8 year old indoor/outdoor cat poops (not pees) inside on carpet

Question
QUESTION: Hi

I have read through dozens of articles, but they all seem to discuss indoor cats who have litterboxes or cats who are urinating or other situations that are not mine.

We have two cats of similar ages (8), both spayed females, have had both since they were kittens.  One is perfectly housetrained and the other, Livia, has been on-and-off again problems since day 1.  This has been the case for times they have been indoor/outdoor and had access to litterboxes: Aemilia would use the litterbox all the time; Livia would use it sometimes and not others.  Livia was taken from her mother far too early, I think, as she didn't know even how to clean herself when we got her - the older cat taught her.

In our last house, Livia pooped constantly on the carpet, always in the same place.  Short of barring her from the house entirely, there was no way to keep her away from there.  I figured that it was because there were almost no good places to go outside (we'd moved from a large section to a very small one with no soft landscaping) and so I tried a litterbox with limited success.

Anyway, we have lived in our current house for two years and Livia had not once pooped inside.  They have a cat door and free access to and from the house and she had been going outside just like Aemilia.  I was very pleased as my husband had been threatening to get rid of her after the last house.  

But... We got new carpet about a month ago, which coincided with winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, and she has started pooping inside almost every day, always in the living room which was previously uncarpeted.  She did not and still doesn't poop in the bedrooms, which have always had carpet.  She does not urinate inside that I can tell.  

What can I do?  My husband is travelling now so isn't aware of how bad it is (he left after the first 1-2 messes) but when he gets back he's going to be furious.  I have a backup home for Livia with my mother who loves her (and is aware of the problem) but I'd rather stop the pooping and keep her.

At her last vet visit she was fine, as she always has been.  This is a long-standing problem.  I tried for the last two weeks to periodically put her outside throughout the day, especially last thing at night, figuring that if she was just too lazy and comfortable inside to go outside for a poo it might make the difference.  It has improved somewhat, but she has made two messes in the last five days.

It's awful to restrict them to just being able to come in the laundry room because it's not fair to Aemilia (who never makes any messes) and Livia is capable of miaowing outside all the windows all night keeping us awake.

Sorry this is so long but I wanted to give you plenty of info.

Thanks!

ANSWER: Karin,

My guess is that Amelia has some emotional problems or has some problem with the litterbox.

A cat inappropriately defecates when they are upset about something but, short of every little thing' upsetting her, that doesn't seem to be it since it has gone on for so long.

Her behavior seems to point to a preference to eliminating on carpet/in the living room. Some cats (though it's rare) refuse to ever use a litterbox because they don't like the feel of the litter. I one that would go only on newspaper!

The only thing I can suggest in this situation is to try some different things and see if any help.

Some cats don't like to use the litterbox to defecate because it is too small and they don't like getting their paws 'dirty'. Try a larger litterbox, possibly with deeper litter in it. You don't say what kind of litter you use, but try a different brand or use the clumping kind if you don't now. Sometimes getting some children's play sand (Home Deport or other building supply store) can intice a cat to use the litterbox. Also putting a pile of sand outside that she can use may work.

Try getting some puppy pee-pads, or elderly people's bed protection pads and put them down. One or two where she has a tendancy to defecate on the carpet and one next to the litterbox. See if she uses those. That will tell you if it is a litter problem.

Have you tried putting a litterbox in the living room to see if she uses it in there? That may be her 'room of choice' for defecating. A separate litterbox from the other cat's?

Being weaned too early could have made a difference. Kittens learn to elimate properly by copying the mother cat where she goes. If she didn't get to learn that then she may think it's normal to go anywhere.

I this helps and gives you some idea what directions to try. I know it's frustrating. I hope you can find a solution.

Tabbi

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

QUESTION: Thank you, but there is no litterbox involved at all.  Except for a few short periods of time, there never has been.  They are both indoor/outdoor cats with free access to outdoors through a cat door.  It's just that Livia has periods where she prefers to poop indoors.

For the last two years there wasn't a single episode (the whole time at this house).  Until a month ago and the new carpet.  So she knows that she is supposed to go outside and she knows how to perfectly well.

I guess there's not much I can do.  She knows it's wrong - as soon as I got out of bed this morning she hopped off me and hid (yes, there was poop).  I'm going to the pet store to see if there's some scent I can buy that might repel her, but I'm afraid all she'll do is shift locations.

The only other option I can see is to install another magnetic cat door from the laundry to the house and only let Aemilia through that one and have Livia be an outdoor only cat.  But she'll hate that as she is the most friendly, human-oriented, puppy-like cat I've ever met.

Thanks.

Answer
Karin,

Why don't you try having litterboxes in the house? The cat may not feel comfortable going outside, or something is scaring her out there, and she wants to go in the house. Without a litterbox she has no other option besides the floor/carpet. A litterbox is part of the joy of owning a cat. They go hand in hand.

That is probably what she has been trying to tell you. Give her an option and see if it stops her improper elimination behavior. It's not fair to punish her by making her an outdoor cat (especially when it's cold and especially when she is getting elderly) when she doesn't realize she is doing something wrong, just natural, when a solution of getting a litterbox may be so easy.

I am including this urine/feces odor remover that you may find helpful:

Here is a 'receipe' for cat elimination odor removal:

1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon of liquid soap
Gently mix all ingredients in a non-metal container. Do not mix or shake vigorously!

The mixture is best used when fresh but can be stored. Do not keep mixture in an airtight container as baking soda and hydrogen peroxide when mixed together release loads of oxygen. We don't want an explosion on our hands on top of the mess we already have!

You can mix and keep it in large spray bottle (Home Depot, etc.) but on old plastic liter soda bottle works just a well. Just remember to keep the cap on loose.

3% hydrogen peroxide can be bought at most grocery and drug stores in pint and quart bottles.

HOW TO REMOVE ODOR FROM CARPETS:

FOR INDIVIDUAL SPOTS ON CARPET:
If fresh remove as much as you can with a paper towel first. Use a spray bottle to saturate the spot completely with the recipe - do not blot. The recipe must penerate the padding. Wait 24-48 hours until dry then vacuum. If the  odor is still present - repeat the procedure. It usually takes 2-3 applications to completely neutralize the odor.

FOR LARGE AREAS OF CARPET:

You can use a carpet cleaning machine - one of your own or a rental and use the recipe instead of the shampoo. You will have to make several gallons of the recipe depending on the size of the carpet. Don't use the vacuum part of the machine - you will want to let the solution soak and dry for 24-48 hours before vacuuming.

Please bear in mind that most carpet cleaning machines are not made for this use and baking soda can clog the nozzles of the machine - so use it at your own risk. Instead, I used a 1 gallon garden bug sprayer I bought at Home Dept for about $20.00. It worked great and if you ruin it, its not such a big expense to replace it. I had to rinse the nozzle out frequently by filling the tank with hot water and spraying it in my bathtub until the nozzle was clear but it worked!

If using the sprayer saturate the entire carpet with the recipe, let dry for about 24-48 hours and vacuum. You will have to probably repeat the procedure again.


I hope this helps.

Tabbi