feline behavior question

[cellio]

This is a new problem for me, but (I gather) old hat for some others. So, advice please?

Starting about a month ago, every couple days I have found a "deposit" (solid) on a particular section of carpet. (Usually this is in the morning.) When I say "section of carpet", I mean it's always within the same area of about two square feet. None of the cats seem to be having other litter-box issues and the placement is pretty consistent, so I'm guessing this is a behavior problem, not a continence problem. I haven't yet been able to determine which cat it is, but if we apply Occam's razor and assume it's just one, I can eliminate Erik based on the most recent incident, which happened tonight while he was with me.

In late November I had a visiting cat for about a week, and Baldur wasn't too happy about that. However, this problem began a month or so after that cat went home, so I don't know if that's related. (I found no evidence of marking/spraying while that cat was here.) There's been nothing else weird going on that I've noticed -- medical, dietary, behavioral.

I actually have two questions. One is about how to change this behavior, but the other is this: is there something I can and should do to that carpet to make it less of a target? If so, what? Or will doing that merely relocate the problem? Yeah, it's annoying, but at least I know where to look and it's not, say, on the couch. Placement could be worse.

Comments

[sue-n-julia.livejournal.com]

Once a cat uses a certain area, they will tend to try to use it again and again. PetSmart and PetCo both sell an enzymatic cleaner, Nature's Miracle, that help neutralize the odor left behind so they won't want to use it again.

Another product we used this summer was Feli-away. We were having a problem in the downstairs bathroom with urine on the floor. The vet thought it might have been anxiety related to moving here and having neighborhood cats walking in front of our picture window. We also got a shorter litterbox in case Vandal was having some trouble.

A final thing that you can try (depending on where the deposits are) is to place a bowl of food near the area. Cats don't like to soil near their food, so this can sometimes help.

S

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what she said. One of the reasons cat boxes work is that cats rely partly on smell to tell them where to crap. While displaced urination will more often be either a physiological or psychological problem, displaced defecation tends to be one original "oops" followed by "gee, this smells right, this must be where I'm supposed to do it." One thing that worked for me when I had to train a couple of kittens out of crapping on the hall carpet was to temporarily cover the entire hall carpet with a plastic sheet. It not only blocked the scent cues, but it gave all the wrong tactile cues. Once they had established a strong habit of using the litter box, I was able to remove the plastic. But the enzymatic cleaners will also help enormously. I'd hit the problem with as many habit-breakers as you can at once. Is there any piece of furniture that you could temporarily move to that location that would also help break the habit?

My experience suggests (but does not guarantee) that you're unlikely to simply move the inappropriate behavior elsewhere -- it will be associated with that one particular spot only.

[cellio]

One of the reasons cat boxes work is that cats rely partly on smell to tell them where to crap.

I didn't know that. Thanks! And thanks for the advice.