Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We adopted a 6 year old neutered male tabby from an animal shelter a month ago & every night, without fail, he poops (only poop, never pee) outside the litterbox.

During the day, he uses the litterbox just fine. But as soon as we fall asleep he sneaks out of bed & poops (usually on the couch or futon).

We have added an additional litterbox to the household & keep them both very clean. We also use natures miracle to clean up the morning messes. When we took him to the vet because of this, the vet gave him a clean bill of health & said it was most likely caused by stress.

We love our new kitty very much but we don't understand what is causing this & we are out of ideas to help him! Any advice is appreciated!

I'm having a very similar problem!

Details:
4 cats (this problem did not start when we added another cat)
4 litter boxes: in various places of the house, I have tried the lid trick and different types of litter, two of the boxes are right next to eacher, She always #2 right outside the box
I've tried the nature's miracle stuff
I've tried apple bitter
I've taken her to the vet - He gave her anxiety medicine which just have her the runs
I've even tried locking her up in a room by herself for two weeks- She seems to use the box then but when I left her out she goes back to her old ways

Any ideas? I'm at my wit's end. This has been going on for a year now.

>>I'm having a very similar problem!
>>
>>Details:
>>4 cats (this problem did not start when we added another cat)
>>4 litter boxes: in various places of the house, I have tried the lid trick and different types of litter, two of the boxes are right next to eacher, She always #2 right outside the box
>>I've tried the nature's miracle stuff
>>I've tried apple bitter
>>I've taken her to the vet - He gave her anxiety medicine which just have her the runs
>>I've even tried locking her up in a room by herself for two weeks- She seems to use the box then but when I left her out she goes back to her old ways
>>
>>Any ideas? I'm at my wit's end. This has been going on for a year now.

It may take more than 2 weeks to retrain her to the box. Do you notice if she hangs over the box and "misses" when she does this, or is she actually squatting outside the box? If this is the case, I would something under the box so your floor doesn't get ruined. I would also try a different anti-anxiety med if the one you got causes diarreha.
-----
Dottie
Proudly owned by The Catnip Crew...Munchkin,Casey,Maddie,Harley,Meadow,Ashley,Nicky and Mushka

My first suggestion would be to cover the couch or futon with plastic. Cats usually don't like to go on plastic. It will help protect your furniture too. If that fails, I would suggest keeping your cat in a small room or bathroom with his litterbox overnight, since that is when he seems to be doing this.
-----
Dottie
Proudly owned by The Catnip Crew...Munchkin,Casey,Maddie,Harley,Meadow,Ashley,Nicky and Mushka

Our kitten was pooping in every corner of our apartment. We put her in the bathroom with a litter box day and night(with supervised play and snuggle time of course) for 2 weeks. . .she hasn't made a mess since. MAybe a kitten is easier to break. . but it's worth a try.