The Glade 4.0

She's now an outside cat.

We moved about a month ago, and she's been having problems consistently pooping in the litterbox. She's been going right outside it.

It's a bit of a pain, but it's on tile so it isn't bad to clean up, and I figured I could work something out- new litter, place the boxes differently, etc.

But then I moved a new futon into the basement (man cave, also where the cats are), and she's started peeing on it. Once was one thing- I thought it was a fluke. Then it went a week, and nothing. Then last night and this morning, she does it twice more!

We'd put in a pet door (she grew up as a farm cat, but has been inside for the last 2 years), and she was enjoying going out... Just obviously not getting the connection to use the outdoor litterbox... So now she's outside, howling, and the other cat is inside, not too pleased.

I'm pretty tolerant, but I draw the line at multiple cleanings of cat urine off my furniture.

Things were so much easier living on the farm- easy for the cats to go out, a huge outdoor litterbox, and lots of exciting stuff for them to do so they didn't get bored.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Try changing the litterbox from a cover one to uncovered, or vice versa. If she's a large cat, maybe she can no longer fit in the litterbox.
You could also try sprinkling cat attract in the litterbox too, it could help. For the stains you have, try the Natures Miracle http://www.ilovenaturesmiracle.com/catalog/prod_finder.php, and Zero Odor http://www.zeroodor.com/.

The covered to uncovered trick worked for us one on cat, as did the litter attract trick. Worth a little more time =)
Hope it helps

Tried that- several times.

And the cat hasn't grown at all (She's 6, so not a kitten).

Have two litterboxes (since two cats) have tried both covered, both uncovered, and each combination of one covered/uncovered. We've moved the boxes around the house, done extra cleanings, tried new litter....

I have a few more ideas to try (and maybe she'll be better once she realizes the alternative), but otherwise she's going back to live on my mom's farm. Where we live now just isn't the place for an outside cat- other than our house, there's no real place she can get to for shelter, etc- some small places, but nothing major. On the farm she has several nice porches, as well as the garage and barn(s).

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

In all likelihood, she's stressed by the move. Not being able to go outside as much as she was used to probably is a big stressor.

First thing is to take her to the vet and get her checked out, to make sure there's no medical reason behind the letterbox behavior change.

If she's clear that way, you'll need to re-train her to only use the litterbox. This could be a long process. Start with looking at the litter you are using. If it smells pretty to you, it may not smell as nice to her. I've had success with Cat Attract litter when I had to do this. It's designed to be more attractive to cats, and each package comes with a little pamphlet about litterbox problems and retraining. It may be that using the litter (and being really good with cleaning the box) will be enough to fix her problem, but if not, then you will need to isolate her in a single room so that her only option is the litterbox. It's possible that she may need to stay in that room for a while, so that she gets used to using the box again. Once she's doing better, then you can start letting her have the run of the house again, a little at a time. (this is all covered in greater detail in the pamphlet).

It took a long time to get my cat to be good again...but he had a lot longer time where I was trying other stuff that didn't work before. You're most likely in a better place since her behavior change is relatively newer. Good luck!

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Women are from Hoboken, men are from Trenton. ~ Jimmy Kimmel

Have you tried getting a dog? (kidding)

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Give the cat to Foamy, he can train it to invade his neighbor.

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The more recent move may be stressing her, but it has nothing to do with less time outside- we moved from the country to the city 2 years ago, and she took that change fine. The more recent move was actually to a place that we can let her out some.

That, and the pooping outside the litterbox started a few weeks before this most recent move.

It's not likely a medical problem- doesn't fit any of the usual symptoms (unusual spots, incontinence), nor does she have any of the usual symptoms of any of the related conditions (kidney problems, bladder infection, etc.) It's a decent idea, though.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

really just send it me in AZ my new heeler pup needs a new training toy

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History of the Condom
In 1272, the Muslim Arabs invented the condom, using a goat's lower intestine.
In 1873, the British somewhat refined the idea, by taking the intestine out of the goat first.

I am not a cat lover...allergic to them. Why do cats seem to know who is allergic and seek them out?

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