Stopping a cat pooing in bath!

[BlogOnTheTyne]

We have 2 gorgeous, neutered, male British Shorthair cats (house cats), who have been house trained - and use a litter tray - from early kittenhood. For the first time in his 3 years, one of them has now pooed twice in the empty bath - on top of plug area.

The day he first did this, I was preparing the house for relatives coming and all the rooms were 'upside down' and I was dashing around. A combination of the environmental turmoil, plus me being too busy to clean the litter tray in the morning, presumably led to him thinking the bath was the next best place to poo!!

However, I thoroughly cleaned the bath, the relatives came and went, litter tray well cleaned and then....a few days later, he pooed in the empty bath tub again!

Now the bathroom stinks of cat poo, no matter how many times I air it, clean it, light scented candles in it. We can't leave the bathroom door open anymore, in case cat poos in the bath again. We're now worried that he'll use any empty sink with a plughole as, presumably, he can smell drains or something (not noticeably unpleasant for us however).

What can we do? Is there a product we can pour into sinks to put him off pooing there? Is there anything that we can use to air the room, as well! I'm now standing 'stuff' (bottles/ containers etc) in the sinks all the time, to stop the incentive to sit in and poo but can't do this forever and with children and visitors around, this just doesn't work.

Any other suggestions? Our cat is behaving totally normally in every other way now and has also used the litter tray inbetween times anyway.

[EdsRedeemingQualities]

I think all I can suggest is shutting the door at all times.

Our female cat is nearly 14 and recently started weeing on the bath mat, especially at night.

I think because of the weather.

I've taken away the mat and I'm shutting her out at night - well, not out, out, but in the kitchen with the cat flap and no access to the rest of the house.

Tbh it's been coming on for a while - she makes a right racket in the night anyway.

[cozietoesie]

Well that's difficult, Eds. What if they start to poo - say - on the rug outside the bedroom door. No fun stepping on squelch in the dark hours of the night if you have to leave the room. At least the bath/bathroom is a known 'poo place' - and easily cleanable.

Sorry, OP. I have no suggestions other than to examine the cats' lives for any changes that can be ameliorated in some way.

[EdsRedeemingQualities]

yes, it's possible but tbh cats are pretty fussy - ours hasn't started weeing elsewhere.

It's worth a try.

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Thanks. So is there no product that you can spray on or pour on that will stop cats going in that area??

[cozietoesie]

Not to my knowledge, and specifically for that, Blog. (Someone else may know of one. But even then, you might just be shifting the problem.)

I'd be having a look at their overall environment, I think. One thing you might try - I got the impression that you only have one litter tray? If so, that's probably not enough for two cats. (Some cats are very fussy about using a litter tray that's already been used (either by themselves or by another cat) so having two on the go could help.)

[sashh]

Run the taps with the plug in so there is an inch or two of water, that will stop the pooing.

[MrsEddChina]

I second 2 litter trays if you have 2 cats. Our girl cat started weeing outside the tray, a second one stopped this.

When she was a kitten she used to poo in one corner of the lounge. We bought a spray from amazon or petsathome (can't remember!) think it was called get off spray. It has citrus in it which cats don't like and stopped her using our laminate as a litter tray.

It might work if you spray it in the bath or round the plug hole then take your cat in for a sniff. It eliminates the odour left behind (which regular cleaning products might not do) and the unpleasant scent to him will put him off thinking of it as a toilet.

HTH.

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

my cat will poop in the bath if his litter tray is not up to his varying standards of what is acceptable. i purposefully leave the door open a crack becasue i would much rather him poop in bath in an 'emergency' then on the bed/pile of clean clothes/rug/ throw etc - places he has done so before!

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Thanks everyone. Both cats suddenly seem more fastidious and seem to want their litter tray cleaning much more quickly than before.

The other one was making signs he might now poo in the entrance to the bathroom - upstairs hall carpet - and on a rolled up towel behind the bath!

I scooped him up in time and took him downstairs to the litter tray but he didn't 'go' in there. Meanwhile, the smell of cat poo is still there in the bathroom, despite me having the window open every day (with door closed), buring scented candles in there and several family members bathing in the extremely clean bath! using various scented gels. Beneath all those lovely smells, we can still smell cat poo and yet there's absolutely no poo anywhere in that room.

I'll get a second litter tray and hope that this helps and also see if I can get hold of some of that spray and spray it wherever the cats seem to be looking to poo.

It's really a nuisance, as we used to enjoy the cats coming up and miaowing whilst someone was in the bath and generally keeping us company! Nowwe daren't let them in at all.

[cozietoesie]

The smell may be partly imagination do you think? However 'twould do no harm to do a fingertip search of all areas of the bathroom and upstairs (well maybe with a rubber glove on) just in case there has been a poo in a very, very obscure place and that's what you're smelling.

I'd wait to do anything like carpet shampooing until the situation has stabilized. I'd clean the litter trays as soon as you know they've been used, as well. Bit of a pain but some cats just are more fastidious about these things.