this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
24 points (83.3% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26916 readers
2407 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

If they poop outside their litterbox on mat, how do I determine the guilty party and also why does it stochastically happen only occasionally and at night?

top 11 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] uservoid1@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

They could poop inside the box but digging it out by mistake when trying to cover it.

If you have more than one cat, one might be stressed by the other(s), especially if new.

Cat might be too old or too small to climb into the box, or not feeling well.

Some cats are assholes and doing it on purpose to show you they are not happy (is the box clean?).

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ya they have an auto and its always clean. It only started happenint since I spread out the mats to cover more of the floor.

I know the obvious solution is to go back to the way it was (more or less on top of each other) but so much shrapnel litter gets tracked otherwise.

[–] jak@sopuli.xyz 8 points 10 months ago

Maybe just change mats. What’s the texture like?

[–] yeetsinfection@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

My cat poops on the floor when there's too much litter in the box 😹 🤦‍♂️

[–] frefi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 10 months ago

My family had a cat who sometimes did that. The poor little guy just missed the box sometimes. The box would be clean too and it wasn't too small for him. We think he may have not been very bright because he also never covered anything. He scratched at the side of the box or the wall. His brother always covered it for him. He was very cute though.

[–] neidu2@feddit.nl 7 points 10 months ago

Ask your significant other if he/she pooped on the floor. If not, it was most likely the cat.

[–] maxxxxpower@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

We've got 6 cats and multiple boxes. I use webcams!

[–] DarkSirrush@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Just to clarify, are you asking so you can start containing the cat at night so that they only miss the box in an easy to clean room? Because trying to correct behavior only works if it's immediately after they poop on the floor, if any time passes they won't make the correct association.

How many cats do you have?

How many litter boxes do you have?

Is the litter mat kept clean and washed regularly (and not only because it was pooped on)?

There should ideally be at least 1 litter box per cat, plus 1 more to reduce the chance of stress pooping.

As others have mentioned, cats will also sometimes avoid going in a box if they perceive problems with it, eg too much/too little litter, box hasn't been scooped recently enough, etc.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Also, negative enforcement is not very effective with cats. Punishment just equals "don't do it when the human is around", unless you specifically keep watch from outside the room or something. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but be prepared to spend months on this.

[–] DarkSirrush@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago

Agreed, which is why I was careful with my wording.

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I think im going to go back to the previous mat placement since I wasnmt have that issue. She's also rarely shit on the bathrug in the washroom and the litter is always kept scooped/clean and sufficient but not excessive (enough to bury it if they wish even though its sifted immediately). Something something mats, probably picked that up with her dogshit previous owner 😹