Litter tray wars with 2 indoor cats - help!

[PoorlyWeasels]

Our cats are driving us nuts. They are house cats, both neutered, and are having a war over the litter trays. Boy is 6, girl is 4, so not kittens or even "teens". This has all kicked off since Xmas.

They are both larger breeds so won't fit in normal size litter trays. We bought 2 huge lidded trays to keep the smell down, as the male in particular likes to get into the tray the second we sit down to eat. We buy premium litter and we clean it out as soon as they've been, and completely change it a couple of times a week, washing the trays as well.

They were both using one covered tray to pee in and one covered tray for poo for a few months, and all was good. Then suddenly the female stopped using the trays altogether and started going on the floor in front of the door, and covering it with anything she can find (letters, clothing etc). Having watched them I suspect the other one blocked her in the tray or something.

Bought some Feliway Friends and plugged into all the downstairs rooms. No change.

Bought an open tray for the female and put it the other side of the room from the 2 closed trays.

Male is in the open tray all the time. DH cleans it out in the morning and by lunchtime it is literally full. I have no idea why the cat needs to go so often. He is too big for the tray in the first place so even if his front half is in there, often the back end isn't . We can't clean it out as quickly as he can fill it. The stench is horrible, and now the female is back to going on the floor again. She poos once or maybe twice a day.

He was due a vet check just as everything went into lock-down, and now they are seeing emergencies only. Why is he doing this and how do we stop him? He eats mainly dry food, Royal Canin or one of the grain-free brands, with 2 pouches of Felix a day.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Which breed is this?

[BovaryX]

It sounds like neither of them like the closed litter trays, hence why the male is using the open one. If he is going frequently, could there be a medical issue? More litter trays might be helpful.

[imabusybee]

The advice is usually to have 1 more litter tray than you have cats. We have 7 litter trays and 5 cats a mixture of open, covered and top entry (our biggest cats prefer top entry or open)
It might be that they've decided they don't like the covered tray anymore

[PoorlyWeasels]

Male is a Bengal and female is a Norwegian Forest.

Perhaps I'll take the lids off and see if that makes a difference. It really does seem though that he is deliberately using all of them so she can't, IYSWIM.

Unfortunately we don't have anywhere else to put the trays/ extra trays as there isn't much room in our house. We were planning to have someone out to construct a large pen outside for them, so that they could go in and out, but just as we've got the money sorted out, the lock-down has happened.

[BovaryX]

It must be really difficult to be a Bengal without any outside access. Aren't they a very active breed that requires lots of stimulation?

[Veterinari]

Bengals are notoriously territorial - I suspect he's guarding resources

You need multiple trays in multiple locations (at least 3) putting them in one or two locations is essentially the same as one or two trays as one cat can dominate that resource. Same for feeding places, resting places etc.

The female needs high spaces to avoid the male

Look at the icatcare website for advice and resources in multi car households, resources and reducing stress

[lifeisgoodmostofthetime]

Maybe a medical issue. One of my cats peed a lot and never seemed to be out of the litter tray. She ended up having kidney problems and on medication.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I was going to say the males resource guarding too. We had a Bengal till he got run I’ve and they are fiercely territorial animals.

On the plus side a NF should be big enough to fight back.

I saw a video on YouTube recently where a Bengal kitten was jumping on a Birman looking cat and I thought no he’s not playing he’s trying to hurt the Birman.

[Veterinari]

NF are often big teddy bears though - she likely dies not want a daily battle for toileting facilities so is choosing alternative 'options'

You probably need to tackle this ASAP OP before her stress levels increase further

[PoorlyWeasels]

I don't think he's a typical Bengal in that although he talks non stop he's no more active than any of our previous moggies. They have a mad few minutes a few times a day when they charge around the house chasing each-other. It sometimes looks nasty but there's never any blood nor any of the pained sounding wailing. It's more Handbags at Dawn. They are equal-sized, so neither has an advantage.

We have a couple of Cat Trees and some cupboards they can get on top of (and into), and they each have a preferred place where the other does not go. (He likes the airing cupboard and she likes DD's high bed).

I will have a look at that website, Veterinari. Thanks for the tip.

[PoorlyWeasels]

[Veterinari]

They have a mad few minutes a few times a day when they charge around the house chasing each-other. It sometimes looks nasty but there's never any blood nor any of the pained sounding wailing. It's more Handbags at Dawn. They are equal-sized, so neither has an advantage.

That sounds problematic. Cats will avoid fighting because they don't want to risk injury unless they have to.

Do they ever sleep together groom each other or show any signs of liking each other?

If not I suspect you have a chronic conflict and anxiety situation