Cat pooping in the house

Gloomtastic! · 28-01-2011 3:12pm #1

One of our cats is about 14 years old. He's always been a scaredy-cat and instead of going outside he'll occasionally poop inside - in the bath. The least worst option in our opinion.

However, recently this has become a daily occurrence so we closed the bathroom door. He then went into the shower room and pooped in there. We close the shower room and he poops in the fireplace.

Today we locked him in the utility room where there is a cat flap to outside. He pooped in the corner.

I'm loathed to reintroduce the litter tray but if we can't get him to go outside I may have to.

Any suggestions?

Hogzy · 28-01-2011 3:14pm

Thats very strange that a cat would start going to the toilet inside the house. It would be normal if he were a kitteh but not if he is 14yrs old. Maybe he has lost some sort of bladder/ rectal control. Does he seem himself apart from the above scenario?

Rancid · 28-01-2011 5:03pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

One of our cats is about 14 years old. He's always been a scaredy-cat and instead of going outside he'll occasionally poop inside - in the bath. The least worst option in our opinion.

However, recently this has become a daily occurrence so we closed the bathroom door. He then went into the shower room and pooped in there. We close the shower room and he poops in the fireplace.

Today we locked him in the utility room where there is a cat flap to outside. He pooped in the corner.

I'm loathed to reintroduce the litter tray but if we can't get him to go outside I may have to.

Any suggestions?

Get him a litter tray.
He's an old cat, doing his best to poo in the least offensive places, bath, shower, fireplace, corner of room, ie. not on your bed, carpet, couch, etc.
You already know he's not the bravest of cats and would rather not "go" outside.
He needs the security and comfort of a litter tray in a safe place where he won't feel threatened, so just REintroduce it and see if it settles him down.

Do your other cats have litter trays in the house, and does he refuse to use theirs?
That's not too unusual, if that's the case, he really does need one of his own.

Gloomtastic! · 28-01-2011 6:22pm

Rancid wrote: »

Get him a litter tray.
He's an old cat, doing his best to poo in the least offensive places, bath, shower, fireplace, corner of room, ie. not on your bed, carpet, couch, etc.
You already know he's not the bravest of cats and would rather not "go" outside.
He needs the security and comfort of a litter tray in a safe place where he won't feel threatened, so just REintroduce it and see if it settles him down.

Do your other cats have litter trays in the house, and does he refuse to use theirs?
That's not too unusual, if that's the case, he really does need one of his own.

I know you're right, I just thought there might be a better solution.

I hate cleaning out the litter tray. Haven't had to do it in years.

Rancid · 28-01-2011 7:10pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I know you're right, I just thought there might be a better solution.

I hate cleaning out the litter tray. Haven't had to do it in years.

Get him one of those underbed storage boxes, the small ones, about 22" x 15" x 7" (Tesco for about 7 euro), throw away the lid and put a whole newspaper in the bottom of it. Throw in your litter and put the box in a quiet corner where he'll always be able to get to.
Then when you're throwing out the litter, the newspaper goes out with it leaving very little cleaning up to do, nothing messy stuck to the base of the tray.
The 7" sides also prevent puss kicking the litter all over the place.

I've got mine in a corner under a little table with a not-very-fancy table cloth draped over it to give my 16 year old lady a little quiet corner and some privacy! :rolleyes:

anniehoo · 28-01-2011 10:55pm

+1 to everything Rancid said. Definitely get him a litter tray now. He clearly doesnt want to poo outside and tbh you're lucky hes finding the spots he has so far to go in. None of us like cleaning out the litter tray but it just has to be done.A litter locker from zooplus is my new fav thing, handy and smell free.Hes probably stressed enough in himself trying to find somewhere "decent" to go to the toilet, please get a litter tray tomorrow if you dont have one. Trying to make a 14 year old change his ways now will be very difficult and id just be happy that his bowel habits can be monitored now,one of the sure fire ways of keeping an eye on his overall health tbh.

Gloomtastic! · 29-01-2011 12:04am

Found the old tray in the garden and bought the litter so he can crap happy tomorrow.

anniehoo · 29-01-2011 12:11am

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Found the old tray in the garden and bought the litter so he can crap happy tomorrow.

Ah fair play Gloomtastic, i know its a pain in the arse startin back with the litter trays. None of us cat owners like havin them in the house, but it just sounds like it has to be done with your fella. Theyre complex little feckers, so hopefully he'll settle down now. Keep us updated and let us know if its made a difference.It mightnt happen overnight until he realises its his spot for good.

terenc · 29-01-2011 12:19am

Just get a litter tray after all the cat is fourteen years old just put it into human years?

we'llallhavetea_old · 29-01-2011 1:31am

my cat has taken a few dumps in the bathroom sink

bless him though, he aims for the plughole

Gloomtastic! · 30-01-2011 1:01pm

Grrrrr. He's got the tray but he's still crapping in the bath! :mad:

Alicat · 30-01-2011 1:40pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Grrrrr. He's got the tray but he's still crapping in the bath! :mad:

Maybe put the tray in the bath to get him started?

MsFifers · 31-01-2011 12:42pm

One of my cats also has a thing about using the bath as a toilet! :rolleyes: I think he just views it as a jumbo sized litter tray. The only thing that stops him is to leave it filled with a few inches of water. That said - he has figured out how to pull out the plug too if the litter tray isn't in a completely pristine condition.

Hopefully your cat will remember the purpose of the litter tray if you leave water in the bath & block off access to his other preferred areas!

Cat pooping in the house

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