Pooping in tub, peeing in the drain

by Kathy
(Oak Creek, WI)

Seriously, one of our older male cats poops in the tub, most of the time leaving a horrible stain which cannot be removed! I've witnessed him 3 times peeing above the drain. Is this due to the S-pipes which sometimes smell like, well, a toilet?










My Thoughts:

I think it's possible that he might be drawn by the smells and views it as a kitty toilet, Kathy, or it could be something else. When cats get older they sometimes get a little off, or he might be having a spat with another one of the cats in the house.

Litter box guarding is a real possibility in multi-cat households. Sometimes it's serious, and other times it's just one cat playing with the other, but then one of the cats gets tired of being harrassed and finds another place to do his business. It's also possible that the litter box isn't clean enough for his preference.

The usual rules always apply, of course. For example, I would make sure you've got enough boxes, that they're squeaky clean (and that includes replacing older plastic boxes periodically that have absorbed odors), in the right locations, etc. Think about any changes in his life or in the house that may have triggered a behavior problem, and make sure he has no medical issues.

If you've done everything you can to cover all the bases, then I suspect the best thing to do is restrict access to the tub (or the room). The alternative would be to try confining him in a room or a cage and doing isolation retraining.

I'm sorry you're having troubles and I hope that helps a bit.

-Kurt

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May 05, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Had the same situation
by: David

Toffski I think hit the nail on the head, from personal experience.

Our eldest boy, Captain Benjamin T-T (for "Tony the Tiger Face") was a rescue Bengal with his sister. Initially we kind of blew it off - he'd usually just pee in the tub when he first started. Mary (my wife) just soaked/cleaned with bleach. Several thoughts went through our minds: He was hot (it was a hot Spring and we lived in a second-floor apartment where the downstairs neighbors kept the heat WAY up) and the tub was the coolest place to rest; He was "imitating" us using the toilet; Sometimes, when ya gotta go, ya gotta go... We both agreed it was better he went in the toilet than on the carpet.

"Baby Ben" was thirty-five pounds at the time and seemed in perfect health, so we thought. But then he started to lose some of that weight and was constantly craving fresh water, and his eyesight seemed a little off. We scraped up the money to get him into the vet - four months after his last annual check-up - and the tests came back that he was in the final stages of renal (kidney) failure. She was not his "regular" vet, and seemed more interested in how much money she could make off of us during his "final month" so we went to another vet.

The diagnosis was confirmed. Instead of hospitalizing him and the stress that would cause, he simply told us to "Take him home, and love him." The treatment, he said, would only hasten his demise. He passed away not one, but five months later, in my arms, on August 8, 2010, with Mary and I and his sister all by his side.

Please, get him to a vet soon. And "just love him" as he loves you. We will pray for both of you.
May 05, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Peeing in the sink..
by: Toffski

My cat only ever goes in the sink wben he's trying to tell me he's not very well.

He's done this several times and, at first, I thought he had just picked up some weird habit but it became obvious there was something up. In taking him to the vet he had developed kidney infection which was causing him quite a lot of distress. The peeing in the sink was his way of telling me he was in trouble.

It might be worth a trip to the vet to make sure your cat is healthy.

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