Pooping outside the litter box

Artline90

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Hi all,

After adopting a female kitten Ragdoll, we welcomed another female 3-month old Siberian to our place (She is now 5-month old). This Siberian is very active, gluttonous, knows how to use the litter box. Everything has indicated that she will be easygoing.

However, things changed 4 weeks ago. She started to spray on our carpet several times. The trouble escalated quickly when she peed and even pooped outside the litter box (she is still using it). We have 2 boxes and clean them everytime they finish, so the trouble does not come from waiting time and hygiene.

Have went through the article “Stress in Cat”, I guess the problems are:

1) Change in litter box type: we replaced her small box to a bigger one. We will try to reuse the small one to check if this is correct.

2) Food rivalry: Even though we feed they on separated bowl, the kittens look very hungry. We fed her 100g raw food/meal and 2 meals/day. We completely have no idea if they are overfed or underfed. It is no “rivalry” when they are fed separately, isn’t it?

3) The smell of another cat’s territorial urine marking: We have never seen our Ragdoll marking her territory, thus it should be no trouble for the Siberian. However, we will apply Feliway to solve this problem. In case of needed, we will give her anxiety medication.

Just let me know if I am on the right track for this. Spraying is understandable for a new kitten but peeing and pooping outside the litter box is strictly unacceptable.

Thank you very much.
 

peliougo

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Undeveloped kittens can often spray outside of the litter box.. but your kitten might have an urinating problem. Probably somewhere near to Urinary Tract Disease. Is your kitten straining to urinate? excessive licking of the genital area?
 
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Artline90

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Undeveloped kittens can often spray outside of the litter box.. but your kitten might have an urinating problem. Probably somewhere near to Urinary Tract Disease. Is your kitten straining to urinate? excessive licking of the genital area?
Hi Peliougo,

Thank you for your reply. I am not sure whether she has urinating problem. There is no straining when urinating nor excessive licking of the area.
 

LTS3

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Kittens should be fed as much as they will eat until they are about a year old. They're hungry eating machines that need a lot of food for growth. 100g of raw food twice a day doesn't sound like enough. Add another meal or two or include some canned food in the diet.

Some litter box related articles:

 

sunny578

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Did you mention whether or not the new kitten is spayed? If not, this could solve your problem!

Or, as mentioned above, it could be a sign of a UTI, so you might consider calling your vet.

I think some kittens do prefer the smaller litter box, so good idea in bringing the old one back into the mix. I would even consider adding more litter boxes, depending on how big your space is. For 2 cats, most would suggest having at least 3 litter boxes available, and even more if you have a larger home.

Where are your litter boxes located? It's great that you are keeping them clean, but another issue with multi-cat households is that some cats don't want to feel like they could be ambushed while using their box. So, you want your litter boxes to have multiple points of exit and entry (ie no hoods, and not shoved in a corner or a closet.) And, you want them in easy to access places around your house (ie not all in the basement.)

What kind of litter are you using?

Also wondering if you have cat trees or other high up places for your cats to jump to. Vertically expanding their territory can help reduce stress and solve urinating/pooping out of the box issues.

Yes, I don't think you can over feed a kitten, especially when they are eating a raw diet. My vet recommends feeding my raw diet cat 4 x a day, or more if she wants. Raw food is so healthy, I wouldn't worry about overfeeding, especially now, but probably not ever.
 
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