cat people please chime in.

So let me give you a small run down of our cat situation. We have three cats, one is an adult about 4 years old, one is a larger kitten, almost an adult and another is probably 3 months old.

Our middle kitty is still very playful, she'll spaz out, attack the curtains, and then run into the other room, it's actually a lot of fun. However she also digs in the trash and when she does use the litterbox, she doesn't just cover up, she throws litter like a dog digging a hole.

She also can open doors that are just ajar, but usually winds up stuck in that room. One day while we were gone this happened to her in the bathroom, and I suppose the bath tub resembles a giant litter box. Since then, if we forget to close the bathroom door, she poops in the tub. If I could get her to go three feet to the right, and go in the toilet that would be amazing.

As far as I know there's no dominance problems going on, they all seem pretty mellow. What gives? I never know how old said poo is when I discover it, so I can't exactly scold her, so I really am not sure how to take care of this.

Any advice?

Scolding will do noting. Cats don't respond to it. Just make sure the door is shut. I have to in order to keep my dog from digging through the trash and bringing out this strange funny red cotton.

But really, cats wont respond to scolding. My cat was pissing in the bed and it took finding out the initial problem to get her to stop. She is very picky about the cleanliness of her litter box. I also find it is good to have multiple litter boxes. I use one high sided litter box for one and a huge rubbermaid container. It works great. Takes 50 lbs of clumping litter.

Sunny and Shadow. You can guess who is who:

Put the cat out of the house where it belongs. Houses that have cats always smell gross, but the owners never seem to be able to smell it. Sorry and no offense, just sayin.

We also found a lot of problems could be solved by multiple litter boxes. Two cats and one box just does NOT work, even if you clean it often. You should at least have as many boxes as you have cats. We also have a gigantic rubbermaid tub that I cut a hole in the side, as well as a standard size. We keep them clean. We used to have one cat that crapped or pissed on our throw rugs occasionally, but she hasn't done it since we added the big box.

Keep the litter box very clean, try getting her her own box, get her checked for an infection sometimes that will cause them to go in weird places.

It is generally a cleanliness thing. Try swapping litter, and perhaps getting another box an see what happens.

Oh I smell it, my wife is the cat person. Actually she's pretty much Ellie Mae from The Beverly Hillbillies.

My dog is outside, on a chain, because he was too stubborn to house train. Just like me

Joshua wrote: get her checked for an infection sometimes that will cause them to go in weird places.

Not a bad idea, but do the litter box thing first. Don't waste the cash on an unnecessary visit to the vet. Last time we did, the vet suggested putting my baby girl kitty down. He almost met my .45. OK, that's an exaggeration, but my pets is family.

Yep, keep the bathroom door closed, get a lidded trash can/put the trash in a cabinet and get another litter box or two.

We just adopted 4 month old brothers (the first felines we've had in about 4 years), and they're obnoxious about the bathroom and the trash. Mal especially LOVES to get in the trash, so we keep the trashcan on the basement stairs.

As far as getting stuck in a room, cut a pool noodle to slide over the top of the door so it can't close completely. In most cases, it leaves enough room for the cat to get out without needing to manipulate the door at all.

Jayne is closest, Mal is the camera snob

Aeromoto wrote: Put the cat out of the house where it belongs. Houses that have cats always smell gross, but the owners never seem to be able to smell it. Sorry and no offense, just sayin.

Houses that have dogs smell bad, too. Even worse than houses with cats. Places with cats don't usually smell bad if the owner uses good litter and changes it often.

As everybody else said, you might need more litter boxes. We have three for our two furries, which of course means that they'll go to the bathroom outside anyway.

Other than that and making sure that the cat doesn't get stuck in the bathroom, other people appear to have worked around this type of issue by leaving water in the bathtub. Of course that is not going to work if your cat likes water.

We have one of these and it's awesome:

http://www.catgenie.com/

Shawn

rotard wrote:

Aeromoto wrote: Put the cat out of the house where it belongs. Houses that have cats always smell gross, but the owners never seem to be able to smell it. Sorry and no offense, just sayin.

Houses that have dogs smell bad, too. Even worse than houses with cats. Places with cats don't usually smell bad if the owner uses good litter and changes it often.

I don't disagree. As soon as our 12 yr old dog kicks the bucket, no house pets of any kind, I'm over the hassle.

Aeromoto wrote: Put the cat out of the house where it belongs. Houses that have cats always smell gross, but the owners never seem to be able to smell it. Sorry and no offense, just sayin.

Wrong and mostly wrong. Cats do NOT belong outside unless you run a farm or a barn or something. They kill for fun, and decimate local songbird populations, and they like rabbits and...well, I hate squirrels, so they can kill those all they want. Inside, it's just like owning a dog; if you keep the place clean, vacuum often, and bathe the animal every so often, it won't smell at all.

We have 4 cats, and I finally cured the smell. I put their litter boxes inside a closet, installed a pet-door so they can get in/out, and plugged in one of those liquid air-fresheners into an outlet inside the closet.

Seriously, it works damn good. Even without the air freshener the odor is contained, but now you can stand to open the closet(I keep their tub of food on a shelf in there too).

When my GF moved in and brought her cat, we had similar issues. My cats started crapping in the floor next to the box. One of them would still poop in the box, but then kick it out onto the floor. Our solution was a big rubbermaid tote that is about 2 feet tall. Holds 3x the litter of the old box, and the tall sides keep the meaty chud where it belongs.

Ease up man, we all poop in the bathtub sometimes.

Man, there is nothing harder to deal with than a cat that won't go where it should. Plus whatever to the having multiple boxes for multiple cats. I have 2 large boxes for 4 cats, but I scoop both every morning without fail. If I had reasonable space for a third box, I would add it.

Shawn, I don't know how you got your cat(s) to use that thing. I tried a self-scooping motorized box that my mother was giving away, and it set our litter training back by years. The cats were terrified to go near it, even though it waited until 5 minutes after it last sensed any motion to activate.

Three cats, two giant boxes, and I clean them every day.They leave a scent where they go though, so you need some cat odor buster to clean up the tub, which will help.

pinchvalve wrote: Ease up man, we all poop in the bathtub sometimes.

Um, no we don't!

rotard wrote:

Aeromoto wrote: Put the cat out of the house where it belongs. Houses that have cats always smell gross, but the owners never seem to be able to smell it. Sorry and no offense, just sayin.

Houses that have dogs smell bad, too. Even worse than houses with cats. Places with cats don't usually smell bad if the owner uses good litter and changes it often.

100% incorrect!!

Not all dogs smell & dirty dogs have a different, less biting smell that doesn't seem to be offensive to as many people.

From showing houses as a Realtor I found that once people have hit one house that has a cat they'll give you instructions that they don't want to look at any others. People presume you can't get rid of that smell plus also it prevents them from getting the warm & fuzzy feelings about a house. The smell keeps intruding.

Also more people are allergic to cats (and horses) than dogs.

You think it doesn't smell bad because you get used to the smell. I like cats, but I don't own any cats at the moment.

And we did train our last cat to go in the toilet. Well actually he trained himself. He used to sit on the side of the tub and watch us when we went to the bathroom. One day we heard water running in the bathroom and looked in and he was doing his business on the toilet. Unfortunately, for me, it meant we had to leave the toilet seat down all the time.

Add a couple inches of water inside the tub.

Hook up video camera.

????

Profit!

DaveEstey wrote: Add a couple inches of water inside the tub. Hook up video camera. ???? Profit!

BRILLIANT! Seriously though, you can always put a litter box in the tub for a couple days, then move it out, next to the tub. Then move it every couple days till it gets to its normal spot.

We have a kitty door that goes to a closet in the basement with a super duty fart fan + dryer hose to outside that runs 24-7. Cats don't smell. Their poop and pee does (so does mine!) Keep the boxes clean and there's no issue. Dogs smell like dogs, and typically, so do their owners. Makes me sick to my stomach.

carguy123 wrote:

rotard wrote:

Aeromoto wrote: Put the cat out of the house where it belongs. Houses that have cats always smell gross, but the owners never seem to be able to smell it. Sorry and no offense, just sayin.

Houses that have dogs smell bad, too. Even worse than houses with cats. Places with cats don't usually smell bad if the owner uses good litter and changes it often.

100% incorrect!! Not all dogs smell & dirty dogs have a different, less biting smell that doesn't seem to be offensive to as many people. From showing houses as a Realtor I found that once people have hit one house that has a cat they'll give you instructions that they don't want to look at any others. People presume you can't get rid of that smell plus also it prevents them from getting the warm & fuzzy feelings about a house. The smell keeps intruding. Also more people are allergic to cats (and horses) than dogs. You think it doesn't smell bad because you get used to the smell. I like cats, but I don't own any cats at the moment. And we did train our last cat to go in the toilet. Well actually he trained himself. He used to sit on the side of the tub and watch us when we went to the bathroom. One day we heard water running in the bathroom and looked in and he was doing his business on the toilet. Unfortunately, for me, it meant we had to leave the toilet seat down all the time.

100% INCORRECT!!!

Eh, my personal experiences tell me otherwise. They both smell. Cats smell worse if they've been spraying. Dog houses always have a faint urine and wet dog odor that the owners can't smell. Cat houses have that biting litter box smell if it hasn't been changed regularly. A lot of people don't like taking care of the litter box and will let it go for weeks at a time.

You could argue about which animal smells worse all day; I say that they both make houses smell bad.

ps: I used all caps and more exclamation marks, so I'm right.

100% INCORRECT!!! ps: I used all caps and more exclamation marks, so I'm right.

Well - OH YEAH!!!!

And I added Italics so I'm more right than you!!