Cat started to pee and poop on my baby stuff! Please help!

Natuska

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My husband and I have a 2.5 old baby boy. When he was born, we already had one cat who became a but depressed when we went to the hospital, so we bought another cat for her to play with, an adult gorgeous 1 year old male. He came to our house about 1.5 months ago, so the baby was already there. The cats are playing and getting along fine. The new cat also really loves me and often comes and sits next to me when I am breastfeeding or sitting with the baby.

About a couple of weeks ago our baby fell asleep in his room at about 9pm. We always keep the door to his room closed. He had a very long sleep until about 2am, and when he woke up, my husband went and gave him milk I pumped earlier that night. Next time our baby woke up around 5am. This time I went into his room and I was shocked. There was a horrible smell everywhere, and there was cat poop in his cot! It was not quite next to him thanks God, maybe 20 cm away from him. I was really angry and terrified! I woke up my husband. He said when he woke up in the middle of the night, a cat ran out of baby's room when he opened the door. He couldn't understand which one, but from the poop size and smell we understood it's the new male cat, as our other cat doesn't poop that much. Obviously it was our mistake as we accidentally locked him there for so long. But why pooping in the baby cot, and not somewhere else??? We punished him, my husband brought him to the cot and put him with his face in his poop to show that we are angry and he shouldn't do it again. After that the cat started avoiding my husband. We tried very hard to reconcile these two, but the cat is still afraid of him and is often going under the bed when he sees my husband.

Last night I woke up to breastfeed the baby. We keep our cat toilet on the balcony as the new cat poops a lot and it smells too much, even though we clean it daily. Last night it was very hot in Australia, and I had the aircon on and the balcony door closed. I assumed the cats would meow if they need to go out, same as they do in front of each door they want opened. I was breastfeeding on the couch and watching both cats play. I was very happy how they play with each other, at least I think it was playing and not fighting. They were running with their tails up. They hit each other with their paws from time to time, but it looked like a play and they generally seem to really love each other. At some stage the male cat came on the couch, smelled on my baby's head, looked me in the eyes and meowed. I thought he wants food but I could not stand up as I was feeding the baby. I calmed him down and told him I'll give him food as soon as I can. After a few minutes he again jumped on the couch and looked at me and meowed, as if he is having a question or a request. I thought he wants food. Then they continued playing and our other cat jumped in the pram which was standing in the living room. The new male cat jumped in it as well, and then I noticed he's sitting there in a strange way. Then he quickly left after only one minute in the pram, and our other cat started digging in the pram after him. I finally managed to stand up and realised he peed in the pram! Woke up my husband, who again punished him, and we put him on the balcony. If he wanted to go out to the toilet, he could have meowed near the door. When the bedroom door is closed and he wants to go inside, he stands near the door and meows. He is not that stupid to not do this. So I assume he may have a problem with our baby!

I went to the balcony and calmed him down today. He was looking depressed and was sitting in this toilet. I let him to come inside. He went under the bed and sat there, but then he went out and I was happy he is fine. Then I was sitting on the same couch breastfeeding and there was a portable baby bed on the other couch. He jumped in it and sat in it. And I am pretty sure he wanted to pee in it as well! The way he sat down and the way he behaved indicated he was going to pee. I didn't risk it this time, called his name, he looked at me and ran away.

I have no idea what to do. He is otherwise behaving very well. He never jumped on the table, never peed or pooped elsewhere apart from these two times. He loves me a lot. And he is smart enough to meow in front of a door if he wants it opened. So I am starting to think he has a problem with our baby. I admit we probably made many mistakes in this situation as well, especially when we accidentally locked him in a room with our son, and maybe we shouldn't have punished him by putting his face in his poop and pee, I don't know. But what should we do now? How can we resolve this? I am really afraid this peeing and pooping will continue, and I am afraid about our baby. My husband is very annoyed, he wouldn't mind selling this cat or giving him away now, but I love this cat and I feel pity for him, poor boy, he already got sold once. I want everyone to be safe and happy. How can I achieve this?
 
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Natuska

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It should read 2.5 months baby boy
 

She's a witch

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You need to make litter box accessible for both cats all the the time.. I’d also add at least one more litter box. Punishing the way your husband did never works and it’s counterproductive. I wouldn’t assume cat has a problem with the baby at this point, I mean, he needed to go, litter box was not there, so he just chosen the comfortable place to poo/pee. Make it easily accessible all the time and see if that makes a difference.
 
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Natuska

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You need to make litter box accessible for both cats all the the time.. I’d also add at least one more litter box. Punishing the way your husband did never works and it’s counterproductive. I wouldn’t assume cat has a problem with the baby at this point, I mean, he needed to go, litter box was not there, so he just chosen the comfortable place to poo/pee. Make it easily accessible all the time and see if that makes a difference.
Thanks for your reply. It would be great if it has nothing to do with the baby. But why each time he’s choosing baby stuff? Does it look more cosy than something like our bed or carpet? 🤔
 

Maria Bayote

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I am sorry that you have to deal with this.

Cats are not like dogs who bark and get your attention if they want to poop or pee outside. As suggested above, you should get your cats litterboxes and place them around the house. If you have two cats, there should be at least 3 litterboxes. Meantime, please make sure that your baby's room is always closed. I also suggest to clean thoroughly the baby cot as there could still be lingering scent in there that makes the cats think it is where they should pee or poop.

Please tell your husband not to "punish" the cat. This is not the cat's fault and may only worsen the situation.

I hope things will be back to normal soon.
 
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Natuska

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I am sorry that you have to deal with this.

Cats are not like dogs who bark and get your attention if they want to poop or pee outside. As suggested above, you should get your cats litterboxes and place them around the house. If you have two cats, there should be at least 3 litterboxes. Meantime, please make sure that your baby's room is always closed. I also suggest to clean thoroughly the baby cot as there could still be lingering scent in there that makes the cats think it is where they should pee or poop.

Please tell your husband not to "punish" the cat. This is not the cat's fault and may only worsen the situation.

I hope things will be back to normal soon.
Thanks for your reply. Is there anything that could help with litter box smell? The new cat poos a lot, and his poo and pee is extremely smelly. We did put 2 litter boxes at first, but then decided to reduce it back to 1 and keep it on the balcony because of the smell...
 

Maria Bayote

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Thanks for your reply. Is there anything that could help with litter box smell? The new cat poos a lot, and his poo and pee is extremely smelly. We did put 2 litter boxes at first, but then decided to reduce it back to 1 and keep it on the balcony because of the smell...
You can use baking soda. 1 litter box is not enough. And have them scooped at least twice a day.
 
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Natuska

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You can use baking soda. 1 litter box is not enough. And have them scooped at least twice a day.
Thank you very much. One last question: Do I just add baking soda to the litter, or should I put it out near the litter box to absorb the smell from the air?
 

Maria Bayote

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Thank you very much. One last question: Do I just add baking soda to the litter, or should I put it out near the litter box to absorb the smell from the air?
Yes you can put some with the litter, not a lot. Some litter also already have baking soda added ingredient.

It is important that the litter boxes be scooped at least twice a day. Some cats also do not cover their poop entirely, just like one of my cats. So the smell can travel to another universe. LOL.

I hope everything goes fine with you in the house.
 
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Natuska

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Yes you can put some with the litter, not a lot. Some litter also already have baking soda added ingredient.

It is important that the litter boxes be scooped at least twice a day. Some cats also do not cover their poop entirely, just like one of my cats. So the smell can travel to another universe. LOL.

I hope everything goes fine with you in the house.
Thank you for information, I’ll start using multiple litter boxes again. Yes our new cat does not cover his poop at all, he digs outside the litter box.
 

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But why each time he’s choosing baby stuff? Does it look more cosy than something like our bed or carpet?
A crib or pram is sort of shaped the same as a litter box and the mini-human pees and poops here. He couldn't get to his box so he used the babies spot. Punishing him where near the baby stuff will keep Kitty afraid of your husband and possibly make him associate the baby smells with punishment.
 

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I’d also addres the cause of smelly poo. I mean, it’s never going to smell like flowers do, but maybe there’s something wrong that cause excessive smell? Especially if he’s pooping several times a day? Maybe too much carbs in his food? Some parasite? You can check out other threads about smelly poo on this forum and maybe you’ll get some idea on why it’s so smelly.
 
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Natuska

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A crib or pram is sort of shaped the same as a litter box and the mini-human pees and poops here. He couldn't get to his box so he used the babies spot. Punishing him where near the baby stuff will keep Kitty afraid of your husband and possibly make him associate the baby smells with punishment.
Thanks for explaining. He won’t punish him again, it was because we were shocked and didn’t know what to do and how to show to kitty what he did to us.
 
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Natuska

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I’d also addres the cause of smelly poo. I mean, it’s never going to smell like flowers do, but maybe there’s something wrong that cause excessive smell? Especially if he’s pooping several times a day? Maybe too much carbs in his food? Some parasite? You can check out other threads about smelly poo on this forum and maybe you’ll get some idea on why it’s so smelly.
Thanks, I’ll check it out. We just bought him and he came in quite a poor condition, he may have a parasite.
 
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