What To Do With The Pooping And Peeing?

[Melorin]

Hi,
a week ago I posted a thread asking for help with my new kitten. He was pooping into the litterbox and peeing outside. I've read the articles and tried the methods users adviced me to but in the end nothing really worked. We've tried changing the type of litter- that didn't do anything, we put things he peed on into the litterbox which didn't help. If we put him into the box he starts panicking and runs away. So we've tried puppy pads and they worked for a while but now he starts to try to dig them away and doesn't pee on them anymore. We've never put them into the litterbox since he doesn't go in. The biggest problem is that he also started pooping outside the litterbox. He pees and poops where he stands at the moment and then runs away. On the other hand we can tell than he's gaining weight and that he's feeling more comfortable around the house- even though he still stays only in my room. Lately he's been trying to explore a little further which is good. He's been seperated for the first 4 days we got him but in the end we had to let in our 3 cats, one of them got sick and he really likes my room. Maybe the problem is that the boys also go into the litterbox to do their bussiness but we can't really do much about that. They don't really care about him, only the youngest one of the bunch wants to play with him, which scares him ( the kitten's 2kgs while he's 5kgs, so we don't let him play with him since he might hurt him). We don't really know what to do with his potty habits, we're really not experienced with this. We also have a dog but the doors closed so they're not together 100% of the time. I should also mention that we've tried to just put a box or only the pad on a flat surface but it didn't work. We went to the vet and he said that the kitten's fine, even tho no blood or ultrasound was tested. We really don't know what to do and help would be really welcomed. Thanks.

 

[Jem]

I don't remember your other thread, so please forgive if something has been repeated.
I know you bought him to the vet, you mention no blood or ultrasound, but did they have a urine-analysis and culture done? That NEEDS to happen.

The fact that he seems scared of the litter box itself and is running away after doing his business, makes me think he is in pain. Ours did the same thing when he developed urinary issues. Sometimes he would even run WHILE pooping, leaving little turds all over the house.

 

[Melorin]

The vet said that he's like that because of the stress, we really doubt it though. He didn't want to stress him out too much I guess but we'll try to convince the vet to investigate it further. I should also mention that he was on antibiotics for over a week and so mom thought that any infection would get supressed.

 

[Jem]

The thing is, stress can cause physical issues with the urinary system. One of my kitties developed cystitis (very severe case) because of stress. He ended up having to be catheterized for 5 days because his urethra was so inflamed and was spasming that he could not pee at all. The week leading up to his blockage he started peeing out of the litter box. The reason for the stress is we had a really bad year for bears coming right up to our house and leaving their "gifts" all over the yard. Our poor Chewy was petrified.
Does he get bullied at all by any of the other animals in the house? Do you have any idea why he would be stressed out? What's hard to determine is, was he stressed and then developed a problem? OR Did he get a health problem and is now stressed because of it?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Since he is peeing outside the litter box, is there a way you can catch some of it in a clean container? Most vets will accept a urine sample brought in by the owner in order to do a urinalysis and urine culture. That way you could determine whether there is a urinary infection and what kind. The culture will identify the particular bacteria and will allow the vet to prescribe a more appropriate antibiotic for it. If an antibiotic doesn't address the type of bacteria, it won't totally clear up the infection.

Based on what happened with the introduction process being cut short since your other cats needed to be let in to your new guy's area, it is likely stress (which can cause a urinary infection). While some cats don't need a full-blown introduction process lasting weeks/months, I'm guessing most would need more than just 4 days.

I don't know how many litter boxes you have, but maybe you need more. There are some cats who will not use the litter box that is being used by other cats, or stop using it because there is too much 'stuff' in it for their liking. And, there are other cats who like to have one box to pee in and another for poop.

Get the possible infection issue resolved, and then you might have to consider ways to re-start the introduction process.
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

 

[Melorin]

We took him to the vet so they can observe him , take few samples and determine if it's a health problem or just his mentality. We'll see how it'll go, depending on the outcome we'll try to take measures accordingly.

 

[Melorin]

Big update- he's healthy, today we're taking care of his teeth and thats it. He's eating more and is getting used to our household. My mom and the vet both agreed that he doesn't know how to use the litterbox. He wasn't potty trained in the shelter and most likely never used it before. He's 7 months old and we're not sure how to teach him how the litterbox works.

 

[FeebysOwner]

See if anything in the article will help you with litterbox training.

How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box