year-long litter box issues

Question
QUESTION: Hi Karen,

my boyfriend and I adopted a cat from the animal shelter about a year ago. Since that time, she has been consistently going to the bathroom on the floor rather than in the box. We are both at our wit's end and don't know what to do anymore. We don't want to bring her back to the shelter because she is otherwise the perfect cat for us and we have fallen in love with her.

When we first brought her home from the shelter, we were using silicone crystal litter. She used that twice, but then stopped pooping in it. We assumed it was because she was constipated. We wanted to feed her on a raw diet, and the percent of bone may have been too high. We then switched to a grain free wet food that turned out to give her diarrhea. During this time, she had diarrhea at least three times a day, on the floor. We had brought her to the vet on the second day of this, and the vet put her on all sorts of medications, none of which worked. In the end, I tried switching her food, and the diarrhea went away immediately. The litter box issues did not.

At the time we were living in a large apartment with 4 roommates. We had one litter box in our room in a quiet corner, and another box in the small half bath. She preferred the box in the half bath and used the one in our bedroom to pee in. However, she did take to pooping on the floor next to the box from time to time, and decided a corner in my boyfriend's room was more to her liking for peeing. We researched the problem heavily and tried the following methods:

We cleaned all areas where she had gone to the bathroom with soap and water followed by a enzyme spray. We then cleaned both litter boxes with soap and water and enzyme spray and moved the litter box from my room to the spot she was peeing in my boyfriend's room. We started closing her off from the litter box in the bathroom and watching her to see when she was going to poop and then putting her in the bathroom until she went in the box, then letting her out and giving her a treat.

It worked temporarily. She started pooping in the box in the bathroom, but she still peed on the floor in my boyfriend's room. We put down aluminum foil everywhere but in the path leading to the litter box. She started pooping on the foil and peeing in front of the box. We then started cleaning the boxes twice a day, and this seemed to work, so we've been doing that now. We tried to also keep to a schedule of cleaning the litter box itself once a month, but we haven't been as good about that, and she would occasionally poop near the box when she wasn't happy with the cleanliness of the box.

We have since moved to a one bedroom apartment and brought the litter box issues with us. When we keep the box extra clean, she's better about it, but still likes to poop on the floor if there is one pee clump in the box, and pees on the floor if there is poop in the box. This happens overnight before we get a chance to scoop. We scoop before bed and in the morning and any poop immediately after she goes. We have a second box in the living room that she doesn't use.

We have since gotten a kitten who uses any box she encounters. Now our cat never uses the box. We scoop at least 4 times a day, clean the boxes thoroughly, and mop the floors with 1:1 ratio vinegar to water, followed by baking soda, followed by enzyme spray. We have not tried isolating her to the bathroom again. Our animal shelter (I live in Germany) has been of no help, and our cat is healthy now that we found a good food for her. I don't know what more to do.

Thanks in advance for your help.

ANSWER: Hi Sarah,

Sorry it's taken so long. I lost power here. It sounds that when she was constipated and tried to use the litter pan it hurt her. She probably now associates the pan with her pain. She wants to do the right thing so that is why she is defecating by the pan. But she won't use the pan itself because she thinks that is what gave her her problems. Here are a few things you can do and get that should help.

Take your cat to the vet to make sure she isn't sick. You need to make sure nothing new has popped up. If she gets a clean bill of health then try doing these things next. Keep using the enzymatic cleaner. This will help remove temptation to use the wrong area. Get her a litter box like this.  A new box will help. And I've found that this box is just what cats love.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=petmate+giant+litter+pan&rls=com.micros

Get this scoop for it. Makes your life easier.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=durascoop+litter+scoop&hl=en&rls=com.mi

Try using this litter.

http://www.preciouscat.com/  

Pet Smart and other stores carry it. It should help her getting used to the box again. If she doesn't like it try a natural non clay type of litter. Change in litter texture could make a difference.

You can give her this. Or something like it.

http://www.petnaturals.com/vitamins_supplements/calming-support-softchews-cats.p

Might calm her down and remove some of her fear of the box. She's under some stress. Also try some Feliway Comfort Zone. This will also help.

I think if you do this stuff she will start to use the box again. Also positive reinforcement helps. When she uses the box and you see her do it, praise her. I believe you will see a big change in her soon. Good luck and take care.


Ciao, Karen


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Unfortunately I can't get most of that stuff over here in Germany. I've taken her to the vet and she has a clean bill of health. I really think the issue here is that she's very sensitive to any sort of litter box odors. When she was the only cat, she had been using the litter box more often than not when we kept it clean (scooping once a day and cleaning once a month). We even got another larger litter box prior to adopting the kitten and she used that one from time to time but preferred her old box.

Now that we have the kitten, though, she had initially stopped using the box because the kitten was using both of them and was going so often that it's been hard for me to make sure it's always clean. I'm currently scooping 5 or more times a day. Now she's stopped using her old box in preference for the new one, but only pees in it and is now pooping under my desk which is near the litter box.

She is also a very relaxed cat and doesn't seem to be too stressed by the kitten. They nap together, she bathes the kitten, eat together, and play together. I feel like she needs to somehow be retrained to use the litter box, but I don't know how. I tried keeping her in the bathroom while we're not at home and keeping an eye on her while we are, but she clawed at the bathroom door so much that she broke a claw and bled all over the door, even though we were only gone an hour, so I'm reluctant to try that again.

Right now we are using an all natural clumping litter made of recycled wood fiber. We're reluctant to try clay because we don't want to support the strip mining.

We've also been using one of those feliway plug-ins in the litter box areas.

Is this something that will ever change, or will I have to be picking up poop off the floor and scooping litter all day for the next 12 or so years?

I live in the city, so I'm not comfortable letting her outdoors to do her business either. :(

Answer
Hi Sarah,

All the stuff I posted for you is available on the Internet. Amazon has all of it.
She is identifying the litter box as the source of her pain. You really need to change that up in a totally different format. That is why I highly suggest you get that litter box. Try finding cedar litter. Cats love it. And get the calming tabs. If you do this you won't have anymore problems with her defecating outside the box.
Good luck and take care.

Ciao, Karen