My cat that I’ve had for over a year, has refused to poop in his litter box for the last couple months. First thing I did was take him to vet, she said he was perfectly healthy. So we changed litter, many times. No help. He likes to go RIGHT outside the box, on the hardwood. Nothing really changed in the house to cause it, and although he’s a bigger cat, he was fine using a smaller box for the longest time. So we got him a big box. Not the biggest but pretty big. Our other cat that is longer and lanky has 0 problems. I have run out of stuff to try and we live in rentals right now, I NEED this to stop! Thank you
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Cat suddenly refuses to poop in litter box?
- Thread starter arodb
- Start Date
Other users are more experienced than me but a quick, temporary thing to try, you can try fresh soil instead of litter. It might be too much work and potentially costly as a longterm solution but it might work to save the day until you find a better solution.
Do you have just the one box? Sometimes adding another will help. One of my cats seems to prefer using one box for one thing, and another for the other.
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Have you tried moving the location? Do you have a lid on the box? Have you tried removing it? Try to think back to the first time he started going outside of the box, what changed in his life or in his environment? Even small changes can sometimes affect them.
Hi. When you say the vet said he was healthy - what tests were run? If a full fecal PCR was not done, I would ask for that. It will check not only for parasites, but bacterial/viral issues as well. Most vets will accept a sample of stool to test without seeing the cat - but, call your vet to confirm this. How old is he? Is his stool loose, hard, or normal?
I would also, as suggested above, have at least two litter boxes - if not three (rule of thumb is 1 box per cat, plus one). Cats can change their litter box 'preferences' at any time without cause. So, make sure the litter boxes are kept as clean as possible. And, if he is going right outside the litter box in basically the same area, use enzymatic cleaners such as Fizzion or SCOE10x to thoroughly clean the area. Both products are safe to be used on wood surfaces. You can also place a washable rug underneath the litter box(es) to help with cleaning.
I would also, as suggested above, have at least two litter boxes - if not three (rule of thumb is 1 box per cat, plus one). Cats can change their litter box 'preferences' at any time without cause. So, make sure the litter boxes are kept as clean as possible. And, if he is going right outside the litter box in basically the same area, use enzymatic cleaners such as Fizzion or SCOE10x to thoroughly clean the area. Both products are safe to be used on wood surfaces. You can also place a washable rug underneath the litter box(es) to help with cleaning.
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
I have 2 cats, 3 boxes. Used to only have 2, but when the problem came up I got a 3rd quickly
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #7
I am not sure what tests where ran, as my wife took him. I know blood tests, not sure of anything else. His poop is softer sometimes, but usually a normal semi soft turd. For our 2 cats we have 3 boxes.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
We don’t have that big of an apartment, we’ve tried moving boxes where we can. Tried lid on and off. I cannot for the life of me think of what could have changed around that time.
