Expert: Dear Tabbi - 11/4/2008

Question
So my roommate and I each have a cat. Mine is past six months and my roommate's cat is around 6 years. My cat is perfect and only goes in the litter box but my roommate's cat Tip is another story. She won't poop in the box. Mostly she poops on the floor by the box but not always. She will poop anywhere in our apartment and recently started pooping in my room which I am not happy about. I am afraid my cat will pick up on this awful habit so I need some suggestions on how to fix this problem. My roommate doesn't want to do anything. Her attitude is "What do you want me to do about it" which is very frustrating. I need help.

Answer
Karen,

There could be a number of causes for your roommates to be improperly eliminating.

One is that it could be a medical reason. The cat may have internal parasites, abdominal problems, etc. If it painful when the cat eliminates, it will associate that pain with the litterbox and go elsewhere. The cat may also have arthritis which makes it painful to get in and out of a litterbox. A puppy pee pad next to the litter sometimes will help.

A cat that age should have an older cat checkup done done by a vet. I would rule out a medical issue before dealing it as a behavioral problem.

The cat may be telling you that she is upset with someone or something in the home. Have you tried a 2nd litterbox in another area of the home? Some cats prefer privacy and don't like to use one out in the open. Try a larger litterbox with deeper litter. Sometimes that will help too.

That should give you some directions to go, plus I am including some  links to good articles about improper elimination that you may  find helpful: (copy and paste or type the whole links into your address bar)

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/outsidebox_two.htm

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html

http://www.apbc.org.uk/article10.htm

I hope this helps,

Tabbi