Get Feral Cat To Use Litter Box

[xthoroughbred]

I'm caring for a feral cat in my backyard. I've been able to successfully trap her a couple of times for vet trips to spay, vaccinate, de-worm, etc., but she doesn't let me touch her. She sleeps on my screened-in porch and I made her a warm house that's hidden on the deck so she can hide as needed, and we feed her multiple meals a day. I don't think she'll ever warm up to coming inside and cuddling with me, but I'm working on it anyway.

While I go through that process, I'm trying to figure out how to encourage her to poop in a litter box. I have two dogs, one of which has a serious immune disease called IMTP. The meds take a toll on his body and also make it so that we're limited with what medication we can give him because it's unknown what can trigger a relapse. Unfortunately, he also loves eating cat poop and has learned to follow the feral cat around anytime he sees her squatting in a random spot in our yard. This, of course, has led to him getting worms and now we're in a continual cycle of de-worm, eat poop, de-worm, eat poop. This isn't great for anyone, but especially for my IMTP dog. Even when we de-worm the cat, she inevitably gets them again from hunting.

I've set up a covered litter box and put a thin layer of dirt over the litter, but she won't use it. Any ideas on how to attract her to go in there instead? I know this is probably a longshot but I've got to figure out some solution here!

ETA: Treating the yard with any chemicals is out of the question.

 

[marmoset]

What kind of worms? If it's tapeworm it could be from fleas.

Outdoor cats might prefer to use their own designated areas for pooping. If you have a litter box on an enclosed porch make sure it's as far away from where you feed as possible. I keep a litter box outside for the senior feral cats. It's rarely used outside of when the ground is frozen or snow-covered. It does get used if a cat is sick, injured or trying to stay out of a downpour. I use cat attract litter and have some dried leaves in a gentle layer. You could try that.

 

[shadowsrescue]

When I cared for outside feral cats, we had a small area where we put mulch down. The cats loved it. During the winter months it was their preferred spot.

If you have a litter box for her on the screened porch, you might try Dr. Elsey's Litter Attract. It works really well. Once she starts to use the box, you can then transition to cheaper litter.

 

[e_l_green]

You will not get a feral to use a covered litter box -- a covered litter box doesn't let them look around to see if a predator is coming during what is a very vulnerable time for them. Take the cover off. And don't bother putting dirt in there, just put normal clay cat litter, feral cats like that just fine, when I have to cage a sick or injured feral they use normal clay litter without hesitation. Then put the litter box behind a dog gate (which cats can get over or around or through, naturally).

Even then it's likely the cat will prefer using the yard. However, you could fence off a small part of the yard, put a small hole in the fence big enough for the cat but not big enough for the dog, and put loose sand and mulch there. Ferals prefer loose soil and mulch for doing their duty. There was a loose sandy area next to my garage that was the favorite of all the local ferals, to the point where I had to cover it up because the smell was just too much (now they use loose sandy areas of my back yard, which is at least large enough to dilute the smell somewhat).