Pooping outside of the litter box?

[nventzke]

I have a three year old female sphynx who uses the litter box to poop and pee, but every once in a while she will poop outside of the box.

It usually happens every couple of days, and not in the same spot - I try to clean the spot so she doesn't go there again. I've used three different kinds of litter - clay, crystal, and corn/cedar. I have a litter box that has a lid with a hole on top that she jumps in and out of - I've taken the lid off for a while too but nothing has helped. I clean her box every day, she is my only cat, so it doesn't get very dirty in the first place. Her litter box is in a different room than her food/water. She's updated on all of her shots and has never had any health issues.

Anyone have any advise for me? I'm running out of ideas!

 

[assibassi]

hmm we have a covered Box and ours never did that.

Have her tested for a UIT ? Maybe she has a urinary trackt infection, i think thats what its called and they sometimes think it hurts when they use the box and go outside of it because they do think the pain is assocciated with the box ? I heard that a lot on here before.........

 

[muddpuddles01]

It definitely can't hurt to get her checked out. Lenore does that sometimes if her box is dirty, but I now know that if she poops outside of a clean box, something is very wrong with her. She had a severe UTI back in December and I had no idea she even had it. She seemed fine, playing, eating, totally normal other than not using the box and howling at night. It got really bad and we almost lost her.

If that's not the problem, you could try sand litter or Feliway spray, as it may be an environmental stress factor that's causing it. My only other piece of advice is to make sure to use an enzymatic cleaner to clean up her mess spots and make sure that the smell is gone. Even if we can't smell it, they can. Good luck!

 

[Taraforweb]

Our cat suddenly decided to poo now and then... right outside her box. We clean it multiple times a day.

We tried lots of things but finally fixed the problem by puting two small litter boxes right next to each other. She poos in one and pees in the other now. *shrug*

 

[NinaGato]

Yes, I was going to suggest 2 litter boxes also.
My Merlin needs his anal glands expressed from time to time and I always know they are getting close to needing to be done if he droops one little poo outside the box. Might be something to consider.

 

[Alimoore]

My suggestion is to get a bigger box. Akali does not like the standard litter box, they were too small for her. So I went and got her a really big storage box that has low edges on it. She really likes it now.

 

[TsumePaws]

When we had our siamese Zim before he started pooping outside of the box randomly. We ended up finding out that another cat we had was attacking him. He would sit on top of the litter box and attack Zim as he came out of the litter box. He also started attacking Tsume and was trying to dominate both of them. He was a male tabby cat and he just decided he was the new boss. We ended up finding him a new home with only a docile female cat and he does great there and Zim immediately stopped pooping outside the box.

But since she is the only cat I don't know what it could be. I would definitely start with a vet visit!

You could also try getting a litter tray and see if that helps. I know uncovered boxes aren't always pleasant but you could see if she prefers that. I hope you can figure it out!

I would much rather deal with pooping on the floor rather than peeing any day! It sounds weird but cat urine is sooooo much worse than poop.

 

[ZiggyStardust]

I don't have any suggestions/explanations 'cause I'm in the same boat. Toothy poops outside the box too. Fortunately it's solid poo and not the diarrhea he had when we first got him. We've got six boxes for him to choose from and there's tall and short boxes and open boxes. We've tried different litter, including the Cat Attract (which seemed to work for a bit but doesn't now). We're using Feliway too. We think it may be because he's afraid of being attacked - though we've never seen it happen (may have been from his previous home) - because when he pees it's like he holds it until he can't anymore then he pees and pees and pees and then jumps out of the box like his tail is on fire.

 

[lucylue]

Is she declawed? I saw on the cat show that declawed cats tend to do this, the litter hurts there feet.

 

[ElvirasMum]

Elvy won't go in the covered box if Liv's peed too close to the opening. She won't walk across peed on litter. We have two other boxes she can use so this eliminates the issue!

 

[susi794]

Litterbox Behavior Solutions - Home

 

[nventzke]

Thanks everyone, I'll talk to my vet. She is completely normal other than that, so I didn't think she was sick.

Lucy- she is declawed on all fours. She was unfortunately a used to breed before I found her. The breeder had her declawed.

 

[Caloci]

Try some litter attractant. I dont know if it helps with poo issues but it is worth a try.

 

[TsumePaws]

Maybe the litter is hurting her feet? I know they have a softer type of litter made out of recycled newspaper. Maybe fill a litter pan with that and see if she prefers that?

Declawing can unfortunately cause litter box problems I sincerely hope you can figure it out!! *hugs*