My cat is picking poo out of the litter tray and putting it in her bowls
November 29, 2022 12:50 AM Subscribe
My cat (sweet, affectionate Ragdoll, about 18 months to 2 years old, healthy, excellent premium cat food diet, has a cat friend who she likes and enjoys spending time with everyday) has started picking up poo out of her litter tray and putting it inside her water bowl and her food bowl, both of which are a considerable distance away. Any suggestions for discouraging this?
When I see she's done it, I empty the bowls and clean them very thoroughly, but then she does it again. There is no chance she's pooing in the bowls, as she also puts clumps of cat fur, cat toys, tissues etc in the bowls if she can't get access to poo, AND I see her using the litter tray for its intended purpose several times a day.
She is a strictly indoor cat. She has a view of the back garden, including a frog pond with frogs and lizards. The glass sliding doors are open, with the steel mesh screens locked so that she can hear and smell the outside world without being able to hurt the local wildlife.
When I see she's done it, I empty the bowls and clean them very thoroughly, but then she does it again. There is no chance she's pooing in the bowls, as she also puts clumps of cat fur, cat toys, tissues etc in the bowls if she can't get access to poo, AND I see her using the litter tray for its intended purpose several times a day.
She is a strictly indoor cat. She has a view of the back garden, including a frog pond with frogs and lizards. The glass sliding doors are open, with the steel mesh screens locked so that she can hear and smell the outside world without being able to hurt the local wildlife.
Does the other cat she spends time with live in the same household, so potentially sharing the food and water bowl? Depositing poo is an act of marking territory.
posted by 15L06 at 1:35 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by 15L06 at 1:35 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Do you use scoopable litter? If so, would it be practical to scoop more frequently so she has less to work with?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:43 AM on November 29, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:43 AM on November 29, 2022
Response by poster: Yes, the other cat is a member of the same household - 4 year old female Siamese. They sleep cuddled up together in the same cat bed,
and they will happily drink out of a water bowl at the same time or eat out of a food dish at the same time - they happily share -
so I don't *think* it's a territorial marker.
Might be worth mentioning that the Ragdoll used to drag a blanket into/over the water dish to cover it, and eventually I threw the blanket away because it was getting gross (because it got wet every time).
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:49 AM on November 29, 2022
and they will happily drink out of a water bowl at the same time or eat out of a food dish at the same time - they happily share -
so I don't *think* it's a territorial marker.
Might be worth mentioning that the Ragdoll used to drag a blanket into/over the water dish to cover it, and eventually I threw the blanket away because it was getting gross (because it got wet every time).
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:49 AM on November 29, 2022
This may be a spendy option, but they do make "self-cleaning" litter boxes that automatically sift and scoop the whole litter box whenever your cat er, makes a deposit.
It sounds like your cat is somehow fixated on covering the water bowl with something - this would at least ensure that the something isn't poo, because the litter box would get to the poo first.
Then, you could put the water bowl on a higher surface like a kitchen counter - that might make it a little more difficult for your cat to drag something over it, because whatever they find they would also have to haul it up somewhere.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:45 AM on November 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
It sounds like your cat is somehow fixated on covering the water bowl with something - this would at least ensure that the something isn't poo, because the litter box would get to the poo first.
Then, you could put the water bowl on a higher surface like a kitchen counter - that might make it a little more difficult for your cat to drag something over it, because whatever they find they would also have to haul it up somewhere.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:45 AM on November 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Put the bowls up on a low table she has to jump to, as a first attempt. You can use a storage bin or coffee table or cardboard box to start, and see if it works. You can also use a bin or box to make a cover for the litter box
You might also put out duplicate food and water bowls just to see if that circumvents whatever problem it is she thinks she's solving. I suspect it is an imaginary problem that human brains can only guess at - unseen predators, some smell/sound/thing that presents as a threat or challenge, some paranoia about their food/water supply - so don't be so quick to say it can't be X or Y. Cats are weird, as has long been documented, and ragdolls are such an exploited breed that many of them just...ain't right, as we say in the South. You may need to increase surveillance to make sure she's not eating poop too, because the litter will eventually be fatal.
It's worth trying and crossing off the cheap/free solutions first before you start investing in higher-end solutions, in any case. You probably should have raised the bowls when the rug-dragging started, this is almost certainly an extension of whatever that was supposed to do.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:59 AM on November 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
You might also put out duplicate food and water bowls just to see if that circumvents whatever problem it is she thinks she's solving. I suspect it is an imaginary problem that human brains can only guess at - unseen predators, some smell/sound/thing that presents as a threat or challenge, some paranoia about their food/water supply - so don't be so quick to say it can't be X or Y. Cats are weird, as has long been documented, and ragdolls are such an exploited breed that many of them just...ain't right, as we say in the South. You may need to increase surveillance to make sure she's not eating poop too, because the litter will eventually be fatal.
It's worth trying and crossing off the cheap/free solutions first before you start investing in higher-end solutions, in any case. You probably should have raised the bowls when the rug-dragging started, this is almost certainly an extension of whatever that was supposed to do.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:59 AM on November 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Is she pooping and then immediately taking the poo to the water bowl? Or is there passage of time in between? If you do have a window, I'd say it's now your task to get to that litter box ASAP and remove the poops so she doesn't have the access to them for very long. Also, cats are weird!
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:17 AM on November 29, 2022
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:17 AM on November 29, 2022
Out of curiosity, does she put the poo only in her own bowls or also into the other cat's bowls too?
Maybe if she likes her bowls covered she might like one of these bowls that have a sensor and open when the Cat approaches? i don't have experience with it but am considering getting it so that the food does not dry out and in summer to keep flies out. They are quite expensive though.
posted by 15L06 at 8:43 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Maybe if she likes her bowls covered she might like one of these bowls that have a sensor and open when the Cat approaches? i don't have experience with it but am considering getting it so that the food does not dry out and in summer to keep flies out. They are quite expensive though.
posted by 15L06 at 8:43 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Could you get a top-entry litter box to make the act of getting the poo out more difficult?
posted by greta simone at 9:57 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by greta simone at 9:57 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Eating out of the same dish is not cooperative behavior; it's competitive behavior that originates deep in their little lizard brains from back when cats in the wild lived as solitary adults. They aren't sharing--they're each trying to eat the food before the other can and it has nothing to do with how successfully they've navigated living in the same space. I love living with my husband but I still want my own share of the food, you know?
Putting things into food dishes is a variation on "hide some of the kill for later and keep it away from others" behavior common among wild cats and it's absolutely territory marking and resource protection.
Try putting more physical space between their food dishes, as far apart as they can be in the room in which they usually eat, and see if that helps your cat feel more secure.
posted by jesourie at 1:45 PM on November 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Putting things into food dishes is a variation on "hide some of the kill for later and keep it away from others" behavior common among wild cats and it's absolutely territory marking and resource protection.
Try putting more physical space between their food dishes, as far apart as they can be in the room in which they usually eat, and see if that helps your cat feel more secure.
posted by jesourie at 1:45 PM on November 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
I wonder what would happen if you gave her a square of vinyl that she could drag over and use to cover the bowls instead of the old blanket?
posted by metahawk at 7:15 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by metahawk at 7:15 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
My friend researched how cats feed. They do not like their poop spot anywhere near their food, and they like their food and water separate. I try to accommodate this in my small residence.
posted by Oyéah at 8:06 PM on November 29, 2022
posted by Oyéah at 8:06 PM on November 29, 2022
There are lots of videos online showing people marking off small spaces with tape in the middle of big open spaces of floor, and then a cat will show up and spend hours just sitting in it.
Maybe you could implement metahawk's idea symbolically by putting some kind of border big enough to accommodate both her and dish around her food and water dishes.
posted by jamjam at 9:03 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Maybe you could implement metahawk's idea symbolically by putting some kind of border big enough to accommodate both her and dish around her food and water dishes.
posted by jamjam at 9:03 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
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You could try putting them in a closed room when the other cat is around so they can't get to them. That might make her realize she doesn’t have to do that anymore or it might not. You could have a separate bowl for water for the other cat when it comes over, if you want to extend the hospitality of your house.
posted by jamjam at 1:34 AM on November 29, 2022