My 12 year old spayed cat poops at the front door

by Mona
(Toronto)

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 pee on the towel and did a small poop under it.

I took away the towel, but she continues to leave a small package on the carpet. She uses the litter box every other time she has to go and does larger poops in the box, except once a day there is a small "present" for me.

I did notice the odor of a male spray on the outside of the door. Is my cat now attracted to it? This has been going on for just under a week. How do I break her of this? The carpet can't be removed.

My thoughts: I'm sorry to hear that your cat is having problems. In my experience, a cat pooping at an entrance can be a response to outside cats, yes.

Assuming your vet has determined that your cat is otherwise healthy, I think a good place to start would be by examining for urine marking. I would get a black light and thoroughly check the area around the front entrance for signs of marking.

You'll need to thoroughly clean this up and get rid of all traces of the odor (although this is a temporary fix if the offending cats return). A 1/3 solution of distilled white vinegar and water in a spray bottle can help neutralize the urine for more recent incidents.

For urine that has been there awhile, you may need to use a cleanser and scrub the area.

Do the same for the carpet or floor where your cat is defecating, using a product such as Fizzion.

Removing all traces of the odor should reduce your cat's desire to poop in that area.

I hope that helps. Please let us know how things progress.

-Kurt