Stubborn indoor cat pooping in mulch..l

Nikki_B

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So we have four cats, two of them are 14 years old and the other two are 4 years old. All have been fixed. We have 6 litter boxes in our garage and a cat door in the sliding glass door so they can go to their boxes freely. One of my younger ones has taken to unfortunately using the mulch in the only outdoor area we have on our property, which is a townhome. Before that, we had large decorative stones, about the size of large marbles to ping pong balls, and he’d dig those up and poop in them as well. I have absolutely no idea why and it’s incredibly frustrating as well as absolutely disgusting. I’ve tried EVERYTHING! I clean the litter frequently, I have sprayed the mulch with peppermint oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to deter him from the smell and finally I decided to cover the mulch with old sheets….well the as$h0le decided that it would be cool to just poop on top of the sheet! I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve thought about outdoor cat deterrent spray but theres mixed reviews about its efficacy saying the cat didn’t care or it attracted the cat even more, as well as some people say it smells really, really bad. I’ve also thought about lava rock but can’t afford to fill it all in, plus I don’t think it would work because we had decorative large pebbles out the before and he even dug those up and pooped in them. We have a three year old who likes to run around out there and play with the mulch as well so I don’t want her getting poop on her hands and inevitably in her mouth. I’m at my wits end and I know I’ll get flamed, but I’m honestly thinking of rehoming him to someone I can trust. I would never put him in a shelter or pound. Does anyone have any suggestions? I’m willing to try anything at this point.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
Set up a temporary room for your younger boy with several litter boxes. Get some of that mulch and put it in one of the litter boxes, and also get some Cat Attract litter and put it in another box.

Experiment with this by starting to mix the two materials so that you eventually get him to (hopefully) use boxes with just cat litter. Or, maybe just set aside some of this mulch and put some of it in a couple of litter boxes for him to use.

If he doesn't use the mulch when it's not outside, then there's something in the soil/material that the mulch and those decorative stones are on top of. If that's the case, you may need to dig up some of that and remove it to try and eliminate whatever's causing the odor that he's so in love with. Or set some of it aside and put it in litterboxes for him.

Good luck with this!
 
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Nikki_B

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Hi!
Set up a temporary room for your younger boy with several litter boxes. Get some of that mulch and put it in one of the litter boxes, and also get some Cat Attract litter and put it in another box.

Experiment with this by starting to mix the two materials so that you eventually get him to (hopefully) use boxes with just cat litter. Or, maybe just set aside some of this mulch and put some of it in a couple of litter boxes for him to use.

If he doesn't use the mulch when it's not outside, then there's something in the soil/material that the mulch and those decorative stones are on top of. If that's the case, you may need to dig up some of that and remove it to try and eliminate whatever's causing the odor that he's so in love with. Or set some of it aside and put it in litterboxes for him.

Good luck with this!
Hi! Thank you for the great information. I will be sure to try your suggestions. Unfortunately a new problem has developed in the hour since I posted. So, I decided to take my younger boy to the garage with me to clean the litter boxes so he can see me doing it. He’s acting fine. I’m scratching him between scoops for positive reinforcement. He’s not meowing or trying to leave or anything. Next thing I hear is him scratching the side of the trash can. Of course I thought he was just playing because he does this with the sides of boxes as well for fun. Then he walked away and and then I saw it…he had pooped right NEXT to one of the litter boxes that I hadn’t cleaned yet. My mouth just dropped open. Red circle is where the poop was after I had already cleaned it just to show you how close in proximity it was to the box. I showed him me scooping the poop he literally did 10 seconds before and threw it into the litter box so he could see where it belongs. I’m just at a loss for words. I think I’m gonna have a talk with my husband about giving him to my father in law as his cat recently passed.
 

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maggie101

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The litter boxes may be too small. He needs room to move around. 2x his length and scooped every day. Some cats like to poop in one,pee in another. Going in mulch is like going in a litter box
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Nikki_B

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The litter boxes may be too small. He needs room to move around. 2x his length and scooped every day. Some cats like to poop in one,pee in another. Going in mulch is like going in a litter box
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I actually bought a giant litter box that he can fit in and he still won’t use it. I even sprinkled catnip in it, which he is crazy for and he wouldn’t go for it. I’m starting to scoop daily now to see if there is any change. I went outback and checked the sheets over the mulch and there wasn’t any poop there today, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
 

Dart77

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I have been using tree mulch as litter for many years now and it is far superior to any clay-based ones I used previously. Being in Australia, we are lucky that Eucalyptus tree mulch is commonly available. Even for free. Eucalyptus trees have a special oil in them, especially the leaves and green branches, which acts as an attractant as well as an antiseptic and deodoriser. I can only suggest what I would do in your situation; I would use one of the litter boxes and take out the current litter (which this wayward cat of yours may not actually like the smell of) and fill it with the same mulch that is in the plant stand and place it near the same plant. Make sure you cover up the plant mulch so the cat only really is attracted to the mulch in the litter box /tray. If successful, the cat should start using the mulch litter instead of the mulch around the plant. After a while you can start moving the litter box a little further away each week. Until it is where you want it. You may have to just keep using the mulch for that cat, unfortunately they do get their little quirky likes and dislikes about things.
 
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