HELP Cat keeps pooing on cloth

Discussion in 'Behaviour & Training' started by amillionducks, Dec 2, 2011.

  1. amillionducks

    amillionducks Member

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    Okay here's the story,
    I adopted a cat from the shelter, she started hissing at me and my roommate so being worried about my sons safety I rehomed her then started searching for the perfect cat for my son. After researching the ragdoll breed I decided to find a breeder and talk to them, I told them I didn't care what the cat looked like as long as the kitten was docile and would be okay for my son. After finally finding a breeder that actually showed her cats, was reasonably priced and about an hour away I talked to the lady and told her about the previous cat and about my family she matched me with one of her male kittens that was 4 months old. I sent the deposit fee and she took him to be neutered and get his rabies and other shots. A week later I meet her and took him home. We had previously talked about proper ways to introduce a cat to a home, she had previously had someone return a kitten that was not properly introduced to the home and it started to defecate on the peoples bed. So I was sure to confine him to the bathroom for around 2 weeks, taking him out into the other rooms so he could get accustomed to the house. the first time out for a long period I found that he had defecated on my bed.
    I confined him to a large crate since we were potty training my 3 year old so the bathroom door had to open . I kept taking him out and trying it again. I finally got linoleum put down in one of the spare rooms and took him in their and that was 'his room'. After a week of so he done great so I took an ottoman and covered it with a white blanket and placed it in the room so I could sit and spend plenty of time with him. Five day's later he had defecated on the ottoman.
    He was once again caged and I was at a loss at what to do.A couple weeks later I decided to try again. I pu the previously bleached the blanket and put it on the ottoman and sat with him then walked out the room to grab me something to eat. I ate then I checked on him before going to work and in less than an hour he had pooed on the ottoman. Again confinement and more internet searches. Finally after not being so mad at the now nicknamed "I'm mad at you" I let him out.
    I had to go on a trip and was bringing one of my outside dogs so I bathed her and took apart the 2 crates that had been stacked together for my ragdoll, thus he was free to run around his room, with the ottoman removed of course. I cleaned the room and cleaned the cat litterbox and the litterbox in the puppy drop pan crate. The cat litterbox was a closed in litterbox and the puppy box was a xl litterpan, they both had Arm in hammer essentials in them and both had been cleaned out daily since i got the cat.
    I returned from my trip to find that he had used the closed litterbox once and the open litterpan the rest of the time, of course he NEVER covers his poo or pee in his box though. So i thought That was the problem. I left the puppies outside and gave him the other litterbox. All went well for 3 weeks so I put a towel where his fav sleep spot was and to my suprise days later he still hadn't pooed on it, I decided to give him the ultimate test and give him the blanket he had previously defecated on twice, of course it had been bleached. Surprise days later he still hadn't pooed on it I thought "Finally!!!" with my excitement I let him into the rest of the house. His breeder had asked how he was and I told her of his poo problem, she told me:

    As for the poo... try a "citrus" based spray cleaner on all cloths except perhaps his cat bed or cat litter box. Generally kitties do not like orange, grapefruit, lemon / lime smells and this may divert his feeling like going on the cloth. Also a spray that is called "bitter apple" or "yuck" was developed but fair warning it makes the person spraying it have a residual awful taste in their mouth too. There have been some ways of maybe putting plastic down and then using air freshener so as not to spray directly on the cloth. And the other things are... using "lavender"
    cleaner on his litter box or placing a plug-in of lavender near his box. The lavender makes kitties relax so maybe that will help.
    Also a spray bottle full of water to "zap" him with a squirt if he's caught doing it. Or picking him up after he eats (like a mommie cat would) and placing him in his litter box, then take a warm wet cloth and stimulate his hind end. This would be done fairly close after his big evening meal, reassurance and praise for good behavior. I had to train his mom to use the litter box this way so it does take persistence but he will eventually learn that's the only place he's to go.


    I thought great tips so I tried all of them except the whole making him poo thing, he's been using his litterbox too and never does it while I'm there. When I caught him in the litterbox I always praised him and gave him treats. then I reread it really good..."why would she breed a cat that didn't know how to use a litterbox? If I knew that then I wouldn't have gotten a kitten from her." I was a little ticked but he was doing great the perfect cat.

    He done great till this previous Saturday I came home from work on my hour break ate something then went and petted on him and give him fresh water and more food then as I was leaving I seen it, 2 piles of poo on the towel and blanket. I was steaming furious I closed the door and left. I have a bad temper so I learned to just leave the situation and come back to it when I'm not mad and handle it calmly.
    The next day I calmly cleaned it up and put the 2 crates back together. I contacted the breeder and told her I didn't know what to do and it was at the point where I don't want him out and feel really bad cause he has to be in a cage, she has yet to contact me and in the contract the cat has to go back to her. I know some breeder have them in cages full time but I really don't want too but I don't know what else to do and what's worse is that I can't even give him something soft to lay on. So he sleeps on a carboard shelf in the bottom of the top kennel beside his food and water bowl.
    I am now trying to make him a bigger cage just in case this really becomes permanent...


    I am at a loss as to what to do, I am open to any suggestions, anybody...
     
    amillionducks, Dec 2, 2011
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  2. amillionducks

    magickat Well-Known Member

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    What an awful situation for you! One of my cats poos in the wrong places sometimes - usually on the bathroom mat but I have found unpleasant "parcels" in a number of locations. I think it is because she is really fussy about the litter tray and will only use it when it is totally clean - so if one of the other cats has used it then no good.

    Perhaps you need to try and retrain your cat to use the litter, from scratch. There are many helpful books about litter training, obviously for kittens but with some perseverance I am sure you could train your cat again too. Try putting some newspaper down around the litter tray as he may prefer to use that if he is unsure about the litter. You could also try using paper or even old towels, scrap cloth in the litter tray? I know it;s not ideal but it may help to train him where to go. Good luck!
     
    magickat, Dec 2, 2011
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  3. amillionducks

    amillionducks Member

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    Litter pans are scooped daily he still uses the pan just decides to go on cloth sometimes. He one time pooed on a 4 inch triangular piece so he has good aim so he's doing it on purpose. the thing about using towels etc in the litterpan I think would be the exact opposite of my goal cause he can't distinguish between my bath towels and his litterbox towels. The breeder used swheat scoop but I would have to spend $40 in gas to go get some and drive a hour and a half to pick up one $30 bag of litter then hour and a half back.
    When he is caged he goes in the litter box no problem.
     
    amillionducks, Dec 2, 2011
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  4. amillionducks

    Wallie0921 Well-Known Member

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    It sounds like your cat got taken away from his mother before she trained him. You might want to try a litter box training book, like Magickat suggested.

    You might also want to try Cat Attract litter. Whenever I've had a problem with someone pooping outside the box, I put Cat Attract in one of my boxes for a couple of weeks, and it helps a lot. And if no stores in your area carry Cat Attract, see if you can find someplace that will deliver it to you by mail. Some vendors will even ship larger items like that for free.
     
    Wallie0921, Dec 3, 2011
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  5. amillionducks

    amillionducks Member

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    Thanks will defiantly try the cat attract litter, I will have to call around the website said a pet store near here sales it. Sometimes I really dislike living in the middle of no-where, cause you can't find anything.
    I got him when he was 3 months old and lived in the same house as his momma, he is now 8 months old and has been using the same kind of litter for 5 months. The mother had potty issues so I think she had passed it down to him AND his siblings since she told me of one other incident that happened with mine's older brother when I picked him up. Like I said if I had known his mother and one of his siblings had that problem then I would have never purchased him from her and I would have looked elsewhere. I will try to find a book on litter training, like I said I live in the middle of no-where so I will have to check ebay and half.com.
    I do recently catch him scratching around the litter box after he does his business and when he does he gets lots of praise and treats.
     
    amillionducks, Dec 4, 2011
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  6. amillionducks

    steph84 Well-Known Member

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    Oh, no! I had a cat like this and it was hard to train her since she was already older, but I did use the wet cloth after eating trick and she would go in her littler box after three times using this method. She would ALWAYS leave me a present on my living room rug and I had a few incidents whenever I would come home from work and stumble upon it. I tried it all. I gave her different kinds of litter, moved the box around and no results until I took the cloth to her hiney. Hope this helps!
     
    steph84, Dec 16, 2011
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  7. amillionducks

    Victor Leigh Well-Known Member

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    Doing it on cloth is very much a matter of conditioning. Once we understand that then we have to find a way to re-condition the cat. I have had this problem before and I solved it in stages. The re-conditioning has to be done in a large cage or a separate cat room to keep things under control.

    First, put a soft cloth as usual for the cat to use as a toilet. Then add newspaper beneath the cloth. Eventually put the newspaper on top. After some time, remove the cloth. The cat should now be re-conditioned to use newspaper as a toilet. After that, after every meal, take the cat and the newspaper into the toilet and close the door to let it do it inside. After some time, make the piece of newspaper smaller. And smaller. Until there's no newspaper anymore. By this time, the cat should have been re-conditioned to use the toilet as its toilet, too.

    Of course, if you prefer that it uses the litter box, then start the process by putting the cloth in the litter box. Go through the steps from cloth to newspaper to just plain litter box.

    I have done it many times. It should work.

    I am assuming, of course, that it's not just simpler to return the cat and get another one. From another breeder, naturally.
     
    Victor Leigh, Dec 19, 2011
    #7
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