Brownie is an 11-year-old tabby we rescued 10 years ago. I started a topic several years ago about this problem, but figured it might be worth exploring again.....
Originally she went int he litter just fine. For several years. Then, she apparently got mega-colon, and was treated for it. She takes Cisapride daily. Her stool is "normal" - not hard, not runny - normal. Prior to the Cisapride she had problems defecating. BUT, it appears that the experience has left her with some mental thing about defecating in the litter - AT HOME.
She urinates in the litterbox. No problem. But, she defecates right in FRONT of the litterbox. Will NOT go IN the litterbox. AT HOME....... We also have an RV and she travels with us. In the RV, she ABSOLUTELY goes in the litterbox. It's EXACTLY the same litterbox. It has EXACTLY the same litter. She gets EXACTLY the same food both places... There's NO difference EXCEPT whatever mental issue it is that she has.
We have MOVED the litter box at home. We have ADDED litterboxes at home. We have changed LITTER in different boxes, trying at least 5 or 6 different litters. We have CONFINED her overnight, when she typically goes. If confined in a crate, she'll go in the litter. Once not confined she goes in front of the litterbox. She has several litter boxes at home, but she uses the one in the kitchen.
If I recall correctly, we tried putting newspaper in front of the litter, but she went off the paper. We tried every idea we could think of, but were never able to get her to go in the litter.
SO, we bought a bunch of inexpensive rag rugs, and put one in front of the litter box. She goes on that, we dump it in the litter, throw the rug in the laundry and put down a clean one. So, it's a minor annoyance, but not a HUGE thing...
So, why try to fix the problem? We had two cats. Our other cat, Skyy, was a wonderful companion, and they got along perfectly from day 1 - we got them both, together, from the same shelter and they never had a problem.
Skyy developed cancer and was euthanized two weeks ago. Though Brownie is a wonderful cat, we both miss having a flaky, energetic cat in the house and would like to introduce a couple kittens if Brownie will accept them. We'd have to go through the introduction process, which I'll also need some help with, BUT we won't bring in another cat unless we can get Brownie to use the litterbox because how would a kitten (or kittens) understand that pooping outside the litter wasn't acceptable with Brownie is doing that? SO, we'd like to get her back to using the litter at home. Worst case, we'll continue as we are and not bring in any cats while Brownie is with us. SO, SOMEBODY give me some ideas of procedures or products or SOMETHING that will get her to poop in the litter at home the way she does in the RV, and then hopefully y'all can help us bring in a couple other cats that need a home to join her.
OR, alternatively, if this is a terrible idea and we should just let it go while we have Brownie, tell me that... I'm figuring there's a huge amount of knowledge in here so hopefully we'll get some ideas.
Originally she went int he litter just fine. For several years. Then, she apparently got mega-colon, and was treated for it. She takes Cisapride daily. Her stool is "normal" - not hard, not runny - normal. Prior to the Cisapride she had problems defecating. BUT, it appears that the experience has left her with some mental thing about defecating in the litter - AT HOME.
She urinates in the litterbox. No problem. But, she defecates right in FRONT of the litterbox. Will NOT go IN the litterbox. AT HOME....... We also have an RV and she travels with us. In the RV, she ABSOLUTELY goes in the litterbox. It's EXACTLY the same litterbox. It has EXACTLY the same litter. She gets EXACTLY the same food both places... There's NO difference EXCEPT whatever mental issue it is that she has.
We have MOVED the litter box at home. We have ADDED litterboxes at home. We have changed LITTER in different boxes, trying at least 5 or 6 different litters. We have CONFINED her overnight, when she typically goes. If confined in a crate, she'll go in the litter. Once not confined she goes in front of the litterbox. She has several litter boxes at home, but she uses the one in the kitchen.
If I recall correctly, we tried putting newspaper in front of the litter, but she went off the paper. We tried every idea we could think of, but were never able to get her to go in the litter.
SO, we bought a bunch of inexpensive rag rugs, and put one in front of the litter box. She goes on that, we dump it in the litter, throw the rug in the laundry and put down a clean one. So, it's a minor annoyance, but not a HUGE thing...
So, why try to fix the problem? We had two cats. Our other cat, Skyy, was a wonderful companion, and they got along perfectly from day 1 - we got them both, together, from the same shelter and they never had a problem.
Skyy developed cancer and was euthanized two weeks ago. Though Brownie is a wonderful cat, we both miss having a flaky, energetic cat in the house and would like to introduce a couple kittens if Brownie will accept them. We'd have to go through the introduction process, which I'll also need some help with, BUT we won't bring in another cat unless we can get Brownie to use the litterbox because how would a kitten (or kittens) understand that pooping outside the litter wasn't acceptable with Brownie is doing that? SO, we'd like to get her back to using the litter at home. Worst case, we'll continue as we are and not bring in any cats while Brownie is with us. SO, SOMEBODY give me some ideas of procedures or products or SOMETHING that will get her to poop in the litter at home the way she does in the RV, and then hopefully y'all can help us bring in a couple other cats that need a home to join her.
OR, alternatively, if this is a terrible idea and we should just let it go while we have Brownie, tell me that... I'm figuring there's a huge amount of knowledge in here so hopefully we'll get some ideas.