7 year old cat wont use litter box

Question
My seven year old cat is rebellious about using her litter box. We recently boarded her and our other two cats for a week. We picked up two new kittens before bringing the rest home from boarding. Now the seven year old is secretly doing her business in the closet or in the corner of rooms on our new carpet!

She has done this once before two years ago when we replaced the open litter box with a covered one and that was quickly remedied by removing the lid of the litter box. Currently, we have three open litter boxes throughout the house. I realize that she's probably coping with a combination of stress from the new kittens and being home from boarding, but what do I do to stop this behavior?

Answer
Maggie,

First, if possible, I would restrict the cat from going into the areas where she is doing her business. You want to make the litter box the most appealing option to your cat instead. Keep all closet doors securely closed, and if possible keep her out of the rooms with the new carpet, though that may be difficult to do. Sometimes, though it is rare, something about the new carpet smell will attract cats unfavorably.

Quite a few people have solved litter box issues by switching to Cat Attract litter because the litter is blended with a natural herb attractant. It's the first cat litter marketed to provide a solution for owners of cats who are not using their litter box.

There is a possibility that her issue with the litter box is a medical problem and not a behavioral one. The cat may have picked up something when she was boarded. Pooping outside the box often happens when a cat has painful bowel movements, or has a urinary tract infection or urinary crystals. The cat associates the pain with the litter box and becomes afraid to use it and goes elsewhere.

Most older cats do not handle stress and change as well as a younger cat can, especially if the cat is a sensitive type. The stress of being boarded, the change in her normal routine, being separated from you, and the new kittens can cause health issues, besides emotional and behavioral problems.

Normally to correct litter box troubles you need to correct the things that are causing her to behave that way. But short of re-homing the kittens, the best you can do about that issue is to let her stay in an area that is 'kitten free' for awhile until she adjusts to them being around and settles back down into her old routine and habits. There are too many things going on at once in her life and she probably is 'short-circuiting'. Maybe keep her (and a litter box temporarily) in your bedroom until she sees that you are not going to go away and leave her again somewhere. Feed her lots of kitty treats and give her extra attention and affection.

I am also including some links to good articles about improper elimination. They have additional information that you may find helpful.
(copy and paste or type the whole links into your address bar)

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/outsidebox_two.htm

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

http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/housesoiling/unabridged_litterbox_1.ht...

You may want to have her checked by a vet to rule out any medical issues causing her behavior. If she doesn't have any, and she is still having trouble dealing with it all, you may want to consider putting her on a temporary dosage of 'kitty Prozac'. It is commonly used to help cats showing serious stress-related behavior. Usually a two week prescription is enough. I would speak to your veterinarian about possibly going that route.


Tabbi