Cat question

TriciaChick

My parents have 4 cats all rescues.  Their most recent came from a high kill shelter and was saved a day before "execution."  He had a horrible upper respirotory infection and my parents spent almost 600 saving him.  He has started pooping in thier basement.  (no pee)  But he will also go in the litter box at times. He wont poop anywhere else but in the basemet. (Long story how they figured out it was him doing this and nnot the other cats.)

 I spoke with my best friend who is a vet.  She suggested adding more litter boxes and using this "cat attract" stuff in the litter.  My parents did that and he is still going in these 2  spots in the basemet.  (My mom refuses to put a litter box in these exact spots because all her grandkids play there.) 

 There is a litter box in the storage room that he uses though.  My dad is losing patience with him bc he is picking up poop and cleaning carpet everyday. He thinks he may have been put at the shelter bc of this issue.  He has agreed to keep him but has him locked in a room in the basement which is very large and has lots of things to play on/with. 

 I feel bad that he is locked in there but he never goes outside the box in there and my dad goes to visit him a couple times a day when he is fed.  I am telling myself this is better than him ending up in a shelter and being unadoptable bc of the pooping issue. 

 My dad is going to try him out of his room again in a week to see how he does. What do you guys think about this?  Is it horribly cruel to keep him locked in a room like that?

Littledeer84

So I took out my "cats for dummies" book and am reading it in the bath room while dd plays in the tub. It might be the one cat is marking territory because of the other cats. According to this book your dad is on the right track, the book actually recommends retraining through isolation. It says to slowly expand the cat's territory once it is reliably using the box again. Dd is throwing bath toys at me now but I will be back later if I find any other advice.

ktshoff

Put a litter box where he poos and teach the kiddos to stay away! My kids don't touch the box because they know better!!! Poor kitty, he/she is nervous! So cool your parents rescued him!

Littledeer84

A few other things to maybe consider:

Where are the other boxes at? Some cats do not want to use boxes that are too close to the place the eat. Also some cats do not like places that are too busy. Maybe that is why he like the storage room - it is quite and he has privacy.

Another suggestion is two boxes side by side. Some cats want to be able to choose the cleanest box.

My sister had a cat that pooped in the basement for awhile after they moved to their house, but over time it slowly stopped and now always uses the box. She has no idea why, but I guess just time? Until recently, I had two cats (one passed away) but luckily this was not an issue we dealt with. But a lot of people must because it is covered in both of my cat books. I think if your Dad visits the cat frequently, and he is willing to give him a chance to roam the house again, that he is doing the best he can. It is great that your parents were willing to adopt so many!

gimmietimmies

Good suggestions so far. I just wanted to add using a pheromone neutralizing spray on the spots the cat keeps toileting on - it recognizes the spot as a place to go. Also try using Feliway, it has calming pheromones, comes in a spray and plug in. And maybe try giving kitty a calming treat. We tried all of this on our kitty when we moved, she doesn't handle change well. Fortunately she went on the tile and not the carpet.

TriciaChick

Great suggestions!  Thank you all so much.  Sorry fell asleep at like 8 last ight before I could get the responses.  I will tell my parents what the gals on the bump said lol.  I can just imagine saying the bump to my dad and him being all confused lol