Outside the box frustration

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And play with depth of litter. Also keep boxes as clean as possible. Scoop
at least once a day.

Karen


I always scoop daily and change the litter about once a week. (Sometimes my
go 2 weeks...) This is ALL what we have done for that last several years.
Which makes me wonder how/why she now at this time is having behavioral
demostration of anything....

We got our new girl LAST spring. She adjusted relatively nicely, they all
get along. This problem is only in the last many weeks. I just see NO
changes in our lives to make her demostrate 'control' issues or whatever.

She is the only one who sleeps with me, follows me around the house, remains
very close. She is almost like a puppy in her behaviors with me. I would
think she gets lots of lovin', but...

PattyC

in article , PattyC at
wrote on 5/18/04 9:22 PM:


"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And play with depth of litter. Also keep boxes as clean as possible. Scoop
at least once a day.

Karen


I always scoop daily and change the litter about once a week. (Sometimes my
go 2 weeks...) This is ALL what we have done for that last several years.
Which makes me wonder how/why she now at this time is having behavioral
demostration of anything....

We got our new girl LAST spring. She adjusted relatively nicely, they all
get along. This problem is only in the last many weeks. I just see NO
changes in our lives to make her demostrate 'control' issues or whatever.

She is the only one who sleeps with me, follows me around the house, remains
very close. She is almost like a puppy in her behaviors with me. I would
think she gets lots of lovin', but...

PattyC


Well then I would sure get a blood panel work up. Moving the boxes around
may only be hindering you.

Karen

in article , PattyC at
wrote on 5/18/04 9:22 PM:


"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

And play with depth of litter. Also keep boxes as clean as possible. Scoop
at least once a day.

Karen


I always scoop daily and change the litter about once a week. (Sometimes my
go 2 weeks...) This is ALL what we have done for that last several years.
Which makes me wonder how/why she now at this time is having behavioral
demostration of anything....

We got our new girl LAST spring. She adjusted relatively nicely, they all
get along. This problem is only in the last many weeks. I just see NO
changes in our lives to make her demostrate 'control' issues or whatever.

She is the only one who sleeps with me, follows me around the house, remains
very close. She is almost like a puppy in her behaviors with me. I would
think she gets lots of lovin', but...

PattyC


Well then I would sure get a blood panel work up. Moving the boxes around
may only be hindering you.

Karen

Do you use a commercial scented litter? If so, try changing to an unscented
litter. Petsmart has a clumping paper-based litter that is unscented and
fairly cheap. M9


"PattyC" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I haven't been here in awhile, but I am back to request some thoughts or
advice. My 3 year old kitty has in recent weeks (maybe 8 or 10 weeks?)
been
pooping outside the litter box on occasion.

I am certain this is a behavioral thing, but will tell you the details so
as
to circumvent other assumptions. I have 3 cats who seem to get along well
in general. I had (when this started) 2 boxes upstairs in a spare bedroom
and 1 box in my basement in a back room. She started to poop in the back
room, on the cement floor, near the litter box but not IN it, and clearly
not an accidental miss. At first I was not sure which cat it was (though
my
guess was correct), but have since caught her right after the act, so I
know
it's her.

My first ploy was to put another box downstairs, thinking maybe they need
more. Within a week or so, she just started leaving her outside the box
stuff between the 2 boxes. I tried leaving the doors open to the back
room,
thinking that was too closed and quiet and open air might..... no good.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to move all litter to the upstairs room and
close the doors on the basement back room. I was thinking maybe the
secret
outside the box pooping was still something she was doing in a dark quiet
room....I added a litter box upstairs so there are now 3 there (4 had not
helped, so decided to go back to 3). Things went quietly for awhile,
then,
sure enough.... Since changing the situation, she has pooped 2X on the
rug
in the spare bedroom. Again, somewhat near the litter boxes, but...

I am now trying to decide if I again move litter downstairs, so at least
she
will poop in the cement floored back room and not on the rug. Or now will
she go outside the box in BOTH places? I sure hate to think this behavior
might spread to the middle of the living room floor!!! And why the HECK
did
she start this behavior after being a good litter girl for several years,
and with NO changes happening in our lives, and with no apparent illness,
and only intermittently?????

I KNOW she is healthy as a horse, and this only happens about once or
twice
a week anyway, but just to head off the "take her to the vet" answers, she
has her check up appt. this week. But I promise you this is not about
illness.

So, do I just say, "Oh well..."? Or is there something I might DO to make
this not occur?

PattyC

Do you use a commercial scented litter? If so, try changing to an unscented
litter. Petsmart has a clumping paper-based litter that is unscented and
fairly cheap. M9


"PattyC" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I haven't been here in awhile, but I am back to request some thoughts or
advice. My 3 year old kitty has in recent weeks (maybe 8 or 10 weeks?)
been
pooping outside the litter box on occasion.

I am certain this is a behavioral thing, but will tell you the details so
as
to circumvent other assumptions. I have 3 cats who seem to get along well
in general. I had (when this started) 2 boxes upstairs in a spare bedroom
and 1 box in my basement in a back room. She started to poop in the back
room, on the cement floor, near the litter box but not IN it, and clearly
not an accidental miss. At first I was not sure which cat it was (though
my
guess was correct), but have since caught her right after the act, so I
know
it's her.

My first ploy was to put another box downstairs, thinking maybe they need
more. Within a week or so, she just started leaving her outside the box
stuff between the 2 boxes. I tried leaving the doors open to the back
room,
thinking that was too closed and quiet and open air might..... no good.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to move all litter to the upstairs room and
close the doors on the basement back room. I was thinking maybe the
secret
outside the box pooping was still something she was doing in a dark quiet
room....I added a litter box upstairs so there are now 3 there (4 had not
helped, so decided to go back to 3). Things went quietly for awhile,
then,
sure enough.... Since changing the situation, she has pooped 2X on the
rug
in the spare bedroom. Again, somewhat near the litter boxes, but...

I am now trying to decide if I again move litter downstairs, so at least
she
will poop in the cement floored back room and not on the rug. Or now will
she go outside the box in BOTH places? I sure hate to think this behavior
might spread to the middle of the living room floor!!! And why the HECK
did
she start this behavior after being a good litter girl for several years,
and with NO changes happening in our lives, and with no apparent illness,
and only intermittently?????

I KNOW she is healthy as a horse, and this only happens about once or
twice
a week anyway, but just to head off the "take her to the vet" answers, she
has her check up appt. this week. But I promise you this is not about
illness.

So, do I just say, "Oh well..."? Or is there something I might DO to make
this not occur?

PattyC

"PattyC" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I haven't been here in awhile, but I am back to request some thoughts or
advice. My 3 year old kitty has in recent weeks (maybe 8 or 10 weeks?)
been
pooping outside the litter box on occasion.


PattyC




Try experimenting with different types of litter (and different depths, as
someone else suggested). Has she been declawed? If so, get the very
softest litter you can find, and see if that helps.

MaryL

"PattyC" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I haven't been here in awhile, but I am back to request some thoughts or
advice. My 3 year old kitty has in recent weeks (maybe 8 or 10 weeks?)
been
pooping outside the litter box on occasion.


PattyC




Try experimenting with different types of litter (and different depths, as
someone else suggested). Has she been declawed? If so, get the very
softest litter you can find, and see if that helps.

MaryL

In article , pattycnospam4303
@verizon.net enlightened us with...

So, do I just say, "Oh well..."? Or is there something I might DO to make
this not occur?


In addition to the other replies...

Is it possible she doesn't want to go where the other cats go? Do the
other cats use all the boxes or do they have their "own" they usually go
in?
My cats all get along pretty well, but no one goes in the box that
Jeffrey uses, unless the other one hasn't been scooped yet. They don't
fight. The girls just don't use that one after he's used it if they can
help it. I scoop twice daily and use clumping litter.

Just for grins, try scooping several times a day to ensure that when she
needs to go, at least one box is totally clean. See if it helps. My
Rowan will hold it all day until I come home and scoop. As soon as I do,
she *runs* to the box and goes. Yet Rowan is actually usually the
"brat" and more dominant appearing (eats first, sleeps where she
chooses, instigates rough play, etc). But if you watch closer, she
defers to Jeffrey if he pesters her and will leave the litter box if he
approaches while she's going.


--
--
~kaeli~
Those who jump off a bridge in Paris... are in Seine.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

In article , pattycnospam4303
@verizon.net enlightened us with...

So, do I just say, "Oh well..."? Or is there something I might DO to make
this not occur?


In addition to the other replies...

Is it possible she doesn't want to go where the other cats go? Do the
other cats use all the boxes or do they have their "own" they usually go
in?
My cats all get along pretty well, but no one goes in the box that
Jeffrey uses, unless the other one hasn't been scooped yet. They don't
fight. The girls just don't use that one after he's used it if they can
help it. I scoop twice daily and use clumping litter.

Just for grins, try scooping several times a day to ensure that when she
needs to go, at least one box is totally clean. See if it helps. My
Rowan will hold it all day until I come home and scoop. As soon as I do,
she *runs* to the box and goes. Yet Rowan is actually usually the
"brat" and more dominant appearing (eats first, sleeps where she
chooses, instigates rough play, etc). But if you watch closer, she
defers to Jeffrey if he pesters her and will leave the litter box if he
approaches while she's going.


--
--
~kaeli~
Those who jump off a bridge in Paris... are in Seine.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

"PattyC" wrote in
:

or advice. My 3 year old kitty has in recent weeks (maybe 8 or 10
weeks?) been pooping outside the litter box on occasion.


Is the wayward poop the same, uh, consistency? Perhaps your cat is feeling
uncomfortable straining to get a hard or large poop out, and associates
that discomfort with the box.