Hi everyone, I have 2 cats 1 approx 8 months old female (had her for 7 months) and the other 4 months(2 months) and male. Both perfectly litter trained and get on pretty well. This evening when I got home I found the eldest had messed in her old cat bed, I put this down to an error and tidied it up. A couple of hours later the same cat has messed in another random part of the living room.
Has anyone out there got any ideas as to why she has just started doing this? and is there anyway to stop it?

It could be a stress symptom. Has there been any disruption in the home recently - building works, decorating, visitors etc?

Is the litter tray cleaned out regularly? Cats are quite fastidious at the best of times, but they can get a bit put out if they go to poo in their tray and the previous poo is still there. :gag:

One of ours went through a short phase of having the odd poo in the bathroom - once actually in the bath (empty!) which was dead easy to clean up :D. He stopped doing it as quickly as he started and we never found out why. That's cats for you. They like their little secrets.

Are you the same Blade4life that sometimes goes on the Blades United forum BTW?

Jon

some cats refuse to share a litter tray, they may need one each

Is it poo or wee? One of my cats used to wee all over our bed WHILE WE WERE IN IT!! I think he was a bit anxious.

It is very frustrating but at that age she will probably get over it when she is older, ours did.

Have you tried getting a covered litter tray? Some cats don't like them because they feel cornered but others like the privacy.

Hmmm... stress or perhaps because kittens can't be doing with dirty litter trays. They like them super squeaky clean and like has been said, two would be better at this stage. We used to have to but just have the one now. Also, be careful of not using any cleaning products with bleach because it smells like a wee-wee spot to them and they'll go back.

I'd make sure they had a quiet hidey space too so they can de-stress and snooze in peace. Feliway plugins are great for calming kitties down as is Bach rescue remedy in their water.

cats hate dirty trays- and for them, the definition of dirty could simply be- another cat has just used it so I won't. Think you need 2 trays minimum. Oh and don't clean them with disinfectant (unless it's Safe4Pets or similar pet- friendly) cats have sensitive noses and will often soil outside the tray or use other inappropriate places to soil if they can smell disinfectant or bleach. Clean soiled areas with biological washing powder dissolved in warm water and def get another tray. Position the second tray away from the firt one so he/she can have some privacy.

Exactly what everyone else has said.
Get another tray and keep them really clean. I know out lil girl won't go in the trays if they aren't clean....

could also be a little bit of stress??

My Ruby's got a thing for weeing in the bathroom sink! She doesn't do it anywhere else apart from there and her litter tray! I have to make sure I keep the bathroom door closed now!

My very old cat has decied to wee at the bootom of the stairs in a corner, for some reason, and I cant get rid of the smell any ideas anyone, cos I can smell it soon as I open the door so I dread anybody else coming to the door, think he only did it once its dry now but still smells