were impacted. We took her to the vet and they disimpacted them instantly and then she was completely normal!