Please no litter issues!

December 4, 2011 4:15 PM

Help! I've moved, and the litter box is now optional.

New digs about 3 weeks ago, the cats seem skittish but pretty good. It's the first time they've lived on more than one level. I have one housemate upstairs and one in the basement, I'm on the main floor. Earlier this week, the young (4 y.o.) Siamese peed upstairs. That housemate can -- and should -- keep the upstairs door closed, but downstairs there's no way to block off the basement. Yesterday, someone pooped downstairs.

This is so not acceptable. I've never had ANY problems with them not using the box, ever. I don't have the money to take both of them to the vet, and I don't believe it's a health issue. They seem to be leery of one housemate (who's moving out next week). Other than locking them in my room, which I hate to do, any suggestions?

posted by 2soxy4mypuppet to Pets & Animals (19 answers total)

Can you put in a litterbox downstairs?
posted by jeather at 4:16 PM on December 4, 2011

Response by poster: I can, but that would mean leaving the laundry room door open at all times. (The housemate may prefer that, but I can't guarantee the door won't be shut.)

Yesterday someone shut the door to my bath (where their litter is) but it was open when the Siamese peed, and the poop downstairs looked older.

I was so lucky to find a pet-friendly situation on short notice, now I'm terrified we'll have to move.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 4:24 PM on December 4, 2011

The cats probably need to be "retrained" because of the stress of the move and unfamiliarity of the surroundings - assuming there have been no changes to their diet, they are in good health, and are not somehow being trapped in the other areas of the house. Maybe try an additive to the litter, like Cat Attract? Is the bathroom where the litter box is currently in a high traffic area? Are they still using that box as well?

you also should have more than one box if you have more than one cat
posted by sm1tten at 4:26 PM on December 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

This might sound crazy, but you could get two more litterboxes (you can get inexpensive wide and deep plastic containers from Target or wherever) and put one upstairs and one downstairs (make sure they fit on a single stair). Each day you move both of them a little closer to the main floor, until finally they meet their main box and the extra two are removed. This way they always have someplace to go and are simultaneously "tricked" into making the connection that the box is in the middle floor.

I say this because the way we trained our older cats to go downstairs to use their box (when we moved from various apartments into a two-floor house) by putting it upstairs and moving it slowly over the course of a couple of days into the basement. I'm not pretending to know if this will work in your situation but it seems similar, so perhaps it will... ?
posted by mireille at 4:27 PM on December 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming.

I don't think they're "trapped," usually, but they may not want to walk by Scary Housemate. Their litter is in my bath, which is in a high traffic location (housemates constantly walking by).

Scary Housemate is gone on the 18th and the replacement may be more amenable to me keeping a litter box in their space upstairs. Maybe I should lock them in my room (with litterbox) until then?
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 4:32 PM on December 4, 2011

If you think they are scared of one housemate, keeping them in your room for two weeks won't hurt, but it might be hard to ever remove the litterbox from your bedroom. Is there no room you can be sure the door stays open to? Having other people shutting the bathroom door might not be helping.
posted by jeather at 4:36 PM on December 4, 2011

The above answers are probably right, but there's one more possible cause...

Are any of your cats male? Male cats are very susceptible to urinary blockages. I've dealt with this three times, and one of the first signs is that the cat starts to pee in random places. If totally blocked, this is an emergency condition that they can die from. Watch your cats for signs of straining to pee, an unusual amount of grooming the genital area, and blood in the urine.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 4:58 PM on December 4, 2011

This might sound strange, but every time I moved with a cat, I would spend at least 15 minutes hanging out with them in the same room as the litter box. They usually go in the litter, come to me, go to litter, start purring, have a pee. (Cats are strange animals!). Maybe try doing that so that they associate your bathroom to a safe and happy place (worth conquering scary housemates).
posted by Milau at 5:00 PM on December 4, 2011

Hm. The thing is that between Scary Housemate and having people walking by, the cats may feel uncomfortable using the space and -- then stressfully relieve themselves elsewhere. Are your only options your bedroom, bathroom, and the other levels?

And yes, definitely, you want to be sure that the cats do not have urinary issues.
posted by sm1tten at 5:01 PM on December 4, 2011

Is your litter box the covered kind? If not, maybe invest in one. They may be looking for more privacy.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:06 PM on December 4, 2011

When one of my cats was having litter box issues, Cat Attract cat litter got it sorted out.
posted by amarynth at 5:14 PM on December 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

My sister's cats and my stepmom's cats have never been willing to go in high-traffic locations. I'd try moving the box to someplace more private before doing anything else.
posted by SMPA at 5:14 PM on December 4, 2011

Response by poster: Well, downstairs roommate is unwilling to leave laundry room door open because of furnace noise, so that's that. I've moved their box into my room each night, so that they can sleep with me. (Bath is next door but not connected.)

There'll be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing the next 2 weeks, so I guess they're prisoners of my room for the time being. When the moving's done and the new housemate's upstairs, I'll try the Cat Attract and having a second box in my bath, along with the bedroom, and see if that works. And keep praying for full-time work, so that I can move into my own space.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 5:20 PM on December 4, 2011

yep...Cat Attract litter solved my cat's litter problems too
posted by murrey at 6:06 PM on December 4, 2011

I can't cite sources, but I've heard it a good idea to have one more litter box than you do cats. This offers the felines their choice of pooping spots. Kinda like having multiple bathrooms in a house for humans -- sometimes you just have to go, and sometimes you have to go.

Of course, cats will also pee on stuff to be vindictive, so there's that going for them too. Cats are weird.
posted by Heretical at 8:24 PM on December 4, 2011

If you don't want to buy replacement litter, this stuff is magical.
posted by ghostbikes at 8:38 AM on December 5, 2011

Have you taken them to the vet? (or will you do so if you discover who it is?) Reason being, we'd never had problems with the litter box before, but when we moved this summer our younger cat started going in other places. The vet confirmed that he had crystals in his urine causing him pain, which meant he held it until he HAD to go, and said it was most likely an underlying issue that was triggered by the stress of the move.

Treatment for that (prescription food for about 3 weeks, then a switch in their food) = no more inappropriate elimination.

I'm glad we took him in - we were racking our brains for solutions to social/territorial problems, which weren't the case at all.
posted by telophase at 11:42 AM on December 5, 2011

* Adding to my comment above to note it involved poo AND pee, not just pee. Which was another reason crystals in his urine didn't occur to us right off.
posted by telophase at 11:43 AM on December 5, 2011

Stick a note on your bathroom door temporarily to remind your housemates to please leave the door open.
posted by IndigoRain at 8:06 PM on December 5, 2011