Expert: Ali - 12/14/2010

Question
I just started fostering a cat from the animal shelter. She had kittens about 8 weeks ago so we are helping out to wean the kittens off her so her nipples are very swollen. We have to wait until she is dried up to get spayed. She sometimes uses her kitty litter but sometimes pees and poops on my boyfriends side of the bed sometimes when he is in bed and even on the couch where he sits,i am changing her kitty litter twice a day sometimes and this doesnt seem too stop her doing this.we have no idea why she is doing this and would like to keep fostering her but if she keeps doing this we might have to take her back to the shelter, we are renting too so we are scared she is going to do this on our white carpet, we would love some help if you can.
Kind regards
Isabelle

Answer
Isabelle,

There are a variety of reasons that a cat will potty on someone ranging from being offended by that person smelling like unfamiliar people/animals (some sensitive kitties are more anxious than others and house soiling can definitely be triggered by anxiety), a clear dislike of that person or even being offended by the cologne/perfumes or other scented products that they wear regularly. House soiling of any variety can be associated with issues ranging from medical conditions to more 'behavioural' reasons for litterbox avoidance such as anxiety about traumatic events or changes in the cat's life, poor litter box location, use of scented kitty litter, wrong litter box type/size for your cat, etc. She should be medically assessed ASAP by the shelter's regular vet to determine whether there is a medical reason for her to be soiling outside of her litter pans (she should have at least 2 for her own use if she's the only cat in your care). You did mention that mom's nipples are swollen - she could potentially have mastitis which is a painful infection of the mammary tissue which would require treatment with antibiotics and pain medicine.

Bear in mind this momma has just been through something traumatic - she's just had her babies taken away, much too early since they definitely weren't weaned probably in the hopes that the little ones would be adopted before Christmas. It's in the best interests of the kittens to stay with their mom until they're at least 12 weeks of age, but in shelter situations kittens are weaned as early as possible because people are more likely to adopt them when they're smaller and younger - it seems to be all about the cute factor and people don't realize that kittens prematurely separated from their mothers tend not to do as well on a longer term basis because they're more likely to develop behavioural issues than kittens who have been allowed to stay with their mom and receive her guidance.

I would suggest that you check out my previous answers on inappropriate elimination to find out more about ways that you can curb this behaviour so that this little girl can have her happy ending (her odds in a kill shelter if she house soils are pretty poor in terms of her survival). House soiling is fixable once you know what's causing it and you take the appropriate steps to correct the behaviour. My previous answers have plenty of information including information about a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure (it works very well in my experience and it can be a good starting point in house soiling kitties). You can usually find Rescue Remedy in health food stores for roughly 15$ CAN and the easiest way to administer this remedy is to gently rub 3-4 drops into the relatively fur free area of skin on the outside of the ear flap a few times daily until you begin to see improvement in the cat's behaviour. I also make some recommendations for products that you can use to effectively clean up just about any surface that's been subjected to a kitty potty accident - the product I recommend is widely available and actually permanently removes the smell of previous mistakes which potentially could end the cycle of this behaviour since some cats are sensitive enough to pick up on the tiniest traces of odors associated with urine/feces and many will simply soil where it smells like urine/feces. Separating this little girl from other pets in the household wouldn't be a bad idea - you don't want behaviour like this catching on and my recommendation would be to house this little momma in an easy to clean room like a bathroom with rugs, towels and other soft materials removed from it.

If after reading my previous answers on this subject you still have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again - I'm happy to do anything that I can to help you and this little girl overcome this obstacle.