My Cat Wont Leave The Basement

[lydia.m.barress]

Hey! We have 2 cats. Debbie, and Georgia We adopted them both 7 years ago when they were both around 6 weeks old. They are not blood related but have been living with each other nearly forever. They were doing great and had no problems whatsoever. But About 2 years after adopting them we moved houses and Georgia went into hiding in the basement. It is a fully finished basement and our eldest daughter took that room to live in. Ever since she has been living down there, eating down there, and pooping in the litter boxes down there. And she absolutely detests upstairs. The other cat Debbie however is completely fine with the whole house. After wwe moved there were also changes between the two cats relationship. Debbie has turned into the alpha, and Georgia lets her boss her around. Georgia stopped eating treats and has no interest to play whatsoever. We have to separate them when they eat or else Debbie will scare her away and eat Georgia’s food. We try our best to not let Debbie boss georgia around. They have 5 litter boxes total, 4 in the basement and 1 upstairs. Georgia also has a cat tree were she stays most of the time. Can anyone help us?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Why not go with it? Add another litterbox upstairs, feed them separately, keep Debbie upstairs and consider things a bi level feline community?

 

[daftcat75]

Does Debbie use the downstairs poopers? I agree that a second upstairs litterbox is a good idea. If you can encourage Debbie to use the upstairs bathroom then maybe Georgia might feel more secure downstairs. Is she secure in her cat tree or does Debbie bother her there too? Maybe you could try to segregate the two of them for some time (I don't know what's appropriate) and see if Georgia starts to feel more secure. I think if Georgia felt more secure downstairs she might be willing to stand up to Debbie downstairs. You might get turf wars but I'm sure that could be worked out too. But I think Georgia doesn't feel like any of it is her turf if Debbie is coming into her "safe" space to poop in her boxes, eat her food, and pick on her.