Norman the nuisance and his toilet habits

[thingymibob]

Some people might remember we found Norman in the garden - very thin, quite young and with a broken leg. We then had a fight with the RSPCA who were very unhelpful and he came to live with us in October

He has settled lovely. He goes out now in the daytime - climbs trees, sheds and the house, very agile. Old lady cat still dislikes him but he doesn't make matters better by teasing her and biffing her on the head when he gets the chance. The 'fights' are very short lived as he backs down everytime she tells him off

So - he has been good with the litter trays. We have 3, we change them daily and remove any deposits as soon as noticed. Last week we discovered he had pooed in the bath - 3 days, 3 poos. I was about to have a bath yesterday, started to run it, wandered off as you do and came back to find him squatting and peeing in the sink!!! How do we stop this???

We have been making sure the door is shut but we everyone keeps forgetting. Friends suggested we should try and teach him to use a loo but not sure I have the time or energy for that. Could it just be a phase?

[Knit2togtbl]

Try changing the type of litter you use. You could also try sand or plain garden soil.

[Knit2togtbl]

Do you have other cats? General rule of thumb is
Number of Litter Trays = Number of Cats + 1

[cozietoesie]

He's unhappy about something that's for sure. (Gorgeous Norman.) I'd try changing the type of litter for a start before we have to get on to considering his relationship with Herself.

(By the way - do you mean you're changing the litter wholesale once a day? That's usually not necessary - eg if you're using clumping litter - and might actually be counter-productive because the tray doesn't have that faint odour to their sensitive noses. It should be sufficient to remove deposits as noticed, top up with litter, and then change the whole box slightly less often.)

[thingymibob]

Yes, we are changing it daily - Old cat has always liked a clean tray - if we don't then she pees and poos next to it or around it (she is 15ish) I thought it was an old lady thing. Plus the most used trays are in the lounge and stink it out once used

I'm wondering if he now thinks the litter trays are hers? We do have 3 on the go - 2 in the lounge and one in the conservatory. She is definitely top cat so wondering if he's just scared of using her loo so is using mine (sink and bath) lol

We use wood based litter, might try a clumping one in a litter tray in the bathroom. I guess I should be pleased he is using places that are easy to clean

[cozietoesie]

There is that!

There might be something to what you say if she's using all of them and is very much Top Cat. Maybe try a clumping litter in the bathroom ? It wouldn't be expensive for a trial.

Hope his leg is doing well.

[timtam23]

You could also try using Feliway plugins, which might calm him down, although a trial of different cat litter is definitely the cheaper option!

We had a few "weeing on carpet" issues and plugged a Feliway in next to the offending spot, it does seem to have worked.