Litter Box Issues
Dear Cathy,
I have three cats. Two cats, a male and female, are 18 months old. One cat is a male who is 6 months old. They are all fixed. The older male cat started pooping in an upstairs unfinished room in my house about two months ago. There were some changes at the time. The male cat couldn't go outside because his flea treatment was on back-order and we had just gotten the male kitten.
The male cat is now able to go outside. All the cats get along fine, but the two males don't play with each other.
I have tried to put the older male cat in time-out when he poops upstairs and keep him in a room with the litter box all night. I have sprayed cat repellent in the room, but he continues to do this. It happens in the morning mainly. There are two litter boxes that get cleaned every morning and night. I'm not sure what to do to get this behavior to stop.
- Stacey, Bellevue, Ohio
Dear Stacey,
Whenever there is a change in the home, there can be a change in behavior. In fact, change is what drives most litter box problems. Most likely the new kitten is the motivation for your male cat's inappropriate elimination.
Plug in pheromones around the home for the next 60 days. This will help calm all the cats and reduce any stress the male cat may be feeling over the new kitten.
Close the unfinished bedroom to keep your male cat from entering. Be sure when you do that you also add one more litter box someplace else in the home. Ideally, the rule is one more litter box than number of cats, but at least one more box should help. Cats are territorial, even if they are fixed, and don't like to share.
Nix the time-out for the cat. He doesn't understand this at all, and it won't improve his behavior.
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