Hello! We have a rescue cat who is now 16, we've had her for ten years. Earlier this year she had a really upset tummy when we switched her food after applaws was recalled. It was awful for everyone and she kept toileting messily on the stairs and carpeted landings. While she recovered we installed a tall stairgate to keep her downstairs and off the carpets as it was taking hours daily to clean and we have a baby too.
She has spent nights downstairs for the past few months. She has a large kitchen and a hallway which leads outside via a microchip cat flap. Her tummy is better but she now does not use the litter tray for her number 2s and poops in the hallway instead. At first this seemed occasional but it's becoming almost daily now. For wees she seems to go outside (as far as I've been able to tell!)
The hall floor is relatively easy to clean but obviously I don't want the smell to get into the wood and it would be great to wake up and not have to deal with the inevitable cat poop in the hallway! I have cleaned the litter tray thoroughly, it's large, and we have no other pets. The only thing I can think is that it's near the cat flap so may be too close to the outdoors/other cats.
I think I have three options but would be glad to hear other suggestions! 1. Suck it up and hope things improve. She's had a rough year with a new baby in the house shortly after a house move. 2. Move the litter tray to the area of hallway she is pooping in overnight. We would have to have it in a different place (where it is now, near the cat flap) in the day though as otherwise it will obstruct the hallway and we wouldn't be able to get the pram in and out. No idea how advisable it is to move a cat flap around for nights only. This only seems to happen at night/very early morning. 3. Block her access to the hallway (and therefore kitchen) and sleep her in the small cloakroom which leads from the hallway to the back garden. This has it own door. She'd have access to the garden but it's a small space and if other cats are an issue she'd be in this small vestibule space and wouldn't be able to get back into the main house. This space is where the tray is currently located. The floor is vinyl so very easy to clean.
No idea what is best. None of the options seem particularly great. I think 3 is the least desirable, from her point of view in particular! I am worried about winter weather, as before now we only ever had issues with inappropriate toileting when the weather was bad. Thanks in advance for your thoughts x