I'm cat-sitting for a cat who poops all over - ideas?

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Traci and Boomer

Traci and Boomer

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Let me start by saying the people I'm catsitting for (my land lords) are very nice and very clean-cleaner and nicer than me! :lol:

They have taken care of two of my diabetic cats and Merlin who has asthma, so they are somewhat cat-savy. That said, here's the situation:

They have 2 girl cats. One is about 4, Saphire and Ruby, is about 12. (cats don't really like each other) Ruby's was pooping (runny poop) outside the box for a while. She's been to the vet and I think the vet assumes she's got IBD-she's not had a biopsy. She was on pred but is not any longer because now her only symptom is going outside of the box but it's not always runny.

I walked around the house with them today for the "tour" before they left and learned that all of their LB's are in the basement of a 3-story house. There are 2 LB's with non-clumping litter :o and they don't clean the pee except ONCE a week when they dump out the whole box - they clean poop daily.
They also have a huge crate that they sometimes put her in with another LB which does have clumping litter to try to "train" her to use the LB all over again.

Food is dry - Iams and Blue Buffalo. :o

What do you think might help besides changing the food? Feliway plug-ins? Changing to clumping litter? Moving an LB upstairs and maybe to the third floor also? Sounds like I'm gonna be cleaning up a lot of sh*t this week. :evil:
Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
I think they need a litterbox on each floor.

How do they just scoop poop? Seems like a lot of trouble to me. When I dig in with the scoop it all comes up. Seems like it would be more work to seperate it.

Maybe the cat is pooping outside the box because they are picky and want a cleaner box?
 
Um, not cat savy.

CAt with diarrhea probably can not make it to the box on time. even if its not loose, the cat may still have control issues (My janeway going thru that now) They need a box on every floor. Ask them if they had diarrhea, could they make it to the house on the corner to use their bathroom?

Secondly PEEWWWWWW !! If I were their cats I wouldnt use the box either. ONce a week is criminal. You tell them to not flush their toilet for a week and see if they want to use it then. Cats noses are much more sensitive than ours are. Their lack of cleaning the boxes is probably the REASON they are in the basement. They wouldnt need to put them down there if they were cleaned more often. Even if the pee dries, they can still remove pee that is still wet when they find it.

Blech.
Pet peeve, rant over.
 
OMG! I have an auto box, does ok, still have to clean 3 time a day cuz my Sugar Bean is very very picky about a clean box, some new sprinkled over the top when I am done with it....I have a 2 bedroom 1 bath home and 1 garage and we have a manual box in the garage as well....We now have a small box for the new alien (lil sista) and we clean as soon as my butt hits the door from work, before I go to bed and before I leave for work....Sounds like they need one on each floor and clean clean clean, scoopable so the pee is easier to get out of the box, stinks less in scoopable (at least I think so).
If I were you, I would move one to the second floor, get another for the 3rd floor, purchase some scoopable and see what happens...maybe that would make all the accidents go away and the travelers could see the results, they would leave them there when they return......
My girls would be very upset with me if I did that! :lol:
Good luck, cleaning up sh*t from a cat is noooo fun!
 
Besides putting more boxes out with clumping, I would suggest a thyroid test be done on the older kitty.

Geez, bad enough to have to go pee with a lot of clumps, but no cat wants to go into a box of clay litter that is nothing but wet clay. I'm amazed the other cat hasn't gone dirty too.
 
Hi Guys -

I know what you're saying about the week old pee in the LB, that's why I made a point of telling you how clean they are. They are just CLUELESS about this particular situation. They are a super-clean male couple with a beautiful spotless house. They've got trinkets everywhere and it looks great-like a oceanside Bed & Bath. I live below them in a not-nearly-as-nice apartment.

I will bring the LB from the crate w/ the clumping litter upstairs to the main floor. I'm told Ruby tends to sh*t in a few areas on the main floor. Would Feliway spray help for these spots or is it only for urine? I don't think there's enough clumping litter for all the LB's. I have a couple days before they leave....maybe I'll just tell them that I think the pee-filled LB's are most likely contributing to the issue. I'm a little worried about embarassing them but one of them is more likely to be able to handle it than the other one - so I'll send him an email. I'll let you know what he says!
 
OMG! I just wrote to them and told them what I think their problem is. I really hope they aren't insulted. They aren't snobby but people who have really nice houses generally resist having LB's in the "nice" areas. I'll bet they'll not like that idea even though it totally makes sense. I also told them the urine building up for a week is probably preventing Ruby from using it and that they are lucky that Saphire is not rejecting them. I suggested that they swith to only clumping litter.
Eeeeekkkkk! I hope they don't get mad at me! nailbite_smile
 
while not ideal , they can put lb's in main areas and cover/hide them - they do make furniture for that now too. at least it wouldn't be seen and the cats would have better access.

I've got 3 cats and used to have only 2 boxes. I now have 3 as my oldest won't leave one room. I put a box in the room. Sometimes, she uses it and sometimes not. I also bought piddle pads (puppy training pads) that she will use - as she was going in inappropriate places all over my apt. and all over my bed!

If she doesn't use the box, then she does use the pads.

That is another option they could try, of course it's not pretty, but it is quick and easy cleanup. And also may help the cat who can't make it to the lb.
 
Update-

They didn't get mad. Whew.
Ruby doesn't seem to have the "can't make it to the litterbox" problem. Her poop is normal now-she just doesn't always use it. She is 12 though and may not "feel like" going to the downstairs LB?

They have tried putting an LB on the main floor; she pooped in it and next to it.

They tried Cat Attract litter. Nothing.

They've always done the non-clumping litter with the urine cleaned once a week with all their cats. Eeew.

When they get back from vacation they are going to try only clumping litter.

They are lucky it's not pee...they'd have BIG problems.
 
Glad they are open to ideas.

Make sure they do not convert all the boxes to clumping at once.. try adding an extra box with clumping for a time, and let the cats choose which they want to use.

At age 12, its possible to have the "cant make it to the box" without diarrhea. IBD I am guessing can change the motility of the colon. My Janeway has been having accidents outside the box and usually its diarrhea but when shes on Budesonide and her poop gets more firm, she still occasionally will be on the way to the box and have to go right then. And its also possible that she is having some cognition issues.. ie, not remembering where the box is. Pooping right next to the box usually means something is wrong with the box, so its possible shes wanting NOTHING In the box to use it. Some cats choose to pee and poop in different boxes.

I would not use feliway but an enzyme cleaner on the poop spots. Just like urine, if its not cleaned up so the cats cant smell it she may think its still ok to go there.

I ditto Hopes suggestion of bloodwork to rule out thyroid issues.

When we have kitties returned for litterbox avoidance, in the shelter we give them 4 boxes (they are living in one room at the shelter) 2 covered and 2 uncovered, 1 of each clumping and 1 of each regular clay. Sometimes its amazing... they never touch the regular litter or have a high preference for the clumping. Not that this will be the case for all cats of course.
 
Thanks Lisa. It seems like your shelter work has really educated you. I'd not have remembered that changing litter all at once can potentially cause issues. I can't believe cats also are particular about litter types, clumping vs non-clumping. Gosh. It's a lot of work.

I'll mention the thyroid issues. I'm curious - what makes you think of that? (so I can tell them)
 
Um.. well, word of mouth I guess. Not sure I have seen anything "official" about the pooping and hyperT, but know that hyperT along with other diseases can cause diarrhea. It seems like I have heard a lot of folks talk about cats that poop in bathtubs and various places who were later dxed with hyperT..
http://www.catforum.com/forum/37-behavior/86248-pooping-outside-litterbox.html

Oh yea, I have heard stories for sure about fussy kitties, and people just not understanding. One of my neighbors, she is a fastidious person, and yet she put up with her acquired from a friend kittys pooping periodically other places in the apt. I cat sat for her and discovered she was using the pelleted feline pine.. and I told her the cat probably didnt like the litter..but she refused to change litters..which boggled my mind. It was weird, her reasoning was the regular clay litter smelled bad, and the feline pine had nice odor, but she would put up with poop elsewhere in the apt. Made NO sense! Then there were the other neighbors who had 2 young cats, one DISGUSTING litterbox with clumping litter that was such a solidly packed pee clump, yep, the ENTIRE bottom of the box.. that they would just pour new clumping litter on top of. I had to chip it away and soak the bottom in water to get it clean. Their cats were pooping in the bathtub, perching with all four paws on the corner edge so they didnt have to stand on it. I cat sat one more time, with nothing changed after I politely talked with them about it the first time, and said nomore cat sitting. It was GROSS.

On our behavior hotline, (used to be open to everyone, now just adopters can use) we would get tons of litterbox calls, and litter has a big component. The crystal litters, like litter pearls, are the biggest offenders, pelletized litters next. After suggesting to people that use crystal litters, to transition to clumping.. all problems eliminated. Just recently in the shelter we had 2 kittens in cage and they had Newspaper Pellet litter and had pooped all over their cage, all over. Changed to regular nonclumping clay, and all is right with the world.

Or the adopters that had no idea why their new cat wasnt using the litterbox, and doing his business all over the apartment. OH guess what...the cats litterbox (they had one cat already) was ON THE FIRE ESCAPE! And because their cat used it fine out there, they couldnt figure out why the new cat wouldnt. Not that it was safe out there to begin with.

I will stop now :shock: :roll:
 
Lisa-

LOVE the disgusting stories. It is SO weird that some people are just SO clueless and do not want to change. Crazy.

My guys told me that they will try the all clumping litter when they return from the vaca. Poor Ruby. I hope whatever she has isn't too serious. I'm gonna mix some of the clumping kind in with the non-clumping so she can start getting used to it.

It's gonna be a fun week of cleaning sh*t. :roll:
 
You might also copy off the litterbox section from Dr. Lisa's site and leave it for them. And Dr. Elsey's is a dream to use. When I injured myself and DH had to do the litterbox (something he won't do unless it's absolutely necessary), he remarked how good and easy that stuff was and how he didn't mind doing the litterbox.
 
Lisa and Merlyn (GA) said:
Um, not cat savy.

CAt with diarrhea probably can not make it to the box on time. even if its not loose, the cat may still have control issues (My janeway going thru that now) They need a box on every floor. Ask them if they had diarrhea, could they make it to the house on the corner to use their bathroom?

Secondly PEEWWWWWW !! If I were their cats I wouldnt use the box either. ONce a week is criminal. You tell them to not flush their toilet for a week and see if they want to use it then. Cats noses are much more sensitive than ours are. Their lack of cleaning the boxes is probably the REASON they are in the basement. They wouldnt need to put them down there if they were cleaned more often. Even if the pee dries, they can still remove pee that is still wet when they find it.

Blech.
Pet peeve, rant over.
Click to expand...

Thank you Lisa. That is the funniest post I've read all week!
Obviously they were pooping outside the box because it was filled with stinky wet clay. Massive thanks to whoever it was that invented scoopable litter (especially the newer ones that are pine or corn based.
My Bob tells me when he's done each time as if he's saying "OK, dad, time to scoop!". He's very particular. He used to smack the heck out of his sister Lily whenever she'd have the nerve to use "his" box. Luckily, she put up with the smacks rather than finding a new place to pee or poop. I went so far as to buy a 2nd LB so that each kitty could have it's own. Nothing doing. Bob claimed one as his "pee" box, and the other as his "poo" box! Even after we lost his sister early this year, he's still maintained that "seperation".
If I don't scoop each box a couple times a day (god help me if I went a week - he'd be using my pillow as a LB), Bob will wait until one or the other is clean before using it, and he will always tell me about it before and after using one. Bob prefers the covered box which is in the house to the uncovered one on the screened porch. I guess he likes to "close the door" before using the facilities.

Carl
 
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