Why is our cat pooing in his own garden all of a sudden?

[KirstyJC]

We have a rescue cat who came to live with us a month ago. For the first 2 weeks he was kept indoors, and used his litter tray when he needed to poo. Then we let him out and he stopped using his tray, and went outside somewhere - hopefully fields near the bottom of our garden although I have been trying to get hold of our neighbour to check he hasn't been going in her garden. (She is deaf and doesn't answer the door).

So far, so good. But then two days ago, after over 2 weeks outside, he has started to poo on our grass. He has done it every day since, although he has also used his tray overnight as well.

Can anyone shed any light onto why this is? And how on earth do we stop him? We had a terrible problem with cat poo from other cats in our previous house and it made the garden unuseable. If DH finds out that he is doing it then he is likely to send him back to the rescue.

For now, I am checking regularly and clearing it up asap. I am washing the area of lawn with water as much as I can and have dug out our old infrared cat scrarer thing to deter him from going in that area, but I can't see this as a long term solution. Help!

you can't really deter your cat from going in his own garden tbh.

Cats are independent creatures, and to be blunt, it's unreasonable to expect that he go somewhere else rather than in his own teratory.

If your dh wasn't prepared to have a cat poohing in his garden then he shouldn't have agreed to get a cat.

There isn't anything you can do apart from get out there and scoop it

He might be trying to deter other cats and protect his territory, so I'd scoop and leave it near border edges

Interesting about other cats - there is another one who has sat on our garden wall before now, so maybe that's it. Perhaps if I leave a bit in the border where there's a low bit between the gardens then that might be enough? It can hide in the plants where no-one can see it or touch it.

I've just never heard of a cat messing on it's own lawn before - I have had a cat before, and grew up with 2 of them, and never had this happen. I always thought the problem was going in neighbours' gardens (as per loads of threads on MN in the past) which is why I was going to offer our infra red thingy to our neighbour (if she ever answers her doorbell!)

DH didn't really want a cat tbh but I really did and so did the kids, so he reluctantly agreed.

I also can't work out why he's doing it now, when he didn't for the last 2 weeks he was out. Does that suggest something's changed? I've just spotted that he didn't eat breakfast either today, which is very unlike him - he is the type of cat that would eat anything and everything he can get his paws on. Could he be ill?

Hmmmm not sure, maybe as when one of mine was a bit poorly she started going in the litter tray again, it was just a dodgy tum and cleared up quckly. Maybe neighbouring cats have spooked/unsettled him a bit

I will keep an eye on him then. He still has access to the litter tray at all times indoors, but we haven't been able to fit the cat flap yet - I'm hoping to do that at the weekend.

I have also seen you can get litter trays with lids,that look a bit like cat carriers. Are they for outdoor use? He has the wood pellets so we obviously can't just put his tray outside as they will get wet.

I don't mind having to clear out a litter tray, if it means he is more comfortable and we get a clean lawn.

I think it's a territory marking, he is the new cat in the area and is making a claim to 'his' garden for the benefit of other cats passing through. I expect he will also be spraying/scent marking with urine for the same reason, although this is more of a messaging system between the neighbourhood cats 'I was here' and 'I was here too' as they all seem to use certain places around the garden. When a particularly dominant male marks it can cause a bit of insecurity in less dominant ones and they respond by marking territory even more.

Having an outdoor litter tray seems like a good idea, but chances are it will be used by other cats too, or your cat might be surprised by another cat while using it and be put off entirely. They are quite vulnerable to attack while pooing. The lidded trays help prevent smells and litter being scattered everywhere, while giving the cat a bit of privacy. I think he will respond best to access the tray inside via the catflap.

Our next door neighbour has a partly integral garage with a door into the house, the cats have litter trays in the garage and a flap in the internal door to access them. We have a tray in our downstairs loo which is a 'safe' place for our cat to go if feeling threatened.

they usually keep their own territory clean. Have you seen him doing it?

I think their mothers usually teach them what to do. If you can give him a patch of loose dry soil (perhaps under a bush) that he can easily scratch up, and put him there, he may get the idea. Maybe put a bit of cat litter down as a clue.

If he's used to a litter tray he might not know what to do.

I snort when I see the line 'cats don't shit in their own gardens'. Both of mine do.

Yes, we have seen him and it definitely is him! We don't really have anywhere in the garden he can go, it isn't that big and is all levelled off for the kids to play in, but there is a small area with some bushes in a raised bed, although they aren't that big as the garden was only done this year so it might look a bit odd to fill it will cat poo!

I will keep an eye out for him and keep it cleaned up, keep him in overnight (he does tend to prefer to be out, then wakes me by calling outside the bedroom window in the early hours to be let in again). If he still does it when we have done the cat flap then we'll try and think of something else.

Thanks all

What kind of litter were the rescue using? It could be he is not too keen on the wooden pellets. But also if cats have access to outdoors then they are likely to go outside to use the loo, so to speak. A neighbour I used to have put orange peel in her flower beds to keep the cats away.

He was using the same wooden pellets as he has now.

Not heard about the orange peel before, did it work? Might look a bit odd on the lawn....but then not so bad as poo....!

They normally mark what they consider to be the edge of their terrotory (sp), mine sprays next doors lawn and her dogs pee on mine. So its fair really.

Maybe he has had a border dispute and it has been decided by another cat that his patch is smaller than he originally thought.