cat poo issue

[k4teacher]

Ok..i need soem real help with this one...about 1 month 1/2 ago, we got a kitten for my daughter. She was a stray that was sick...better now. As far as we can tell, she is about 4 or 5 months old. Anyway, she goes in the litter box and my daughter is good about cleaning the box out daily. However, she has decided that under my oldest son's bed is another GREAT place to poo! He tries to keep his door shut, but if he ever forgets...she makes a bee line in there. When we have seen her go under there, I thought we would just clap and make a lot of noise and hit on the bed. My thought was this would make for an unplesant "poo experience". Nope, did it anyway. I have been yelling No No No...watching her (she's too far under for me to grab) and she will do it while I am watching!!! :eek: What is the deal??? she does not go anywhere else in the house (except her box). It is driving us crazy! Especially our son!!:mad: So, PLEASE give some brilliant ideas!

[tiffers]

How many litter boxes do you have? You should have one box, per cat, plus one more. You should also not place her box anywhere near her food or bedding.

The carpet under the bed needs to be shampooed and cleaned with enzymatic cleaners, because right now...it probably smells just like a litter box to her.

[k4teacher]

we have 1 box, 1 kitty. Are you saying we need more? I have cleaned under the bed...and thought I got it out...are you saying maybe not? It just seems like she is WAITING to go in there! Like the door is open for a minute and she goes in and under the bed! I will look for some of that special cleaner.
Also, her box is in the same room with food and bed...but not right next to it. We did have it in another room...but she kept going in this 1 corner of my daughters room...so we just put the box there. Like I said, she does go in the box almost all of the time...

[Hunna]

does your son tease the cat at all? she may be going under his bed as a way of saying she doesnt like him?

I only say this because when I moved in with my sister, her cat started to potty under my bed, and she really didnt like me being there. I never harmed this cat, but she just hated me from day one. I was only at my sisters for about 4 weeks, and when I moved back out, the cat never pottied there again.

[k4teacher]

interesting...no, he really doesn't pay her any mind. I, too have had vengeful cats!! I guess I was hoping someone might have an idea about making this spot less appealing. I think originally she started going there and (i know this sounds terrible) we didn't realize it. She was sick, like I said, at first and her poo really didn't smell that bad. So, when we did discover it, she had already gone there several times. So, it seems she feels that this is not just an option, but a great place! I just need to know how to make it a bad place to go.

[tiffers]

Ideally, each cat should have 2 boxes. One per cat, plus one more. Many cats don't like to pee and poop in the same place. Some cats don't like to eat and poop in the same place, and there are some that don't like to sleep and poop in the same place.

You need to get an enzymatic cleaner especially made for pet stains/soils...or else you aren't getting it all. They have a billion more receptors in their noses than we do, I assure you...if you've not used a special cleaner, you haven't got it all.

[k4teacher]

gross...i'll get right on that. And...I will get another litter box. I think she is ok going in the room where the box is now...maybe she just wants a choice! cats...
Anything else??

[special]

gross...i'll get right on that. And...I will get another litter box. I think she is ok going in the room where the box is now...maybe she just wants a choice! cats...
Anything else??

From what I've read, most people swear by Nature's Miracle for completely removing pet poo and pee odors.

I agree another litter box is neccessary. But I was thinking about that under the bed thing....maybe she likes having a "roof" when she poops. how about making one of her boxes one of those covered ones, see how she does with that.

[theresa92841]

Just keep in mind that I don't think that any product including Nature's Miracle does the job 100%. If you read their directions for how you would get urine really out of the carpet, it tells you how you might even need to lift the carpet and get down to the padding. And I doubt that most of us are lifting up the carpet! I use it and think it does a good job, but I do believe the doggies can still smell the pee there.

I know nothing about cats, but my new puppy likes to get under the bed. And I am gong to buy some boards, cut them to size and attach all under my bed near the edge so that there isn't room for the puppy to get under the bed anymore. Basically block it all the way around. Not sure if that would be an option you would want to try.

[k4teacher]

Ok...so she has not been peeing there...only the poo. The thought had crossed my mind about the "roof" or at least privacy, but then I thought no, that's silly. Guess not...I say again, "ahhh, cats". And maybe I will board up the bed. Maybe that will get her out of the habit. My husband is afraid that she is "untrainable" is that possible??

[lindsayanng]

have you ever heard of something called X MAT? it is kinda like one of those office floor chair pad things turned upside down.. If you put that up on the bed (or maybe two) then your cat will NOT want to do up there

heres a link:
X-MAT training (http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Extra-Pet-Training-flexible/dp/B00074W39U)

She might justlike the softness of going on a comfortor. Have you thought of changing the litter??

We had a cat that peed on the bed out of vengence and actually POOPED IN IT WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING.. i called out of work sick that day because i was throwing up at 5am. I'm not even going to tell you how we woke up to find it..

anyways, it probably IS trainable.. you have to find out WHY she is doing it though.. I might change the boxes around, get a covered one, or a bigger one.. then try the litter.

just dont change too many things at once. that might make it worse

[special]

Ok...so she has not been peeing there...only the poo. The thought had crossed my mind about the "roof" or at least privacy, but then I thought no, that's silly. Guess not...I say again, "ahhh, cats". And maybe I will board up the bed. Maybe that will get her out of the habit. My husband is afraid that she is "untrainable" is that possible??

It is not silly to think your cat may want privacy when pooping. I've forgotten where her litter box is situated. Cats want privacy and are very particular about their boxes. I think you did say that the box is kept very clean, but cats do like a choice, some cats like to poop in one and pee in the other for example. This way if she's using one box for pee only, and you do scoop daily, she will always have a clean (covered?) box for pooping.

So two boxes, one covered, and the boxes placed in a quiet low traffic area, not near her food or bed. You don't want to eat or sleep near your toilet and neither does your cat.

Yes, cats can be retrained. Don't let your husband talk you into anything drastic. If the extra covered box doesn't help, blocking off the access is the next step (or a paralell step, block off the bed, and add the new box)

retraining requires the cat to be confined to a small area, such as a bathroom with a window, with only her litter box, bed, food and water.

We had someone here last summer who had to retrain their cat, and apparently it was successful.

But I don't think you have to resort to that yet. I really think adding a box, and moving the dishes and bed away from the litter boxes, and blocking off the access to under the bed, should do the trick.

If she starts going somewhere else when she can't get to under the bed, then you have to start looking for what's causing her to do this. It could be she's constipated and blaming the box for her discomfort. It could be she sees something that upsets her (another cat? strange dog, whatever) and when she sees that it makes her want to go poop somewhere else.

A feliway plug in might help in that situation.

[special]

PS I just thought of something else. It is possible that former residents of your home may have had a pet that went poop or pee in your son's room. So kitten in her explorations has found that scent and figured it was a good safe place to go.

[k4teacher]

Well, I think it is the 2 places thing. She loves our golden retriever. she uses his tail for a cat toy, and then lays between his front paws and lets him "slurp" her head. (just had to stick that in as a "that is so cute" moment!). So it's not the dog thing. No constipation...I won't go into how we know that. And...we got new carpet and padding when we moved here, so not lingering pet odor. So...as nice as you are trying to be to her...I think she is just picky:D. And, I know you said we don't like to sleep and eat in our bathroom and neither do we...that is why I had the box in another, private room. BUT...she chose to go in that same corner over and over again, so we moved the box where she had chosen to go. Thought that would make her happy. Because you know that is our main goal...to make her happy:p.
Thanks so much for the thoughts so far. i will go and get those things today.

[Llamalady]

Please let us know how she's doing!!!!!

[masterid]

It may be that he doesn't like his litter box (http://www.agritura.com) for some reason. Have you recently changed litters? Some cats (http://www.agritura.com) won't use non-clumping litter, some won't use scented litter, etc. Until you figure it out, I suggest keeping the door closed is good idea.