A cat poop emergency appears!

August 8, 2013 4:05 PM

I'm house/catsitting, and the cat took a crap on the carpet. Aieee!!!! I love cats but I do not own any, and am unfamiliar with their ways.

I'm on Day 1 of the house/catsit session, and this happens!!

In case this was an act of rebellion against the litterbox, I've emptied out the kitty litter box and refilled it with fresh litterbox filler things. But if it's my presence that's stressing out the cat, there's not much I can do about me.

Now, the carpet. I removed the dry bits and dabbed water/paper towels on the spot, but is that all I need to do? There is only one cat, so I don't have to worry about other cats repeating the act in order to mark their territory. But if the cat decides that she needs to mark her territory against me, what can I do to keep her from returning to the scene of the crime? If not permanently, then at least until the owners return. My Google-fu skills tell me vinegar/water or citrus spray, but this isn't my house, and I don't want to accidentally bleach or burn the carpet. Even for a spot test.

posted by Xere to Pets & Animals (16 answers total)

I've found seltzer water to get out ~anything~, including months old red wine. It cleans the stain and takes out the stink. Good luck. Oh, also, not at all harmful to any fabric.
posted by Meep! Eek! at 4:10 PM on August 8, 2013

Nature's Miracle or similar.

Also, if she keeps pooping in the same spot, put a litter box there.
posted by jeather at 4:11 PM on August 8, 2013

To be graphic, it sounds like the cat had a normal poop, so you've dealt with it. Cat poops are normally kind of distinct so unless you step on it and grind it in (ugh) or the cat is afflicted with diarrhea (not likely), usually all you need to do is pick up the bits with a kleenex or toilet paper and flush them, and you're done.
posted by zadcat at 4:18 PM on August 8, 2013

You can try putting some aluminum foil over that spot--an easy and impermanent deterrent. I'd only bother with Nature's Miracle if it seems there was pee (or a wet/runny poop) in the spot. I think if you clean up the obvious, you're doing your cat-sitter duties responsibly.
posted by msbubbaclees at 4:21 PM on August 8, 2013

The cat is almost certainly responding to you being there instead of the homeowners. She may keep doing it, she may not. Try to cuddle up to the cat and show her you're her friend. Also, once she realizes you're her food supply, she might wise up. Or, you could just be picking up poop for the next couple of days. No biggie.

Oh, and it's not your fault there's poop on the carpet. Do your best, but this one's on the owners.
posted by Catchfire at 4:22 PM on August 8, 2013

If the cat is not very familiar with you, and if the litterbox was relatively uncluttered when it happened, then this was a dominance display. Leaving poop uncovered means that the cat is the top of the food chain around here; it is a way of saying the cat is not afraid of you and doesn't care that you know. In all likelihood, the cat will only do it once. This is a normal thing for a cat to do when a new, unfamiliar animal is sharing its space. Let the cat have some space and give it pats when it comes nearby. Be fairly ostentatious about putting food in its bowl, so it knows you're the person doing it.

Other than that, yeah, seltzer water.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 4:24 PM on August 8, 2013

My cat, who adores me, did this last week. See, she wants to hang out in the bedroom where she did it, but our dog (whom she hates) gets to sleep there. And she can't bring herself to share a room with him, though she has tried on occasion. So -- it was a message to him, not repeated after I picked up the poo and flushed it.

Cats. They send poo messages. But they tend not to feel the need to reiterate them.
posted by bearwife at 4:30 PM on August 8, 2013

And it's highly likely that the cat has also peed somewhere inappropriately. Start sniffing.
posted by kinetic at 4:38 PM on August 8, 2013

We call that protest poop. One of our cats does that not while we're away, but the day we get back. Just to make sure that WE know she's pissed off. The babysitter doesn't need to know that, lol.

As long as you can't see or smell poop in the carpet, you're okay.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:48 PM on August 8, 2013

My normal tactic is to do my own poop on top of the cat's poop and then move out of the house under cover of darkness, but this suggestion of "seltzer" water (because people like to say "seltzer") is a good one and something I have not tried before, and will be employed in future.

Cat poop is generally pretty easy to clean off carpet, though. It's the cat spew that really grinds my gears.
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:53 PM on August 8, 2013

Don't over think it. You're there for 10 days. Clean it and act like you are not bothered by it so cat does not get the satisfaction. Seltzer is fine. My mom taught me to use club soda but that could be because it was handy from the scotch and soda.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:46 PM on August 8, 2013

Are you certain it was poop? I don't want to patronize you by any means but once a wonderful friend of mine, watching my cats for the first time while I was out of town, called to say that the cats had pooped on the floor. Since neither cat has ever had a litter box accident in their entire lives, I was suspicious, and the "poop" turned out to be a hair ball. My friend was new to cats and had never seen one. They do look like poop to the uninitiated (they are log shaped not spherical as you might expect). Anyway, sorry if this is useless info, but if the poop seems to be made of matted hair, you may have a hair ball on your hands instead. Hair balls are normal and much easier to clean than poop.
posted by Cygnet at 7:21 PM on August 8, 2013

Although cats do like to leave "protest poops" outside the litter box to indicate their unhappiness, a turd found outside the litter box isn't always on purpose. My poor old cat sometimes gets dingleberries stuck to his butt and if I don't find them and remove them first they eventually drop off on the floor somewhere.
posted by Jacqueline at 2:00 AM on August 9, 2013

Yup. It's a protest crap. Respond with fuss and affection. The cat is signalling its insecurity at the 'change of owner'. You may get another, you may not. In my experience, the cat crapping outside the litter box does not mean its also peeing around the house, which tends to be more of a territorial thing that you get if it's being boxed in by other cats outside the house or another animal appears in the house.

If you use any liquid to remove the crap, go easy. The schoolboy error is to flood the carpet which both risks staining it and attracts more dirt.
posted by MuffinMan at 3:41 AM on August 9, 2013

Dingleberries.

This made my day.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:53 AM on August 9, 2013

If it does turn out to be a hairball, as Cygnet suggested, you should clean the area around it with a mild detergent. Hairballs are normally accompanied by a small volume of clear bile, and you may not be able to see this stain, but it will smell a bit.
posted by Koko at 7:58 AM on August 9, 2013