Pooping outside the box

On Mon, 8 Oct 2012 18:37:11 -0400, "jmcquown"
wrote:

I don't know why, but lately Persia will occasionally poop outside the
litter box. The litter box is in the master bathroom (there's no other
easily accessible place for it). I have a soft, fluffy bath mat in front of
the bath tub and every once in a while I'll find she's pooped on the bath
mat rather that in the litter box. I've had to start taking the bath mat up
off the floor after I shower. When I do that she uses the litter box.

A few things to note:

-- She doesn't have diarrhea and the stools aren't soft or runny, nor do
they seem overly hard
-- She never pees outside the box, just poops
-- I scoop the box twice a day and add a little fresh litter each time
-- I use litter pan liners and completely replace the litter with a new
liner every few weeks
-- I haven't changed the brand of litter, Cat's Pride (that doesn't mean
the manufacturer hasn't changed something)

Before anyone says "VET!" she was just seen by the vet a couple of months
ago and she'll get checked again in another month. She's in early stage
renal failure. Her r/x food has been adjusted accordingly. But this
started happening before that. And it only happens occasionally. I was in
the shower the other day and heard her come into the bathroom. She likes to
use the litter box when I shower (don't know why). I said, "Don't you
*dare* poop on the bath mat!". She didn't but I think she thought about it.

Could this just be an age issue? ( have no idea how old she really is.
Fourteen or 15 is anyone's best guess.) It's really not a problem to take
the bath mat off the floor. I just don't want to step out of the shower one
morning and step in cat poop!

Jill

Just shows the difference between thinking and pooping. Thinking
outside the box is good, pooping outside the box is bad. Thinking
about pooping outside the box, but not actually pooping outside the
box, is probably ok.

I guess she really is pooping outside the box? When I notice some poop
outside the box, I know that it's time to tirm Nipsy's butt hair. Poop
just gets carried away if the hair is too long.

"Jack Campin" wrote in message
...
The bathroom isn't all that small. *My* bath mat isn't close to her
litter
box for it to be a "miss". (She's got her own smaller "bath mat" under
her
box but she's not pooping on that.) She doesn't urinate outside the box
on
*any* of the fluffy bath mats in that room. I wash the bath mats once a
week, too. She just seems attracted to *my* bath mat.

One of ours does the same - very so often whichever one it is (we
haven't caught one at it) will pee on the bathmat. Keeping their
litter tray as clean as possible helps, but not enough. Fortunately
we use thick absorbent mats so they soak it up and we can just wash
them.

What would happen if you took all the bathmats up? Would they just pee on
the floor then? Just interested to know.

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


"Jack Campin" wrote in message
...
The bathroom isn't all that small. *My* bath mat isn't close to her
litter
box for it to be a "miss". (She's got her own smaller "bath mat" under
her
box but she's not pooping on that.) She doesn't urinate outside the box
on
*any* of the fluffy bath mats in that room. I wash the bath mats once a
week, too. She just seems attracted to *my* bath mat.

One of ours does the same - very so often whichever one it is (we
haven't caught one at it) will pee on the bathmat. Keeping their
litter tray as clean as possible helps, but not enough. Fortunately
we use thick absorbent mats so they soak it up and we can just wash
them.

What would happen if you took all the bathmats up? Would they just pee on
the floor then? Just interested to know.



I can't answer for Jack.. all I know is Persia never peed on the bathmat. I
drape it over the tub and she uses her litterbox for poo. If I forget to do
so, she only *occasionally* poops on the bath mat. It's interesting (to me)
to note she has a smaller version of the same bath mat under her litter box.
She doesn't poop on that one, although she certainly could hang her bum over
the litterbox and poop on that mat instead. I do wash the bath mats a
couple of times a month. I have to shake out the litter that has fallen
onto *her* bath mat every few days and vacuum the tile floor. I think she
just feels comfortable doing her business on something that smells like
*me*. By taking it up off the floor I deprive her of that opportunity.

Jill