Please help me w/ this cat.

[rancher hicks]

I have a cat name Stubby. He is a stray from my mail route over a year old or more. The thing is he does his poops outside the litter box. Right next to the litterbox! He has always done this and I'm sure it's my fault but I never realized cause he doesn't always do this. In the warmer weather he goes outside, he definitely is not allowed in the house. I did realize it was just him but he's the only one out there now. He stays in the garage and there are two litter boxes. Recently he has been peeing and pooping in the corner so I put a litter pan there too but he still poops next to the litterbox. I have begun scooping it up and putting it in the litterbox hoping he'll get the idea. I know it's my fault but I can't change the past maybe you can help me to change the future. He is fixed so maybe this is his revenge?

Please for all of you who are prepared to call me an idiot that won't help so please spare me the ridicule.

 

[jerseygirl1]

No, you are definitely not an idiot
I had a very elderly cat who did this ALL the time, I finally had to put wee wee pads all around the litterbox
I was told it was from a number of things, mostly medical.
Though, she was 20 years old when I had her put to sleep
Usually it's a urinary infection from what I was told
I don't think it was a spite issue
Sometimes they do that if the litterbox is not clean, or again, it may be a urinary infection

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I recently posted about a similar problem:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=289487

Here's one resource I recently found:
http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-13836.html

Another suggestion I found was to get a black light, which shows EVERY spot where the cat has marked, and then use white vinegar or Natures Miracle for Cats to clean the area in hope that the cat won't return to it. Hasn't worked so far for us.

I'm assuming your cat is neutered? That's step one. Ours is neutered but I think our problem is too many male cats in one household. As a last resort, we took him to the vet who has prescribed something - it's either Prozac or some kind of hormone, not sure which. We've heard that some people have had great success with pharmeceutical interventions, so we're keeping our fingers crossed, as the next step is that the offending cat has to find a new home

 

[lockedhearts]

The last cat I had did this, 2 reasons, the type of litter I used, he did not like the clay (standard) litter, he preferred the sand type, also if I did not clean the box, like if he used it twice he would not use it a third without it being cleaned, for fear of getting his feet messy. I finally broke down and bought one of the auto cleaning boxes.

You may want to change the type of litter you are using , that may solve the problem.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Silly question - does he fit in the pan?


I ask because, years ago, we had a cat who would deposit outside the box. He would stand in the middle of the box, but his bum would be hanging out. We purchased a jumbo sized box and he "fit" much better.

 

[Brindlebtch]

We had a cat that was plenty small enough to fit in the box but still hung his butt over the edge to void.

I will be watching this thread because as far as I'm concerned cats speak an alien language!
I mean, I do like cats - I just can't communicate with them very well!

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

One of the suggestions I read was to get a cat litter called "Cat Attract". I don't know how it's different from other cat litters but it helped for someone...

 

[ChickenFanaticAB]

My cat does this occasionally, the hanging her bum outside the litter box thing. The only thing I can suggest for that is to get one of those litter boxes with the lids. I guess if you did get one of those, it would definitely tell you if he was just missing, or if he was actually just not using the box...I'm assuming you have more than one cat, and some cats do not like to use litter boxes that others have already used...that could also be the issue. Hope you can figure it out!

 

[rancher hicks]

Honestly I don't use the usual "litter pan", I use the tubs they sell at the home store for mixing cement. They are deeper and bigger and in my case cost less. Stubby has no tail, hence the name and while he is plump he does fit in the box.

His mums name was Bob cause she had a stub. She was one of the most friendly cats I ever rescued. I got a letter from her after I adopted her out that said she was very happy. She got to sleep on her new owners bed. She had pretty good writing too.

Thanks for all the advice, I'll do my best.

 

[CityClucks]

Try adding another litter pan. Some cats want to defecate and urinate in different areas.