cat going to bathroom on personal things

Question
For some reason unknown to me, my cat as decided to go number 2 on the keyboard of my $2,000 laptop computer.  I keep the litter box very clean, and this has been happening for awhile now, but usually she just goes in a corner or something.  Any ideas why she is doing this and how to make her stop.

Answer
Harold,

This may have started as a behavioral thing for some reason (see below).  BTW, my rule (being a computer person since 1965 and a cat breeder since 1970) is that cat hair and computers do not mix.  If I am not in my office, no cats are allowed in.  Normally, cats tend to like to pee on keyboards (cat pee is a base and it does interesting things to the electronics), not poop on them.

Anyway, one thing is that the laptop tends to be warmer than the surroundings and cats like this.  Exactly why the cat decided to poop on your keyboard is anyone's guess!!!!!

You may contact the manufacturer about cleaning the keyboard.  Anyway, cleaning would have to be done with an enzyme based cleaner specifically for pet stains and pet odors (available from most pet supermarkets or farm stores).  I suspect you would have to remove all the keys to do it correctly and thoroughly.

Cats usually are good about litter pans, so there is something that is making her go in the corner on occasion.  It is important to clean up any area where she inappropriately poops using a cleaner like what I suggested above.  

There are two reasons she may be pooping inappropriately:

(1) She may have a physical problem (intestinal parasites, need to have her anal glands expressed, etc.), so a visit to the vet with a stool sample may be in order.

(2) She may have developed a behavioral issue because of some change (change in type or brand of litter, new addition to the household, strange cats hanging around outside, etc.).  Also, if the cat is annoyed at you for some reason, they may behave like toddlers and try to use bathroom habits to control their owners (parents)!  It may take a bit of detective work to figure out how it started.  Now, if the precipitating reason is no longer the case, it may be habit.  Breaking her of the habit may mean denying her access to favorite inappropriate pooping spots until she re-learns the correct place to go.

I am including a link to an excellent article on litter box problems which will have lots more detail and further suggestions:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html

This was written by a vet who is also a cat breeder.

Please let me know if this helps you out.

Best regards... Norm.