At my whits end w/ the cats- update

I really am.
one of my cats is pooping on the floor. we clean the box 1 and often times 2 times a day and she still goes on the floor. Sometimes the male does it too. They have been checked out and there is nothing wrong with them. I don't know what to do anymore b/c I'm pregnant and the last thing I want it to have a baby learning to crawl on poop carpet.
I feel bad but I'm seriously thinking about giving them up
Does anyone have any tips? I feel like I tried it all- when they go, I put the poop in their box, but they dont' care- i've gotten 2 boxes instead of 1- but they only go in one and ignore the other.
I am really broken up about even having to think about where to put them- but i live in a 2 bedroom apt so it's not like I can put them in a basement or confine them somewhere in the house.

update: i can't take it- i've been putting the food bowls where they go- and they go and find new places to crap. it's even worse now- every night when I come home there are or 3 piles of crap all over..... i'm really getting furious.

Message edited 7/20/2006 6:19:50 PM.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats

WOW! Thats odd for cats for sure. Have you tried changing litters?

I have only heard of cats doing that when they are sick. I would call the vet any ask for addtional suggestions on what to do. They are trained to be able to help figure it out for you?

What about an automatic litter box? May be worth the money? Ours was the BEST $$$ ever spent!

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats

Oh my gosh. This is so easy to fix.

check your fm girlfriend.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats

I have only heard of cats doing that when they are sick. I would call the vet any ask for addtional suggestions on what to do. They are trained to be able to help figure it out for you?
------------------------------------------------------

Vets are trained in medical treatment, not really behavioral treatment. If she asks her vet, I can almost guarantee that he/she will want to put the cats on kitty prozac.


Remember, cats are stressed out because their mom is pregnant.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats

Have you thought about picking up a book on cat behavior? That might give you some clues as to what is going on in their heads. Cats can be so hard to figure out sometimes. I have read a book recently called (I think) Cat Confidential which was written by a cat psychologist and it gave some good ideas. It might be a good idea to scatter a few more litter boxes around the house...I think its suggested to have 1 box per cat plus one extra...

Good Luck!

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

update

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

Are you sure it is both of the cats that is doing it? I would take them both back to the vet or try a new vet - I don't think that is typical behavior for a cat that isn't sick...

ETA: This was posted by Racheee - it might offer an explanation as to why cats would do that

I read a book called Cat Confidential by Vicky Halls and its really great. I wanted to recommend it to you cat owners out there because I felt that it explaned a heck of a lot of cat behavior problems that people have been talking about in the last few days. You can get it on Amazon.com

Happy Reading!

Message edited 7/20/2006 8:14:31 PM.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

I also think this is weird behavior for cats. This is very untypical and I think I owuld be back at the vet as well. Cats are clean by nature and its very rare they will go outside the litter box unless its dirty, which doesnt seem to be the case for you.

It could be anxiety or something more.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

I am in the same situtation. My female cat does the same thing now. Out of the blue. All of a sudden she started to go poop on the tile, near the litter box. Or she finds one of my rugs in the bathroom and goes there. I have not changed anything. I took her to the vet and they could not find anything wrong with her medically.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

What about trying a second vet?/ Get another opinion... just to rule out anything medical.


Check your fm.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

There are some suggestions on this forum for cats that poop outside the litterbox.

I hope they stop their bad behavior soon.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

thanks for all your advice.
I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow am to see if there is anything wrong.
If not, i'm going to maybe invest in the automatic box and put that somewhere else w/ the other one I already have.

Re: At my whits end w/ the cats- update

I was thinking about this...do your cats get along? is one cat bullying the other cat? Sometimes when one cat is bullying the other cat, the bullied cat won't go somewhere where they have to walk past that cat because its too scary for them. My friend has this exact problem, he has 3 cats and one cat is much more dominant, so the dominant cat sits by the stairs and waits for the ilttle cat to pass by so she can pounce on her, so to avoid this trauma, she does a poo wherever she is. She holds it in for as long as she can...but the poor dear has to do a poo..so she does it.

So, does any of this ring true? Even cats who are brothers and have lived together for years can just start this kind of behaviour at any time.

Dr Racheeeee