My 2 year old female bengal cat Beans started occasionally pooping outside her clean litterbox

heatherann · Jul 5, 2021

I have researched problem. litterbox is always clean when it happens. It is a big covered box in our laundry room which she has been using for one and one half years of her life with no problem. My husband and I are retired, so home alot.
all of a sudden she will poop on ceramic floor of one of our washroom and the next day on laminate floor of our family room. Poop is normal. I place her in the box and she uses it
I have tried taking the lid off of it and she is fine for 2 or three weeks then she went poop on floor in other room.
I have not changed her food. I always clean where she poops outside the litterbox room and make sure the scent does not linger
Why only occasionally when litterbox is always clean and access always available. Why now?

FeebysOwner · Jul 5, 2021

I can only suggest that your cat has decided to want to have two boxes - one for pee and one for poop. Check to see when she poops outside the litter box if there is pee already in it. It could even be that she pees first and then immediately leaves the box to poop elsewhere. Sometimes, without any logical explanation, a cat will change their litter box preferences. See what happens if you would place two litter boxes side by side, or at least very close by to one another. There is always the chance she will pee in both, and then still poop outside, but it is worth a try anyway.

Mamanyt1953 · Jul 5, 2021

A second box is always a good thing. Also...a few cats seem confused by a freshly cleaned, sanitized box...it doesn't smell like them anymore. Try, and I know how icky this sounds, saving a tiny bit of cat poop, and "baiting" the freshly cleaned box with it. It doesn't take much, and it will, hopefully, trigger her instincts again.

hurricanemix100 · Jul 5, 2021

My cat started pooping outside her litter box about 1.5 years after I got her as well. I tried 3 things at the same time. A bigger litter box, more litter in the litter box, and a new brand of litter that clumped better (arm and hammer clump and seal slide). This stopped the behavior. I'm not sure which thing I did stopped it, but they are all good options to try when you are at your wits end.