Cat pooping outside of litter box shortly after brother died

cmmama

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Hello, this will be long, please bare with me. My family had 3 kitties, all from the same litter, 2brothers, Autumn and Zozo (who joined us about a month later, again same litter), and a sister, Pumpkin. We got them at 12weeks old back at the end of June. Autumn, who was for sure the playful one and were really close with both Pumpkin and Zozo, since the day we brought him home would consistently pee and poop on our couch or beds or my kids play nugget couch unless we kept every single door shut, then he would only use the litter box, which we have 2upstairs and 2 downstairs. We had him checked out by a vet who saw nothing wrong with his scans or tests and neutered the end of August (6ms old now) and it never stopped (sometimes kids would forget to shut a door behind them since they're still little). Because the bet ruled him healthy and ruled out any possible utis/bowl obstructions and anything else, we felt it was best to convert him to an indoor/outdoor cat. He LOVED it! Once he was consistently going out, he would constantly beg to go out, in which we only let him out in the morning after breakfast and he was free to come and go as he pleased throughout the day before it starts getting dark, which he often did. Unfortunately, he got hit by a car the first week of October and it really affected my kids, Pumpkin and Zozo. It was really quiet around the house for a while. Pumpkin and Zozo stopped playing, slept a lot and didn't eat as much. Zozo started hiding in placed he's never hid before like behind the inside of dresser drawers and cabinet drawers and Pumpkin really attached herself to me. She was never an affectionate cat like Autumn and Zozo. She won't let anyone else hold her, except me. Since Autumn's passing she had started sleeping on my chest at night, following me around, climbing up on my back and shoulders and then about 2weeks after his passing, she started pooping outside of the litter box, but she still pees in the litter box. We immediately got her checked out after she started doing it everyday for a week and all was clear, the vet found nothing internally wrong. It's now going on 2months of her pooping outside of the litter box. At first, I didn't attribute it to her brothers passing because she's only pooping on the dining room rug, a place Autumn never peed or pooped, not even in the same. The way our apartment is set up, the downstairs bathroom is right off the dining room. The spot on the rug she chooses to poop, is less than 10ft directly across from her choice of two different litter boxes. I know it's not a matter of cleanliness because my husband and I take turns cleaning out each litter box 3x a day (we thought this was an issue with Autumn and eventually it just became habit). I have tried sprinkling catnip in the litter boxes, giving her a treat every I see her pee in the litter box to help encourage her to poop and get a treat, I'm tried different sprays to discourage her, I tried moving her litter box to the spot on the rug she seems to prefer but she would just move to the opposite end of the rug to poop. So far nothing I have tried is working and I'm at a loss on what to do. Her vet still says there is nothing wrong internally and her stool and urine has been tested. She doesn't strain or anything, her poop looks normal and hasn't changed in consistency. I'm feeling hopeless at this point.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi, have you tried different litter?

There's a litter called Cat Attract, and you also might try a heartbeat toy and a purr toy for them, and also cat music. There are a lot of sources including Spotify that have harp music and there's cat music that has purrs in it.
 
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tabbytom

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Unfortunately, he got hit by a car the first week of October and it really affected my kids, Pumpkin and Zozo. It was really quiet around the house for a while. Pumpkin and Zozo stopped playing, slept a lot and didn't eat as much. Zozo started hiding in placed he's never hid before like behind the inside of dresser drawers and cabinet drawers and Pumpkin really attached herself to me. She was never an affectionate cat like Autumn and Zozo. She won't let anyone else hold her, except me. Since Autumn's passing she had started sleeping on my chest at night, following me around, climbing up on my back and shoulders and then about 2weeks after his passing, she started pooping outside of the litter box, but she still pees in the litter box.
We are so
IMG_3272.GIF
to hear what happened to Autumn :alright: Here's an article for you to read as it may explain Pumpkin and Zozo's behavior :- Do Cats Mourn? – TheCatSite Articles

You may want to pay a tribute to Autumn and you may do so here in :- Crossing the Bridge
 
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