Pooping next to litter box due to antibiotics?

[petercotton]

I have a 5 month old kitten who I have had for 3 months.  For the first two months she used the litter box with no problem.  Got in, did her business, covered it up and got back out.  About a month ago she stopped covering anything up.  Just uses the litter box and jumps out and goes about her business.

This past Friday I took her to the vet because she had raspy breathing and they put her on some antibiotics.  Read the side effects of the antibiotics and like it said it has given her diarrhea, so that did not surprise me.  The problem is that she has started pooping on the floor right next to the litter box, literally 6 to 8 inches away. I would say that she just could not get in the litter box in time, but that is not the case because I can here her in there scratching around on the floor to get in position.  By the time I get there though she has already made her mess on the floor.  The strangest part is this: even though she no longer covers her stuff up in the litter box, when she does it on the floor she will turn around and try to cover it up.  It is maddening.

The litter box is clean and the litter is fresh.  Same brand of litter I have used for the past 2 months.  Litter box is in a quiet place away from everyone.  I usually scoop it clean within 30 minutes of her using it.  I moved the litter box over about a foot so it now sits where she was using the floor.  I guess I will see if that helps any.

Any ideas or suggestion I could do to help remedy this problem?

 

[red top rescue]

It could be as simple as that she is trying to show you she has diarrhea.  How else would you know?  When the diarrhea is done and she has normal poops again, she will probably use the box. 

 

[basschick]

we have a larger tray under the litter box with some litter on it.  when HD isn't feeling spry, he goes on the tray instead of the box.  since there's litter on it, it's easy to clean up.