Animal behaviourist opinions sought

[mrsbrown]

The cat shat on the mat, well, my jeans, at 5am.

We've been frequently washing towels, and other items of clothing we habitually keep on the floor, because the cat wee'd on them. He does this during the night and occasionally, we even hear him preparing to do it. We did this morning. He'd been thrown out of our room twice before he did the smelly deed.

Does he want us to let him out? He was certainly hanging near the front door when we got up to clean it. I don't want to let him out overnight, I hate him killing birds or getting injured.

Is his litter tray too close to his food? The litter tray is on the floor, his bowl on a table directly above.

Have I damaged him psychologically by locking him in the toilet, with his litter tray, at 5am?

Comments

[drjon.livejournal.com]

Unless you can set up an enclosed cat-run, it's far safer for him to be inside at night.

But he obviously doesn't like it...

Does the kitchen door shut? I don't know your house very well.

[sootysmudge.livejournal.com]

Yes l agree in principal with the cats inside at night idea, its only quite rarely that Soot goes out in the middle of the night, but he's outside all day when l am at work.

[sootysmudge.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it can be hard to tell. I don't have a litter tray inside for Soot, l'm firmly of the belief that if he wants to go out he can ask me and l'll let him out. He rarely asks to goes out in the middle of the night, and if he does l stay awake until he meows to come back inside. (I'm a devoted cat mother, l know!) I think however that cats are creatures of habit and like things to remain the 'same'. Maybe there has been some sort of disruption in your household recently that's upset your cat?

[nobble.livejournal.com]

well. Nikki our decrepit cockerspaniel took to this anti-social behaviour when Reuben arrived in Sydney full time. She became 'put out' miffed even that she was no longer the darling of the house. She crapped in my sister's room, under the dining table, in teh living room - particularly in places where my mother and my sister could see her doing it. She wasn't getting enough attention. When we realised, we tried to socialise her with Reuben. Now they are best mates. Well, until he pulls her hair. But generally he feeds her and all is well. We haven't had a pooing incident for over 12 months.

Personally, I think your cat is doing this because he's pissed off for some reason which could include you not facilitating his early morning affection/toilet run.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

You won't have achieved anything, because that's not how cats learn. The risk is that he would start to associate the kitty tray with bad experiences.

I don't know why he'd be hanging around the door *after* he'd done that, except that it was pre-dawn and he wanted to hunt. And maybe he didn't like the fact that your room now smelt like a toilet...;P

Try shifting a litter tray to your end of the house. Given the choice, cats will bury their waste. For some reason he doesn't feel like there's a choice.

Is the tray somewhere nice and quiet? They don't like being disturbed.

Useful links.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

I googled 'cat training'

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/traincat/traincat.html

http://www.perfectpaws.com/help4.html

The rules seem to be: litter box should be clean(according to our vet, litter should be changed every couple of days, we change it twice a week, and use *lots* of litter), private, somewhere quiet (not next to the washing machine).

Good suggestion - an enclosed litter box. One of these near the front of the house might help. (They don't smell so won't gross you out as much).

Since cats like routine, find one brand of litter and stick to it.

[wenchilada.livejournal.com]

We have the occasional problem with Errol TF Cat doing exactly this, except she only ever pees on our clothes. It usually is when she is annoyed with us for something or if she is trying to assert her authority. She usually knows immediately she has done the wrong thing and makes straight for the door, probably so she can bolt. She generally tells us when she wants to go out, but spends most of her time inside (asleep on my bed!). We don't particularly like her being outside at night, but we sometimes have to let her out if we want any sleep and leave a window open for her to come back in, which she does after a short amount of time.

Sometimes, no matter what we do, she will still go on our stuff. Dosen't matter if the kitty litter is clean or away from food, or if our house is spotless (we noticed she tends to go on our clothes if the house is untidy). If she's going to do it, there's no stopping her. So I am interested to know what advice you get here.

[vonstrassburg.livejournal.com]

Bandit aka destructokitty went through a similar phase at about that age. I think it will all go away by itself. However I'm not one for keeping cats in at night, or even during the day.

Litter trays need to not be near food. I find putting a litter tray in the toilet, next to where I go, is most effective especially for younger cats.

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

Without watching in detail, it's hard to say. He may be seeking attention and protesting being chucked out. What behaviour got him chucked out though?

I'd suspect, though, it's more likely he's pissed off at not being able to get out of the house at night, and at you not getting up to let him out when he tried to ask. He's a young male cat. He's biologically programmed to want to go out and prowl round and fight and have sex at pretty much that time. Frankly, in Richmond? I'd let him. Not a lot of native wildlife for him to kill. He does, if he gets into fights, risk getting the feline equivlent of HIV, or, you know, horrible bleeding sores and abscesses, but I figure that's one of the tradeoffs of a cat having a happy life.

If letting him out's not an option, folk above have good advice about making the litter tray more attractive. Having it in the human toilet area really worked for MIn. THough she'd often go to the toilet herself when I did to keep me company, or possibly just in my place, so maybe prepare yourself for that level of sharing. If you do go the covered litter tray option, you need to be extra careful about keeping the litter clean and non-smelly. The more expensive crystal type litter really does last longer and suppress smell better; however you will probably just want to use more of the paper-derived stuff, more often, as it can be added to the compost.