Troubled by Cat Defecation Problems?

Is your cat pooping outside of the litter box?

Tell us about it!

You'll find suggested solutions here, as well as a whole lot of company.

In short, this is where the cats with defecation problems hang out.

If you and your kitty are troubled by this issue, you're probably suffering through the mess, the smell and the uncertainty of wondering what's wrong with your cat.

Your cat is suffering, too. Under normal circumstances, your kitty wants to use the box.

Jazzy cat's face with text overlay Cat Defecation Problems Questions and Answers

You're wondering what the cause is, if it's something you might have done, and if there's anything you can do to fix it. Or even if it's fixable at this point. Either way, you need some relief from the stress.

You may even feel as though you want to give up your cat, or perhaps your spouse or significant other is fed up.

In many cases, it doesn't have to be this way.

As best I can, I've tried to include everything you need to know to approach these types of problems and fix them. But, sometimes a little personalized response or even just telling your story helps you to think it through.

Below you'll find visitor questions and answers surrounding inappropriate elimination. Each one was submitted by a visitor, who like you, had a problem and was trying to think it through.

Each one has a different story behind it, but the problem solving is pretty much the same.

If you're looking for some relief, you might just find some contained within these question and answer pages.

If not, you can submit your story tell us about the problem you're experiencing and I'll point you in the right direction.

Cat Defecation Problem?

Is your cat defecating outside the litter box?

This is our discussion forum where you can help and be helped by other Cat Lovers Only readers!

You and others can comment, and vote on submissions so that other readers can know which solutions work most often.

Check back here in a while to see your post as submissions need to be approved. I'll do my best to get to them as soon as possible.

Defecation Problems from Other Visitors

Click below to see problems posted by other visitors to this page...

Pooing problems  
My female cat Kashka, 15, has started doing something strange. she poops in her cat litter tray but does it right at the beginning of the box so some goes …

Cat no longer using litter box 
My cat Oliver, who is 2.5 years old, has always used his litter box, loyally, and never have I ever had an issue or ever caught that he went outside of …

Kitten won't poop in the litter box anymore 
I have a kitten that I have had for a couple of months and I thought he was doing well with the litter box. Then I switched to using one that has an automatic …

Male kitten won't poop in the litter box anymore 
I have a kitten that I have had for a couple of months and I thought he was doing well with the litter box. Then I switched to using one that has an automatic …

Cat going potty outside the litter box after other cat had kittens 
Bonnie and Clyde were buddies since we found them. Bonnie got pregnant (from Clyde, who we fixed right after we figured out she was pregnant) and had 3 …

My 9 month old cat seems to be pooping involuntarily  
My kitten is about 9 months old. This past week she has begun to poop outside her litter box, primarily on my bed. I have not changed her food at all, …

Random poop droppings 
My cat has started leaving droppings on the carpet, not all in one spot, but as if they are being dropped as he walks. The consistency is normal though …

Peeing inside but pooping outside the litter box 
My 17-year-old cat, Oz, will only pee in the very front of his litter box (where he enters), and will poop one little turd inside the box, but that's all! …

SOS my cat won't poop in her box 
I have an almost 5-year-old DMH cat who I've had since she was 8 weeks old. All of a sudden she has decided to stop pooping in her litter box altogether. …

Pooping in the bathtub 
All of a sudden for over a week, our cat of three years started pooping in our bathtub. She's never done this before and the litter box is always clean …

Cat suddenly has a problem defecating anywhere and everywhere in the house 
She is fixed and is about to turn one year old in two days. A couple of weeks prior to this she had to go to the vet for having problems with her third …

Had to relocate my cat :( 
My cat keeps pooping on the carpet and my son is asthmatic. We’ve done everything for months. We have no idea why. She's an older cat, so we’ve built …

Why does my cat never want to poop in his litter box? 
I have a cat that I got about a year ago now. He is our third cat. He's about 7 years of age and is neutered. He entered our family with two cats already …

Cat recently started pooping on rug 
My 8 year old cat recently started pooping on our rug! About a month ago, my partner and I switched our cat's dry food from Merrick's grain free to Wellness …

Cat pooping by the door 
My house trained kitten, Clive, has suddenly started pooping by the door every time I'm not in the same room or go out. How can I stop this? My thoughts:

Cat seems to be afraid of his own butt 
I rescued my male cat Nova when he was a baby. Never had a problem with the litter box. We lived in a smaller home that was only one story for around the …

15 year old twin cats poo throughout the house 
I have two twin cats who are 15 years old. Over the years, they have slowly started pooping inside the house, against walls in closets, and sometimes in …

Female cat pooping in shower after spay 
I spayed my female cat when she was about 10 months old. The first pee she took after her spay was in the litter box, but the first poop was in the shower. …

Inside-outside cat never used a litter box 
My cat is an inside-outside cat and has never used a litter box. Instead, she goes outside, but lately she's pooping on the dog's bed. They are best buddies. …

6 year old Ragdoll poops outside the litter box 
In past 2 months, our female Ragdoll has begun pooping outside her litter box. We have 2 litter boxes for her, on different floors of the house. Initially …

8 month old spayed kitten keeps pooping outside her box 
My 8 month old black kitty keeps pooping in precarious places in my carpeted house even when I have just cleaned her box. She will poop most times in …

New female cat pooping in my bathroom sink 
I got my cat one week ago. She's three years old. She has been hiding under my couch ever since. I put the litter box in my bathroom. She gets up on …

My cat poops everywhere but the litter box 
I adopted my cat when she was 3 months old. I actually rescued her. At the beginning she did not pee or poop in her box and did not poop for a very …

Constipated cat defecating outside litter box 
My cat is only defecating every two days. She is ten years old and never been sick. She is urinating in the litter box but doing the other outside. …

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Cat pooping upstairs 
About 4 weeks ago, my husband and I left for a week for my baby shower and had some guy house sit. But he did a terrible job and didn't look like he was …

Rescue cat poops in front of litter tray 
My rescue centre warned me that Ron always pooped on the floor at the window of his pod and so may not use the litter tray when I got him home. He does …

Cat didn't like new litter box 
The old litter box was a covered one. Pretty old and getting beat up, so I bought a new one. It has tall sides, but is open top. My cat peed in it but …

My cat pooed in the shower! 
My cat wouldn't go outside for the day, so I let her stay inside. When I got back at the end of the day, she had pooped in the shower tray and she somehow …

Just adopted Bubba and he's using the bathtub 
I do not know what could be wrong. Could it be stressed related? I just adopted him and he's not using his litter box. Instead he just poops and pees …

My cat is ill, gets diarrhea, and goes outside her box 
Recently my cat was diagnosed with a small lymphoma and bowel disease. She is on prednisone and a medicine for diarrhea. She uses her box fine for regular …

My 7 month old kitten has diarrhea 
First let me start by saying I'm really sorry this is such a nasty topic but I need some help. LOL. My 7 month old kitten got diarrhea and he just ran …

Percy keeps pooping on my chair and bed 
We have 2 cats, Percy a 7 year old male Burmese and Kitty a 5 year old female moggie stray. The 2 cats have been neutered and live happily together. We …

12 Year Old Yellow Female Defecating Outside the Box 
We have two 12 year old females. "Molly", our long haired yellow/orange has started defecating on the floor at night. She does urinate in the box. Our …

Defecating outside the litter box only at night 
Einstein is a laid back Ragdoll that is full of hell, and he is my wife's second child. Our only problem is he started pooping outside the box but only …

Cat defecating on couch and chair 
His name is Simon. He is 13 years old and has never had a problem with the litter box until about 3 weeks ago. He has gone to the vet and they say he …

Fiber in diet not resolving cat's constipation problem 
My cat has a constipation problem. The vet put him on a fiber diet. The doo was soft and the cat now didn't want to wait until finished. The rest ends …

Cat pooping outside litter box for 2 months 
About 2 months ago my cat started pooping outside his litter box yet he uses the litter box to urinate. This problem is driving me crazy. I keep his …

12 year old cat won't poop in the litter box 
I have 5 cats in total. My 9 year old neutered male cat whom I have had for 5 years has always been aggressive toward the cat in question... I tried …

My cat is pooping out of the box 
My cat is 4 and 1/2 and is fixed. She is pooping right outside the litter box door. We had the litter box in the dining room, but when she kept doing …

My kitten has decided to poop in the bathroom 
My kitten has decided to poop in the bathroom instead of his litter box. Even before I washed his litter box and after, my cat poops in the bathroom. …

2 of my cats will pee in the box but won't poop 
I currently have four male cats, all adopted within the last 2 plus years. About a week ago I changed litter as I was really not happy with the one I was …

Cat poops next to litter box 
Cat has been pooping and peeing next to the litter box after scratching some litter on the floor. My Thoughts: I'm sorry to hear that your cat …

Cat is pooping next to the litter box? 
My cat is about 2 years old and all of a sudden the last week he started pooping outside the litter box? I can not figure out why he has this issue? …

Cat started pooping on the rug 
My cat just started pooping on the rug. He has always been the best cat about using the litter box but just lately has used the rug instead. I am …

Cat pooping next to the litter box 
We have a cat who is about 13 years old. For about the last 4 months, she has been pooping next to her litter box. She had occasionally peed there as …

Since giving birth our cat will not poop in litter box 
Ali came to us 2 months ago and transitioned well to being inside until she surprised us and our vet by having 3 beautiful kittens. When the kittens were …

Male cat runs and poops 
He runs like crazy and leaves poop all over the house. We have taken him to two vets so far and they say it is a behavioral problem. Try locking him up …

13 year old cat will not poop in litter box 
We have two indoor cats, a boy Oliver, and a girl Marie. They are brother and sister and we have never had major litter box problems with them ever. …

My one cat is pooping everywhere 
It started awhile ago and was just once in awhile. It's a daily occurrence now, was just on the floor and now its become pooping on the couch, stairs and …

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My cat keeps pooping out of the box a couple times a day 
My cat keeps pooping out of the box a couple times a day... with diarrhea. I have 2 cats. The cat Oliver I am having trouble with. They share a cat …

My cat poops outside the litter box 
I have a Maine Coon cat 14 years old. She started about 2 months ago pooping outside the box. The poop is about 8 inches outside the box on the bathroom …

My cat poops on clothes , rugs,etc.. 
My 12 year old cat has been pooping on any type of clothing, rug, comforter, sheets and sometimes just on the floor. He will find the one item on the floor …

Moe Will Not Poop in Litter Box 
Moe is a large 10 yr old Tabby. In the past, he would poop on the floor rarely, but he would always hide it and then he would hide. He has had some …

Indoor/outdoor cat litters in the neighbors yard 
My next door neighbor had complained that our cat litters her yard. We have the indoor litter box and he uses it on a regular basis, but obviously does …

My cat has poop stuck in his butt 
My cat has a dirty bottom (poop still in his butt, yet he used the box to poop)! We became cat owners as a stray cat in the neighborhood needed a home, …

My neighbor is complaining that my cat is pooping in her yard! 
We just started renting a house 7 months ago. I have Korean neighbors next to me and they have just started complaining that my cat is pooping in their …

My cat poops in my kids outside play area 
My cat has a litter box that he uses when he is in. I am home most of the day, and he comes in and out many times but spends most of his day outdoors. …

Cat pooped in water dish Not rated yet
Very clean water dish with filtered water. Tonight, male fluffy, neutered, orange cat pooped in the water and in front of the dish on my kitchen floor. …

Cat with IBS sometimes poops outside the litter box Not rated yet
We have two Cats. Bullet has IBS and has had bouts of diarrhea since he was little. He is now about 9 years old. He is on a special grain free bland …

Toilet training cat keeps pooping in sinks Not rated yet
I have two female cats that I am toilet training, and we are facing a bit of a problem. One of my girls has warmed up to the kit very well and uses it …

My cat has started pooping on the floor Not rated yet
My cat is 7 years old and goes out at night and stays in during the day. He has recently started pooping on the floor during the day when I leave him alone. …

16 year old cat poops where we sit Not rated yet
My 16 year old cat poops where we sit in family room but also in her box. This seems to happen after we have company, usually in the next two days after. …

How can I keep Mumbles from soiling outside the litter box? Not rated yet
I have an "outcast" cat. Mumbles was adopted first with an unknown history. She is very loving but on occasion defecates inside of the apartment on wood …

Poop misses the litter box Not rated yet
I have two Bengal cats. They pee in the litter box just fine, but their poop lands just outside of the box on the mat. They have a large litter box so …

Cats pooping in the fireplace Not rated yet
I have three rescued cats. Two, a male and a female of the same litter are four years old, and a male about eleven months old. Recently I discovered …

3 year old female tortie has loose stool Not rated yet
Please help with this situation. It is so frustrating. Our gorgeous 3 year old tortie goes outside her box (and sometimes in) when she has some loose stool …

My cat poops everywhere Not rated yet
My boyfriend and I have an 11 year old neutered Siamese male cat named Buki. My boyfriend has had him since he was a kitten, and I've been living there …

Cat is afraid of new dog Not rated yet
We have two two-year-old cats. We recently adopted a dog, who became best friends with one cat quickly, but our other cat seemed terrified. This is …

Blind kitten refuses to poop in litter box Not rated yet
We're currently fostering a blind 2.5 month old kitten. We've had him since he was less than a month old. We had initially kept him in a small little …

8 year old feline started to poop on the beds Not rated yet
I have had my 2 cats, Chloe and Oscar, for 8 years now. They both used their litter trays early in their life, but then preferred to always go outside …

My 12 year old spayed cat poops at the front door Not rated yet
My cat has never had this problem. I keep a towel at the bottom of my front door to keep drafts out and my spayed 12 year old cat started to occasionally …

After neuter, pooping outside the litter box Not rated yet
After my cat got neutered I changed his litter as to not get the regular litter in the incisions (to paper litter). About 2 days prior to going back …

Mother cat pooping in tub, sink, just gave birth Not rated yet
We have a stray cat we took in. She gave birth and started pooping in our bath tub and kitchen sink. She has always used the litter box or was outside! …

Blind cat poops on herself Not rated yet
For a couple months now, our cat has been pooping on herself while using the littler box. Naturally it sticks to her fur and starts to smell... for some …

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Cat poops on rug when I take the other cat on a walk Not rated yet
I leash walk both of my cats but can only do it one at a time. After I walk the first one, she poops on the rug while I take the other cat out (15 minutes.) …

Kitten pooping all over the house Not rated yet
I took in a 12 week old cat, and I trained her in my room to use the kitty box with no problem. I put the kitty box in the basement and showed her where …

Kitten tries but can't bury poop in litter box Not rated yet
Our kitten poops in the litter box, but when she tries to bury it she paws all of the edges of the litter box. Before she goes she digs a depression …

My cat poops once in the litter Not rated yet
My 7 month old desexed female tortoiseshell cat poops only once in her litter and then on the floor beside the litter tray. Help, what can I do to stop …

Cat pooping on beds and in the litter box! Not rated yet
We recently adopted a stray tabby into our home, she looks to be around 27 weeks. She must have been litter box trained before because she immediately …

Kitten keeps standing in his poop! Not rated yet
Hi, my 16 week old kitten is using the kitty litter just fine, but doesn't seem to know how to bury the poop. He uses his two front paws to try and …

Cat pooping on carpet Not rated yet
My 7 year old female cat had good litter box habits, but started pooping on various carpets throughout the house in the past couple of years. I got …

My cat has started pooping outside the litter box Not rated yet
We have 6 cats (4 are Maine Coon). One of the boys has started pooping outside of the litter boxes (we have 6). I see him poop upstairs in one of the …

Cat pooping in one spot Not rated yet
We've had our kitten, Misha, for 8 weeks - he's now 14 weeks old - and for the first 6 weeks he was using the litter box with no problems. Misha sleeps …

Cat voids in bathtub Not rated yet
We recently brought an outside/inside cat in as both a favor to a friend and a pet for my wife. We have two other cats who have been in the family for …

Bathtub vs. poopbox Not rated yet
Our cat has eliminated in the bathtub two times in the last week. She has never done this. She has always used the cat box. Does anyone know why? …

Cat pooping on floor Not rated yet
My boyfriend and I have a 3-year-old female cat that uses the litter box, but at least 2-3 times a day she poops on the floor. We have two other males. …

All of a sudden Mustard wants to poop in my living room! Not rated yet
I have a 4 month old male cat named Mustard. He's used the litter box since we got him. Then one day he went on my bed... and now he just goes in the …

Cat poops on litter mat instead of in box Not rated yet
My cat all of a sudden started pooping right outside the box on the litter box mat. He is 10 years old and has never had any problems with the litter box …

Problem: Refuses to poop in the box! Not rated yet
My Cat is diabetic. We keep tabs on his blood sugar to make sure it is in normal range. But he refuses to go in his box! Once in a great while he will, …

All of a sudden pooping on the hearth Not rated yet
Wizzy is 7 years old and all of a sudden after always going outside (he has never had a litter box), he looks to the hearth (where there is ash) or a quiet …

Cat scooting on carpet or floor Not rated yet
Just in the past two days my 8 year old female cat started leaving little dry poops on the carpet and what appears to be scoot marks along with them - …

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