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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

How to stop my little fur covered tyrant pooing in the bath?!

23 replies

MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay · 15/03/2013 19:28

There is a litter tray downstairs..cleaned every day! I have two cats who are allowed out but in wet weather refuse point blank to go outside and so use their tray. Even in it is untouched..fresh litter.. little miss Portia likes to sneak into the bathroom upstairs and use the bath! She started peeing over the plug hole a while ago.. annoying enough tho logical (she is a clever cat and knows that's the room we use!) but over the last week or so she has started pooing in it.. which is definitely not acceptable. I can't lock her out as the bathroom has bifold doors which only shut from inside!
Is there anything that will put her off?!!??!

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QueenStromba · 15/03/2013 19:49

I'm not a cat expert but the experts on here always say a litter tray per cat plus one. She probably just doesn't like sharing a litter tray.

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thecatneuterer · 15/03/2013 19:56

Yes, what QS said. I've had a cat do this too, and I don't know why. But she stopped it as suddenly as she started it. I didn't particularly mind though as at least it was easy to clean. If you're bothered about it staining the bath then I suppose you could put a litter tray actually in the bath which she would hopefully use. Not ideal I realise but might be the lesser of two evils.

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2013 20:00

Just how thoroughly are you cleaning the tray, medusa? (It's possible to clean it so well that there's no smell left and they can get antsy about where their place is.)

And QueenStromba is right - should really be at least two trays for two cats. I know you might think this isn't relevant to pooing in the bath when the existing tray is clean but she could be demonstrating general unhappiness about something.

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2013 20:02

The bath is considerably better than some of the alternatives various past posters have come across, thecatneuterer !

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SecretNutellaFix · 15/03/2013 20:03

you could always leave an inch of water in the bath to stop her going in there.

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2013 20:07

As I said above, Nutella - she might then choose somewhere more imaginative - like the linen cupboard or the living room couch or even on the floor outside the bedroom door. (Try stepping on soft poo in your bare feet when you're getting up to use the loo at 2 in the morning.)

This is a context that needs to be engaged in between the bath and the tray(s).

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2013 20:08

Sorry - contest. Fat fingers.

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SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 15/03/2013 20:18

Fill it with cold water. [evil]

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SecretNutellaFix · 15/03/2013 20:22

I have two cats- I remember when she had the runs, he would crap behind the door, so I do sympathise. He tried to use the bath, but I caught him.

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SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 15/03/2013 20:43

Tbh, I'd rather cat diarrhoea in the bath than behind the door - much easier to clean up!

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MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay · 15/03/2013 20:45

I have tried having two trays..but the other cat will use both too, and while he is bigger (3 x the size as he's a maine coon) she is definitely the dominant cat... she rules the house with a paw of iron!

I might have to try leaving an inch of water in there and see if that deters her!!

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2013 20:52

Your call, medusa - rather you than me having to clean a carpet of cat poo in the early hours of the morning!

Your primary objective is to get her using the tray again and not just stop her using the bath. If you put down two trays and the other cats uses them as well that's just the way it is and you'll likely have to clear them faster. (eg lifting poo out as soon as you know it's there.)

I really don't think that one tray is enough for two cats. (Even old Seniorboy has two trays - and he uses them both.)

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SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 15/03/2013 21:14

What about putting the litter tray in the bath?

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QueenStromba · 15/03/2013 22:01

Sounds like you need three trays then.

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cozietoesie · 15/03/2013 22:16

I'm trying to be realistic. I have an old (drafty) house so would have room for three but that might not be possible for the OP with available space. Two is pretty well a minimum though, I think.

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MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay · 15/03/2013 22:53

I've put a second tray back upstairs tonight just outside the bathroom... sods law means I'll tread in it in the wee hours but maybe she will accept it there...previously I've had both trays downstairs. We are in a very small house which makes it tricky to put them places that DS2 , who has SN won't fall into it/send it flying but I will try and be creative.

I think part of the problem is she thinks the plug hole IS the right place. The downstairs one is in DS's wet room and even with the tray there she likes to pee over the floor drain.. sigh...

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thecatneuterer · 16/03/2013 01:41

I've had a couple of cats who wee'd down plugholes and I've been very impressed and have told them they're clever cats :)

I'm glad my cats don't insist on a tray each plus one extra. That would be 21 trays around the house!

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cozietoesie · 16/03/2013 07:37

< laughing wryly>

I confess that I went for many years with one tray for Seniorboy (and one for The Lodger when he was here.) It always worked OK but one day I had to go away overnight so I put down a second for Seniorboy for the duration. Over the next week, both were used - one for poos and one for pees generally, although not always the same one for each, so the second sort of stuck. He's now happy with that arrangement, I have the room (which not everyone does) and there's not much extra work in an extra tray. So I'm sticking with it.

I think I'd draw the line at 'several' though rather than 21! (Mind you, 10 cats would have me scatty in any case.)

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thecatneuterer · 16/03/2013 14:03

I thought the rule was one each plus one extra. I have 20 cats - so I 'need' 41 trays. Lordy ...:)

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QueenStromba · 16/03/2013 14:05

Would you even have enough floor for all that, never mind having space to walk about in?

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thecatneuterer · 16/03/2013 14:12

I could probably just about fit them in, but there wouldn't be much room for furniture. As it is I have three big trays and clean them a lot. I use the wood pellet litter which goes to a sort of sawdust when it's used. Everytime I fish about in it for the bits of poo to chuck away/down the loo it reminds me of the lucky dip games I used to play at fairs as a child, where you fish about in sawdust for a present - I always think of it as a particularly unlucky lucky dip ...

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bonzo77 · 16/03/2013 14:19

Put the litter tray in the bath?

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Sunshinewithshowers · 16/03/2013 14:31

Would this lock work? Its especially for Bi-Fold doors.

www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=P4FEUameAoel0AWUw4H4Dw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&q=lock%20a%20bifold%20door&biw=320&bih=356&sei=QoFEUe_BHYah0QWe34DgBQ#biv=i%7C14%3Bd%7C42wTaVAJv_se9M%3A

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