Cat goes beside its litter!

Question
Hi,

We have a cat that is one year old, about once a week she does her number 2 besides her litter. Her litter is situated inside a closet that is dedicated to her. She has a litter with a cover but it does not have a door. The only advice we had regarding her issue is that she is missing attention!! Today for the first time she went outside her closet we are getting scared she might start to do it all over the house. We think that it could be related to the fact that she eats later than usual but this will happen often in the future so what do you think could be the cause and how can we resolve this issue

Answer
Carl.

She is trying to tell you that she is upset about something in the home. You sometimes have to be a detective to figure it out.

She may be lonely. Getting a 2nd cat for company can help. Cats need another cat to play kitty games with, snuggle with, and for company.

She may be outgrowing her litterbox. Try getting a bigger litterbox without a cover and make the litter deeper. Try having a 2nd litterbox out of the closet and see if she uses that. She may no longer like the closet to do her business in.

Are you playing with her as much as you used to? Are you leaving her alone more?

I am including a couple of links to good articles about improper elimination:
(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

I hope this helped.
Tabbi