I just took home a cat, a little girl about 1 1/2 years old. She hasn’t been doing this all the time but she just started going to the bathroom everywhere. I clean her litter box every other day (and every day some weeks) but I’m finding it everywhere. Does anyone know anything about cat psychology or behavior to know why she’s doing this? I give her fresh, new food and water every day and milk as often as I can. I pet her, play with her and cuddle with her. Is something she’s doing on purpose or just something she simply does and has to be trained out of? Thanks.
Well, while that opinion is I guess a correct answer to my query (except for the idiot part) it still doesn’t provide a solution to my problem, like I asked for. Let’s try it again. What do you all out there do for this situation?
You might try calling a local vet and asking him, or if you have a large pet store such as Petsmart I’ve found them to be very knowledgeable.
P.S. I don’t think *you’re * the idiot! Good luck.
There could be a number of things. The first one might be illness. If she has a particular problem she might not be able to control herself. Also if she associates any pain with urinating or what have you, she might then associate that with the litter box, and thus avoid it.
There might be a problem with the box. Maybe you moved it and that upset her. Or you changed the brand of litter. Or there is a lot of chaos or activity around the box.
There’s also the whole territorial marking thing, if she feels her status in the home threatened.
And if she’s not neutered, she’s far more likely to do random house soiling.
But I would suggest getting in touch with a vet for sure, to rule out any health problems first.
Wow! Thank you! Now see how easy that was? Exactly the collection of possible things to do and consider that I was looking for (and the territorial thing I didn’t even think of…)! Have a good day!
Wow, what an insightful first post. :rolleyes:
If you’re actually interested in participating here, it would behoove you to read the forum rules before posting again. If all you want to do is engage in drive-by insulting of other posters, well, I doubt you’ll be around much longer.
Insults are not permitted outside the BBQ Pit forum. Consider yourself warned.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Here’s a site dealing specifically with this problem, some possible causes and a few possible “solutions.”
Good luck!
Many adult cats are lactose intolerant (despite the myth that cats and milk go together like bread and butter) that might be your problem. Adult cats do not need milk, and many can’t tolerate it. I would cut the milk, and if she still has a problem, time for a vet visit. Cats normally don’t eliminate in inappropriate places “on purpose”, they are very clean animals.
We have one who can’t resist piddling on wadded-up cloth on the floor, especially if it’s already damp. Towels and bathmats beware. Although her problem lessened after we got a second litterbox, since she was a new cat and somewhat intimidated by sharing a box with the other two.
Also, if she’s not spayed, once that’s done those patterns might change.