Feline House-Soiling pt.2

How can I determine why my cat is house-soiling?
A cat may not use the litter box if it prefers another location or substrate, which may arise independently or because of avoidance of the present location or substrate. A substrate or location preference can be diagnosed by a careful history into where the elimination is found. If it is always found in one place, this indicates a location preference, while elimination on one particular surface type or texture (such as carpeting or tiled floors), indicates a substrate preference. Of course a preference for more than one location or more than one surface may also arise, and they are not mutually exclusive. For treatment, if it is happening in only one or two places, the problem might be resolved by preventing your cat from having access to that location unless it is supervised. When no one is home, or you are asleep, the cat may need to be confined. When you are at home, you should always know where the cat is. This can be accomplished by watching the cat or by using a bell on an approved cat collar or a leash and harness. Alternately, the location could be made aversive to the cat using devices mentioned in other sections (see our product resource handout). If the cat does not like where the litter box is located, due to disruptions in that location or inability to access the box, moving the box to a quieter, more secure location may also aid in getting the cat to return to regular litter box usage. Alternately, the surface can be made less appealing by changing the surface texture (remove the carpeting), or by making the surface uncomfortable (double-sided sticky tape, a plastic carpet runner with nubs up, remote punishment or booby-traps). In some cases, closing off doors can permanently prevent access to the area to the area, by putting up barricades, or confining the cat away from the problem area. The appeal of the surface can also be reduced by eliminating all odors that might be attracting the cat back to the area by cleaning and then by applying commercial odor neutralizers (See our product resource handout for more details). Sometimes changing the function of the area by turning it into a feeding, playing, sleeping or scratching area may reduce the cat’s desire to eliminate in the area. Relatively speaking, making the soiled areas less appealing (by odor eliminators, less appealing surfaces or booby traps), may get the cat back to using its litter, or may drive the cat to a new unacceptable area (which might indicate that the problem is more likely one of avoidance). Therefore, you also need to make sure the litter box itself appeals to the cat.

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