Thread: Toilet Habit Help!!!!!!!!!

I wonder if anybody has any ideas how to help with my Maine Coons Toilet Habits?

The problem is she will not use a tray to (putting it as politely as possibe!) to poo in, she will use it for a wee though.

The tray is cleaned regularly, we have even tried several types of litter and moving the tray. She doesnt like going outside at the moment so that is out too.

The problem is she will only do it onthe kitchen worktop, which is not very nice to say the least! I have tried covering the top with towels, sheets and putting objects in the way put she will jsut move them.

I dont know what else to try, any advice/ideas would be gratefully received!

Thanks

Hi Herbie

Gosh that is an unusual toileting problem. I've never heard of a cat choosing that area for no 2s.
But you've got a serious hygiene problem there, so it's got to stop.

My advice would be, get at least one more litter tray, so that she has a choice of which tray to use. Maybe she would wee in one tray, and poo in another.
At the same time, she has got to be banned from the kitchen worktops as a matter of urgency. Even if she ends up pooing on the floor, it's better than the kitchen counter. Have a water spray or hairdryer to hand at all times and give her a blast every time she gets up there. Then if possible, point her towards one of her trays. Eventually she will get the message. And never leave her in the kitchen unattended, until you feel you have broken the habit.

What does anyone else think?

Good luck with it, and keep us posted xxx

Strange one, do you have a big tray?

I would go along with Howlinbob that you need to try two trays,I have got one that pees in one & then moves into the next tray for a poo,also agree with banning from kitchen & retraining as this sounds as if it has got as far as being the accepted norm with her for whatever reason,good luck,sure she will learn with patience,firmness & rewards on your part...x

We have tried two trays as well and that didn't work!!

Unfortunately the strange thing is that if we are there in the same/next room she wont do it and will use the tray. It is only when we are not there that she will use the worktops!

Could it be an attention thing? I have a friend whose cat wees on their sofa every time they go out...it's pretty awful. When they're in their flat though, she always uses the litter tray.

Oh dear! I would still say that 2 trays are better than one.

As she is only doing it when you are not there, why not have a policy of shutting her out of the kitchen and confining her to another room when you leave her, and have all her bits and pieces there, tray, bed, food, toys etc. Do you have to leave her for long periods, eg, out at work all day? If so, is there any way you could leave her for shorter periods, or have someone call round for you to check on her? I'm just wondering if this is a stress-related behaviour. Is there anything else going on which might be causing her stress, eg, another pet?

I would buy a giant dog crate and pen her when she is unsupervised with her litter tray, food bowl and bed. When she is supervised then she can have free roam but you ned to break the habit of her thinking that your kitchen worktop is her toilet. Once she is in an enclosed area such as a pen, she should use the litter tray like normal. When she does praise her and remove what she has done but leave a small amount in there if you can and then next time she goes she should use the tray again.

You need to block her from the kitchen if you can so the association breaks and with cats it should be pretty quickly. If you can go to your local supermarket and get a load of empty boxes then I would do that and have them upside down on your worktop so that she can't possibly get up there even if she wants to.

As for the litter tray, I would make sure she has an open litter tray as well as a covered one and just have a small amount of litter in there at a time that can be changed frequently in case she doesn't like it being wet or dirty at all.

Hope this helps....I had one that used to go in the bath and I had to keep the bath half filled all the time and he soon stopped!