How To Deal With A Cat That Poops Outside The Litter Box When Stressed?

[kittyfan101]

In a previous post I mentioned that my mom has finally changed her mind and agreed to let a feral cat named Charlie that we have taken to the vet into our home when my other 2 cats Emily & Mose start to get along with him. My cats have seen Charlie for 2 years now so they're used to his presence, but they still hiss at him, even when Charlie extends his paws out through the window to play. Charlie is a pretty curious cat and has been coming into our home to explore the downstairs portion of it, and we try to keep our other cats away from him when he explores. So far the interactions were just hissing from my 2 cats, but lately my cat Mose has been popping outside the litterbox late at night when my family is asleep. My family thinks that my cat is popping outside the litter box because he's stressed about Charlie. Does anyone have any idea on how to fix this issue? Eventually we want to bring Charlie into our home and we don't feel comfortable doing it yet unless our cats have gotten used to him.

 

[abyeb]

Does Mose still urinate inside the litterbox?

 

[Daisy6]

Has anything else changed recently? Stress over Charlie may not be the cause.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Has Mose had a checkup at the vet lately?

You could try a litter change, a box style change, and/or a box location change.

Does his poop look usual? You could add a teaspoon of plain pumpkin to his food.

Use an enzymatic cleaner, and then puppy training pads can help if it's usually happening in the same location to make cleanup easier til this is squared away.

Also, look into calming products. There is feliway, thunderease, sentry, Only Natural Pet, Vetriscience, a couple that are treats are calm-o-mile and composure.

Best of luck!

 

[kittyfan101]

Daisy6 he's been eating normally so nothing has changed other than him popping outside the litter box

 

[kittyfan101]

Furballsmom we haven't taken Mose to the vet yet, hopefully soon we can find a new vet that does in home check ups. And I've cleaned his litterbox his poop looks normal to me

 

[rubysmama]

I'm glad your Mom has agreed to let Charlie come inside. Has Charlie been neutered yet?

Also, I don't think it'll be possible for Charlie and your other cats to become friends before he moves inside. Even if they did accept him as the "outside" cat, they would likely react differently once he's inside permanently.

Here's the articles on cat introductions:
Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

And a couple on stress:
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats
Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist

 

[Moonlight_wolf]

Yeah I second the feliway. It sounds like he’s doing it out of stress or maybe as a way of trying to mark his territory because he feels insecure since another cat has invaded his home (from his point of view).

You could try adding more litter boxes so he can have more places to have his scent dispersed in a more acceptable way.

You could also add more cat furniture to possibly give your cat something more to “own” so he doesn’t feel so insecure. Like just a couple more scratching posts or perches and whatnot.

Though this is all based on the assumption that his behavior is stress based due to another cat entering his home.