my cat has litter box problems
by Kelley
(Salem, VA, USA)
Hi,
We recently adopted a dump and run, long haired female siamese about 6 months old. We are finding that she will generally use the litterbox to pee, but has yet to use the box to have a bowel movement. When she does go, it's on the carpet, when available, and after she goes, she takes off running as if something is out to get her. This makes me think that someone probably abused her with regards to her litterbox use, and therefore, she is scared witless that someone is going to hurt her after she has a bowel movement. I've tried giving her some Salmon oil to help in case it has to do being constipated, but that doesn't seem to be the case. We have moved her to the bathroom (no carpets) from the back bedroom. Both locations are low traffic. We have increased the size of the open littler box (about the size of two normal size litterboxes). We have added Kitten Attract litter and Cat Attract herbs to the litter. We are hoping something will work. The location change and increase in litterbox size happened last night, and this morning there had been no accidents, but then again, there had been no contributions. Do you have any other suggestions on how to help this poor kitten? She has not been spayed, and there is a female cat already in the house. They are both wearing calming good behavior collars and the hissing has reduced to a minimum. My next step at this point, if this doesn't work, is to put her in a large crate with a litter box, and also put litter on the floor of the crate, until she figures it out. I really don't want to do this, but I also can't have her escaping from the bathroom, just so that she can evacuate her bowels on my carpet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. She has been with us for about 2 weeks now.
Regards,
Worried Mama