Why does my cat suddenly poop and pee where she is not supposed to? [duplicate]

Question

My five year old female cat suddenly started pooping under my bed and in front of my shower in the corner and peeing right down the front of her box and just in front of it. And her pee is really strong smelling. Like it permeates my apartment.

This has been happening since around the beginning of june when my neighbors moved in. They have an extremely friendly unfixed male cat that lives outside due to his spraying inside. I can't go anywhere without him saying hi.

I clean my house daily scoop her box daily. Every time I find poo I put it in her box to try to reconnect the association. Her food hasn't changed. She's still on purina.

I'm thinking I need to try getting some urine smell remover for the floors, a bigger litterbox for her to try. I'm going to remove the fabric from my box spring and make under the bed less appealing.

Answer 1

This is called dominant behaviour, where a cat marks her territory with pee and poo (though it's usually by spraying only) to tell the new cat that this is her place not his. Now because the male is not fixed and has the habit of spraying and she (as I assume) IS fixed, she can't spray and so spreads her scent by pooing and peeing. She can smell his scent even though you don't, and he is spreading it very near of her territory (outside your house). This behaviour may or may not disappear as soon as the male leaves your place (and you) entirely. Having his scent on you can also encourage her to do more of that stinky stuff.

The first thing you need to do after you get rid of the male cat is to clean the places she used to mark with a urine smell remover as you said, but that's after you get rid of the male cat's smell outside your house, by giving him back to your neighbors and cleaning any area you find disturbing (the areas he used to spray) .

After that you should try to retrain your cat to use the litter box. Getting a new litter box can encourage that behaviour, but remember to keep the old one in case she didn't like the new one. Give her treats when she uses any of the litter boxes. When you see her about to use another place as a litter box, gently carry her and place her in the litter box and after she's done give her treats and attention.

It can also be some health issues she's got,so you may as well consider talking to your vet about it. It may even be due to the stress she earned after having the nieghbors move in, or possibly there is a mistake with the litter box, so that's another reason for you to buy a new one. But as you said; you clean the litter box daily, it may be where you place the litter box that's causing her to do her business somewhere else, it's not working for her now that the neighbors are in. I'd tell you to place the litter box in the places she used to use, but under your bed isn't going to do I guess. So buying a new litter box and placing it somewhere away from the other litter box should be a good step.

Here's a link to help you gain some more knowledge of your situation ; http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/healthy-pets/cat-stop-using-the-litter-box/

Answer 2

This answer will probably be a partial one, but I hope it will help you.

Cats are solitary animals. They want their territory for themselves. If another cat is in their territory, the reaction is fight the intruder or move to another place. Your cat doesn't have anywhere to go and is more than scared.

Your cat will normally react to an intruder by scent marking and by not hiding the poo. Not hiding the poo is what can be described as the cat's way of yelling "Get out of here! This is my territory!"

But your cat is going a step further. It is extremely scared and has no more options.

What you, the owner, can do is try to avoid contact with the male cat and you need to remove the smell (of the male cat.) The new cat has scent marked your door and probably a lot of the area around it. To remove this smell you use a weak solution of bleach (chlorine) in a spray can and spray around your door and other areas where the male cat have been(no need to dry it off). If you pet the male cat(hard not to,) wash your hands before you pet your own cat.

Your own cat needs to feel safe when it is using the litterbox, so this has to be moved to a place where it feels safe. For a cat to feel safe, it needs to be able to see any type of danger (the male cat, even if it is not there in your house.) You might even have to place the litterbox on an elevated place (try to think as a cat) where I can see if anything is coming my way.

The most important thing.: try to make your neighbor get the male fixed(neutred) at any cost This is about the pheromones of the male cat(not only the marking) but also the pheromones in it.

It is not your cat's fault it reacts like it does. It is its nature.

This is not important. when my mother died, I got her cat (Trine) moving in with me, but i had my own cat (Electra.) My mother and I lived in the same house but different floors. Electra did pee in my bed as she was too scared of the new cat to go to the litterbox. This was two cats knowing each other for several years, same house different floors. After two weeks they did sleep close together in the same bed and used the same litterbox, two cats different ages and not close friends but still living together.