Tag Archives: poop

Rug Pooper C

Back in June of 2012 I wrote a blog post titled “Tub Pooper C.” It was only my eighth post and it talked about how Chris would poop in the bathtub if the litterbox was not perfectly clean. He went from pooping in the tub to pooping on the floor. It was a problem for years. He was four or five years old when he finally stopped doing that. I previously had litterboxes in separate rooms. When we moved to the place next to the marina, I combined two litterboxes in the same room. That solved the issue.

Now, years later, Chris is pooping on the floor again. It started a few weeks ago when Chris pooped under the dining room table while Rose was sitting at the table working. Since then, the number of times he pooped on the rug under the table or on the living room rug has increased until it was happening at least once a day, sometimes more.

I suspected that some of Chris’s age-related issues, such as arthritis and obesity, has made it difficult to use the litter box. Perhaps walking to the next room or climbing into the box has become too much. Of course, he can do it when he has to pee and he can also get up on a relatively high perch, but I still thought a lower litterbox closer to the dining room might help.

As an experiment, I picked up a disposable litterbox at the Grocery store on Friday and set it up under the dining room table.

As expected, our other cats used it, but Chris deposited his calling card on the rug a few feet from the box Saturday morning.

I ordered a large stainless-steel litterbox from Amazon that morning which is only four inches tall. It arrived Sunday. By then we had removed the rugs and washed them. We didn’t put them back because it seemed that Chris was targeting the rugs. I didn’t want to put the new box under the table, so I found room in a nearby bathroom.

It is now 2:00 p.m. on Monday and I have not seen a stray poop. I don’t know if Chris used the new box or if he didn’t poop because he only likes pooping on those rugs. Either way, I’m hopeful.

There are Haters Everywhere

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I was outside with Frankie in our backyard a couple of weeks ago. We were at the south end of our property while the man who lives two houses south of us stood outside at the north end of his property. I don’t remember all that was said, but he did tell me he was allergic to cat pee. It was his subtle way of telling me to keep my cat off his property.

I wanted to ask him, “How do you know that? Did a cat pee on you?” Instead, I took the high road and told him Frankie has a litterbox and just likes to come outside sometimes. The truth is, Frankie does feel the need to “mark” some of the bushes he comes across, including the ones in front of the man’s house. Since then, I encourage Frankie to move along when we pass his house. “C’mon, Frankie. A cat hater lives here.”

We have other haters in the neighborhood too. These two signs are from houses across the street from each other.

I understand not wanting poop in your yard, but people here are very good about picking up after their dogs. I’m sure these people are just miserable, and I feel a bit sorry for them.

The problem is there are many miserable people in this world, and that is one of the reasons I am reluctant to just let Frankie come and go as he pleases. Many years ago my sister-in-law cared for some stray cats near her home and someone poisoned one of them. It cost her over $500 to have a vet treat the cat. Fortunately, he survived.

Most people are good, but the bad sure do keep us on our toes.

New Furniture, Bad Cats

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We recently got rid of some old furniture in our Florida room, including the sofa that started Puck pooping outside the litter box, and had a new trundle bed delivered. My wife went to Badcock without me and ordered it from a catalog They didn’t have a sample in the store.

It arrived the Thursday before last. Rose was in Orlando for business and I had to stay home and wait for delivery. When they arrived, I had to lock out the cats so the guys could come in and out as well as put everything together without being bothered.

Chris was very interested and Floki was not as nervous as I expected.

Frankie was indifferent.

After it was put together and they needed a signature I asked where the mattresses were. They said it didn’t come with mattresses. I said I’m sure my wife didn’t intend to buy this without mattresses.

Sure enough, the salesman never informed her that the mattresses in the photo were not included. You would think he would want to make more money by selling more products. But on a positive note, the cats loved being able to climb through to the bottom.

We also got a cabinet for the kitchen that was designed to look old. That way when the cats scratch it, nobody will notice.

We had to cover the trundle bed for a week until the new mattresses arrived but nobody minded, especially Chris.

One day after the bed arrived, Frankie decided to make it unreturnable by digging holes in it. Rose was not happy with him.

When the mattresses did arrive, Rose put new sheets on them and covered the bed with a blanket. The next morning Puck pooped on it.

Now we have to have pee pads on it. This is our life with cats.

On a separate note, Puck did not pee outside the box between Monday morning and Saturday morning, but we did wake up the last two mornings to pee. Very disappointing.

We Still Don’t Know What to Do About Puck

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It has been over a week now and Puck is still pooping and peeing outside the litter box. If you haven’t read the first part of this story, you can see it here.

It a nutshell, Puck had crystals in his urine which probably made it painful to pee. It is possible he associated that pain with the litter box but if that is the case, why did he not associate the pain with peeing on the floor? The pooping on the floor has been an ongoing issue but the peeing is new and a much bigger problem because our laminate floors are already swelling at the seams where he has peed.

We started feeding Puck a special canned food the vet sold us from Science Diet. I have read many articles about how prescription diets are not good for your pet and I heard bad things about Science Diet but the vet said this would help acidify the urine and break up the crystals. If it did that one thing, it would be worth trying.

We also bought a package of pee pads that I spread around the house, especially in areas where he has already peed.

This past week has been filled with ups and downs. One day he would go 24 hours without peeing or pooping anywhere outside the box. The next day he would do both. I tried moving one of the litter boxes across the room. I thought maybe he might have suddenly developed a problem with the boxes’ location.

That didn’t work, so I moved it back.

One day he pooped next to the couch and peed on a pillow that was on the couch. He didn’t pee on the couch because I covered it with toys. I didn’t consider the pillow.

My wife said if he didn’t stop peeing on the floor he would find himself in a new home. She then suggested we might have to put him on Prozac because that is what her sister said might help. I said no to both. I understand Prozac might help but any long term medication is bad for the health of any cat . . . and person. I thought maybe a calming collar might be an alternative.

I read some articles online that offered some suggestions. I already tried most of them but a couple I did not know about.

I did not know that cats prefer one to two inches of litter. I usually fill it higher because it is easier to scoop if it is not stuck to the bottom. Apparently, some cats don’t like it when it is too deep. I didn’t think this was the problem since Puck never had a problem with it before but I thought every little bit counts.

A few posts said the litter should be far from their food and water but one post said it should be close. I decided far was the better choice. Our boxes are eight to nine feet from the food, Not close but no far either.

I also read the boxes should be spread out around the house and that they should be relatively private with an escape route in at least two directions. We put our boxes in one place because that is what ultimately stopped Chris from pooping on the floor. If one box was not to his liking, he could use the one next to it instead of the floor.

Rose and I went to Petco on Saturday and purchased another litter box and a calming collar, along with various other things. I put the box near Rose’s chair but on the other side of the end table. I then pulled the table out a little to offer an escape route in that direction.

I then put the calming collar on Puck, which wasn’t easy. In addition, there was a big mess of white, flaky stuff that fell off the collar while I struggled with it.

I was very hopeful when I went to bed and was happy to see that everything was normal when I woke up. It didn’t stay that way. About and hour later I smelled pee and found pee next to the chair, half on the pee pad and half off, where it could get under the pad and have no chance of drying It was the third time that has happened since I bought the pads. I also found poop behind Rose’s chair. It looked like Puck pulled the pad away from the wall far enough so he could poop directly on the floor. Why does he have to make things so difficult for me?

I moved the litter box behind the chair to see if that makes a difference.

We are planning on buying some cranberry supplements today but other than that, I don’t know what else to do.

Puck the Pooper

16 Replies

After several years of dealing with Chris pooping on the floor, we now have a new bad cat giving us the same trouble. Chris pooped his way through three homes before finally stopping when we moved into our last home.

Puck started pooping in our current home well over a year ago when we bought a new sofa for our enclosed patio. He surprised us by pooping on the sofa and we naturally blamed Chris. The pooping on the sofa happened a few more times and we eventually figured out that Puck was the culprit.

We concluded that the sofa was too close to the litter boxes for Puck’s comfort level so we moved them across the room. That ended the pooping, for awhile, but we still kept a cover on the sofa as well as pillows and cat toys to discourage pooping.

Things went pretty well after that with just an occasional “accident.” I don’t remember exactly when the pooping problem started again but it may have started when we brought Floki home last July.

A new kitten in the house may have caused some trauma for our timid Puck but Floki was traumatized a little too. He didn’t enter the house and take over like Chris did. Puck and Floki also get along well now, although they do a bit of roughhousing now and then.

I tried changing the litter. I tried scooping the boxes as often as needed. I tried adding another box. I even tried adding Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract, which partially worked for Chris. Nothing worked for Puck.

I’m sorry for the graphic picture below but you can see what I am often presented with when I go onto the patio. The brown stuff in the box is the Cat Attract which guarantees 100% litter box use. Perhaps I should send them this picture.

By the way, we solved Chris’s problem by moving the litter boxes from various rooms to the same place. This allowed him to pee in one box and then poop in another. I don’t know what to do about Puck

As I wrote the last sentence, I noticed a strong smell of poop. I turned around ans saw Puck just now pooped on the floor while I was busy writing.

The Couch Pooping Continues

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I recently wrote about Puck pooping on the sofa in the Florida room, and many of you wrote back with suggestions about putting things like plastic on it to discourage Puck from pooping there again. I didn’t have any plastic that I could spare, but I decided to put the cat’s Turbo Scratcher on the spot where Puck was pooping.

I was hoping it was that spot or nothing, but he just pooped on the other side of the couch. I then loaded up the couch with many of their toys.

That worked, somewhat. The next day, I found a pile of poop on the floor in front of the litter box. That’s not ideal, but I prefer poop on our tile floor over poop on our couch.

Thursday was the day our cleaning woman comes, and I think my wife was embarrassed about our “messy” sofa and insisted I take all the toys off of it. I did, and it lasted until Friday before I found poop on it again, so back the toys went. Since then, I have cleaned poop off the floor about four times, including this morning. As I was writing this post, I took a short break and noticed a pile of poop on the ground. Since I scooped twenty minutes before, two of the litter boxes were clean, but the one with poop in front of it had been used once.

Puck has never had an issue with the litter boxes before, and I have no clue what could have changed with him, but I hope I figure it out soon.

A New Level of Badness

Wrongly Accused?

Couch Pooper Puck

Couch Pooper Puck Strikes Again

Couch Pooper Puck

22 Replies

About a year ago a cat pooped on our brand new sofa and we assumed it was Chris. I even accused him in this post. We later realized it was Puck doing the bad deed (see here). We assumed he was doing it because the addition of the sofa interfered slightly with access to the litter boxes, so we moved them to a new location and the pooping stopped.

A couple of weeks ago the pooping started up again. I thought it was because our new addition, Floki, was adding to the amount of poop in the litter boxes and Puck didn’t like that. I scoop more often but it’s hard to keep up when I am sleeping or at work so we decided it was time for another litter box.

I went to PetSmart about two weeks ago on Sunday but their litter box choices were very poor. An employee told me a truck was coming in the next day but I needed something right away so I bought the biggest box that I could find, which my wife thought it was too small. I went back the next day but the selection was still terrible so I just returned it.

We went to a different PetSmart the following Saturday. I was looking for another Giant Litter Pan but the box in the center of the below picture was the best we could find. I should have just ordered it on Amazon since we waited almost a week just to settle for okay.

Since adding the new box, Puck has pooped on the sofa one time. I thought I might have to move the new box in front of it but I don’t want to do that so we will see if the badness continues.

The Horrible Result of Puck’s Self-Imposed Exile.

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Recently I wrote about Puck’s Self-Imposed Exile when my stepson came for a week at Christmas. He was so fearful that he stayed in our bedroom whenever Nick was in the house.

Puck had no problem coming out to visit Rose’s Dad and his wife when they came at Thanksgiving or my best Friend, Rick, when he came here on New Year’s Eve, but for some strange reason, he decided he was afraid of Rick when he came to visit on Friday. Rick spent the night on our sofa and Puck spent the night in our room, afraid to leave.

I woke up early Saturday morning while Rick was still sleeping. I worried that Puck needed to use the litter box by then so I carried him to the patio and put him in the box. I tried that when Nick was here and got scratched up from Puck trying to escape my grasp out of fear. This time I made it all the way to the box and Puck just seemed slightly nervous. He stayed in the box for a couple of seconds and then jumped out and ran back into the bedroom. I assumed he didn’t have to go so I didn’t worry about it after that.

A little while later Rose was awake and complained that Puck either farted or he pooped somewhere in the bedroom. Normally, Rose’s nose is about twenty times more sensitive than mine and I usually smell nothing while she is acting like the world is about to end, but this time I smelled it too.

I looked around the room and as I was doing that, Rose told me she didn’t want me to use the bed sheets again because they keep popping off. “Okay'” I said, concentrating more on finding where Puck might have pooped. I checked the entire floor, including all the nooks and crannies. “I don’t see anything,” I said.

“Oh my God! It’s on the bed!” Rose suddenly yelled.

I looked and there was a big pile of mashed up poop. “oh, yuck!” I said. “That is gross!”

“It’s on me!” Rose yelled. “I rolled on top of it. Get a wet towel, Quick!”

I hurried into the kitchen and pulled a few paper towels off the roll and wet them.

“Hurry up! What are you doing in there?”

“Here,” I said, handing her the towels.

“No, it’s on the back of my leg. You need to wipe it off!”

As I was wiping it off I had visions of thirty years in the future. “There, it’s off,” I said as I threw the paper towels into the trash bag I brought with me. That is when she noticed another big spot of poop on her leg and the process started again.

The next priority was to pick up the poop off the bed. I had brought a roll of paper towels into the bedroom along with a small bag for garbage but the task was just too gross. Luckily, I remembered Rose didn’t want to use those sheets anymore so I just rolled them up and stuffed them into a garbage bag and took them out to the garbage can.

Puck got over his fear of Rick shortly after that, thankfully, and we now have something to look back on and laugh at but Saturday morning there was no laughing going on in this house.

After the commotion, I put a sheet on the bed to protect it while I washed the mattress cover. That is when Chris and Frankie came in to see what all the trouble was about.

Wrongly Accused?

25 Replies

When I first saw that a cat had pooped on our new sofa, naturally I knew it was Chris because that is the kind I thing that Chris would do. Then it happened again and again, perhaps six or eight times in all. The last three times , including this morning, I began to think Chris may not be the cat doing this.

About a week ago a poop appeared when Chris was napping on our bed. I didn’t know exactly when it happened, so I couldn’t rule Chris out, but it did make me wonder. Then, a few days ago, I saw Puck on the sofa through the kitchen window and a few minutes later I noticed the cover was moved. When I looked closer, I saw that it was folded over to cover a poop. It may have already been like that but if it was, I would think I would have seen Puck sniffing that area.

This morning I saw Puck again from the kitchen. He was standing on the sofa looking suspicious. I watched him until he laid down and then I went about my business. About ten minutes later there was a poop on the sofa. Puck was standing under the table about five feet away while Chris was lying on the floor in the kitchen.

I have no hard evidence but I think that Puck is the culprit, not Chris. I have been worried about him lately because he seems to be excessively grooming himself to the point where the fur on his back and the inside of his thighs is very thin. He also has small patches of fur missing from his head from fighting with Frankie and from Chris trying to dominate him. Perhaps he is just over stressed. I think we need to bring him to the vet. There may be one solution that will help the pooping and the grooming.

A New Level of Badness

Weekend Update

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I just wanted to catch you up on some of the stories I wrote about recently.

The feral cat I have been feeding at work is doing okay (see Feral Cats at Work and Feral Cat Update). I worried because he didn’t show up on Tuesday and the food went uneaten all day. I had Wednesday off and Thursday the cat was back like nothing happened. This time he left a fair amount of food behind. That tells me there is a good chance that he is either a good hunter or someone is feeding him elsewhere too. Of course, he may have also been scared off before he finished but I doubt it. In that situation, he would have backed off and waited for the person to leave but there were no people in sight when I came outside, nor was the cat anywhere in sight.

Chris has pooped on our new sofa twice more since I first mentioned it (See A New Level of Badness). I stopped using the Dr. Elsey’s Litter Attractant a couple of years ago when Chris’s pooping problem stopped but I bought some again in hopes that he would leave the sofa alone. I bought it at Petco for $20 and then noticed it was on Amazon for $7.63. It has worked for me in the past but this time It made no difference.

Chris is very finicky about his litter boxes and when we brought the sofa in we changed things around a little. Perhaps the space between the sofa and litter boxes was too small. It was plenty big enough for a cat to get through but who knows what goes through his mind.

I decided to pull out the boxes a bit so that they were more easily accessible. It is better now but one box is still too close to the couch. So far, so good but we will see what happens.

The kitten we helped rescue ( see Newborn Kitten Rescue and Kitten Update) had been doing well until recently. Rose wanted to name the cat Luis, after her maintenance supervisor who started the rescue process, but the cat turned out to be female so now she is named Lulu. Felice has worked hard to keep Lulu healthy but she has recently developed diarrhea, which can be very bad in young kittens. Bottle feeding a kitten is not a good replacement for mother’s milk and we can only hope she will get better. I have every confidence in Felice’s ability so I am not too concerned. Unfortunately, I have no new pictures of the kitten to share but here is one from July 4th in case you missed it.

Bad Cat Chris

The Baddest Cat You'll Ever Love

Tag Archives: poop

Rug Pooper C

There are Haters Everywhere

New Furniture, Bad Cats

We Still Don’t Know What to Do About Puck

Puck the Pooper

The Couch Pooping Continues

Couch Pooper Puck

The Horrible Result of Puck’s Self-Imposed Exile.

Wrongly Accused?

Weekend Update