Expert: Karen Craft - 2/18/2008

Question
Hi, I hope you can help with this problem as I am out of answers. I have 2 cats, a 7 year old female in kidney failure who mostly sleeps and keeps to herself and an 11 month old brown tabby male who has started defecating on my bed. I know the history will be wordy but I feel like the answer is somewhere in there. I found the 11 month old when he was 10 days old with his 3 brothers on the front step of the animal clinic I work at. He has been raised around chaos with going to work daily as a baby and living in a house full of dogs that come and go. He is extremely close to my one dog and they play a lot. As a baby, about 6 weeks, he went through a stage of urinating on my bed when we were asleep or when gone. He was being weaned from kennel to bedroom. We used the shower curtain trick on the bed for about a week and that took care of it. He then has come up with the pattern of urinating on our bed the day we come back from a vacation, but as that is not too often I can live with it. We use yesterdays news litter and he has been raised with that. I do not want to switch as my husband had a big issue with clay litter scattering and bare feet, especially in the bathroom. About 3 weeks ago he started defecating almost daily in on my bed. We had a new plush comforter that maybe triggered it but he would also do it on the flat quilt. We did move the litter box in the master bath from one spot to another but quickly moved it back. I added a 3rd litter box so I could have the 1 box per cat plus 1 more rule. He only seems to do it on days that I work all day or when he gets locked in the bedroom for even 20 min (I sometimes do that to keep the dogs from stalking them at feeding time). They get fed twice a day. I switched him from kitten to adult about 6 weeks ago and also had a new roommate with 2 small dogs move in about that time. Her one dog was possibly coming into the bedroom to mark but we believe we have stopped that. We have banned her dogs from the bedroom. The other thing that has changed is that the the kidney failure cat has been switched strictly to can food with some supplements. The 11 month old sometimes gets a smidge of can food as well but has not in about a week. The cats are fed twice a day only like the dogs in the master bathroom. The kidney cat is fed on the counter and the 11 month old under it. We reinstated the shower curtain yesterday but it doesn't stop him from defecating on the bed. He is an extremely needy, affectionate cat. Also, he was neutered at about 4 months. While some think that's young, in other houses at other times I've had horrendous cat pee issues and keeping this cat was a miracle as I had sworn off cats. I am thinking about maybe banning him from the bedroom when not home. He does defecate in the living/dining when he is there and does not seem to miss the bedroom. But sometimes he defecates the moment I get home as I am letting the dogs out. I was then thinking of adding a baby gate to the bedroom door. This would definitely ensure that cats can get in and the roommate dogs are out. I've thought about switching back to his kitten food as his stools seem hard when I find them. I've thought about getting a Feliway diffuser. The house is mostly quiet when I'm gone. I have just realized that he only seems to defecate on the bed on days I take the australian shepherd to work. My 2 little dogs always go with me and the aussie usually goes once a week but she has been going more lately and this past Friday I left her at home and there was nothign on the bed. Not veryfamiliar with separation anxiety in cats. Would like to try and solve it without drugs.
Anyway, any input would be greatly appreciated, thank you!  

Answer
Hi Tiph,

Most times a change in litter box habits means the cat is sick. But with your guy sounds it's more behavioral. Just to be on the safe side I would take him to the vet to be checked over.

If all checks out okay we can move on to solving this problem. First off, make sure you are using a good enzymatic cleaner to get rid of all odors that he may smell. Any scent left where he is using will attract him back to the same area. Next, here's a link to a really good product.

http://www.preciouscat.com/

It is a special litter that attracts cats back to using the litter box. You can get this stuff at Pet Smart. Experiment with keeping the shepherd home. It could be that is what is setting him off. See how this works. You can try the Feliway Comfort Zone. A lot of people have had success with this.

Being neutered at 4 months shouldn't cause any problems. You might want to switch him to a low or no grain food. A lot of times this helps. Wellness, EVO, Nature's Variety and Eagle Pack are some brands that are good. Try these suggestions and see what happens. Write back and let me know how it is going. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen