Cats shit at home what to do. How to wean a kitten to shit in the wrong places

  • 31.10.2020

Some cats develop the bad habit of urinating on carpets, which can't help but upset their owners. The smell of cat urine is quite unpleasant and often spreads throughout the house. In addition, cat urine is quite difficult to wash out of the carpet backing and fabric fibers, which makes the smell last for a long time. In addition, because cats prefer to continue to go to the toilet in a place that already smells like urine, this problem is often very difficult to correct. There are many reasons why cats litter outside the litter box, including urinary tract and bladder problems, inappropriate cat litter, and conflicts with other pets. Read the article below for information on how to keep your cat from urinating on the carpet.

Steps

How to prevent unwanted behavior

    Take the cat to the vet. Health problems, such as urinary tract infections, can cause your cat to poop on the carpet instead of using the litter box. Before you take any other action, you should take your cat to the veterinarian to identify possible medical problems underlying the unwanted behavior. It is very important to get your cat checked out immediately to ensure her health and well-being and to prevent her from developing a strong dislike of the litter box.

    • Prolonged squatting when urinating, blood in the urine, frequent urination, and meowing when urinating are all signs of a possible bladder or urinary tract problem or infection. These health problems can be the reason for neglecting the litter box. These symptoms may also be a sign of a blockage in the urinary tract, which is potentially fatal. Only a veterinarian will be able to tell you the exact cause, so it's important to take your pet to the vet.
  1. Clean the carpet with an enzymatic cleaner. Cleaning up the results of a cat gaffe as soon as possible will prevent repeated incidents in the same place. In this case, it is better to use enzyme-based cleaners, rather than ammonia-based cleaners. Ammonia cleaners, on the other hand, may encourage the cat to continue to urinate in that area even more often, as the pet will mistake the smell of ammonia for the smell of another cat's urine and want to kill him with his own urine.

    • If your carpets are very dirty, consider taking them to a dry cleaner.
    • For some carpets, cleaning may not help if the cat is not cleaned up right away. Get rid of the rugs on which the cat constantly crap.
  2. Place the litter box in the area of ​​the carpet where your cat prefers to urinate. If your cat has started littering on a rug or carpet, place a litter box in her chosen spot to encourage her to start using it. After your cat has been using the litter box for a month, start moving it 2.5 cm daily in the direction you want the litter box to be.

    Flip rugs and rugs wrong side up. Perhaps the cat liked a particular rug as a toilet. If you turn the rug or carpet over, there is a chance that the cat will no longer like the changed surface texture. Try turning your rugs and carpets over for a few days to see if this stops your cat's unwanted behavior.

    Place double-sided tape around the perimeter of the carpet. Sticky tape can discourage a cat from urinating on the carpet, as it is unpleasant for cats to touch it with their paws. Try to place the tape not only around the perimeter of the carpet, but also over the place where your pet goes to the toilet.

    Play with your cat near her litter box. Perhaps the cat urinates on the carpet because of the negative associations she has with the litter box. You can correct the negative attitude towards the tray by playing with a cat near it. Try playing with your cat several times a day within a few feet of the litter box to help your cat develop positive associations with the litter box.

    Talk to your veterinarian again if there is no improvement. Getting a cat to use the litter box takes time and effort, but is not always successful. Some veterinarians even go through special training to help people deal with litter box refusal problems. If your cat's behavior does not change over time, consider consulting with an animal behavior specialist.

    Check if the cat can easily get to the tray. If the cat has to make the long journey to the litter box, or if it is difficult for her to get in and out of the litter box, this could be the reason for urinating on the carpet. Place litter boxes where the cat can easily reach them in case of a rush, such as one on the ground floor and one on the second floor of the house.

    • Make sure that the cat will be able to see people or animals approaching her and, if necessary, run away. Cats don't like to be cornered.
    • Be considerate to the needs of older cats by providing lower-sided litter boxes to make it easier for them to get in and out of the litter box.
    • Place the litter box near or right where your cat prefers to urinate on the carpet.
  3. Check to see if cat litter is the problem. Sometimes cats avoid the litter box because they don't like the smell or texture of the litter, or because the litter is too deep. It's best to use a thin layer of medium to fine-grain clumping litter, but you can also try different types of litter to find out your cat's preferences.

    • Give your cat a choice by placing two litter boxes side by side. At the end of the day, check which litter box your cat has been using.
    • Provide a shallow layer of filler. Most cats prefer the litter to be covered in a layer 2.5–5 cm thick.
  4. See if the litter tray itself is causing discomfort to the cat. Some cats don't use the litter box because they don't like the size or shape of the litter box. Mesh inserts in trays sometimes also cause discomfort in cats, which is why they avoid the tray. Remove the insert from your pet's litter tray to see if that is the problem.

    • Pay attention to the size of your cat's litter box. If it is too small for her, then the reason for her reluctance to urinate there may be precisely this.

Possible health and behavioral problems

  1. Consider if stress is causing the cat to urinate on the carpet. Other pets, children, or noisy environments can cause your cat to become stressed and avoid using the litter box. Make sure that the tray is in a shaded, quiet, secluded place. If the litter box is located where there is a lot of foot traffic, the cat will be less likely to use it.

    • Try Feliway Cat Pheromone Spray to help your cat relax. This product has a scent that is soothing to some cats.
  2. Consider the cat's current health and past medical history. The cat's medical history may provide an explanation for why she refuses to use the litter box. If you suspect your cat is sick, take her to the veterinarian as soon as possible. Early treatment of the disease will solve the problem with the tray, as well as save the animal from pain and discomfort. Common causes for cats to urinate on carpet are urinary tract infections and cystitis.

    Check to see if the problem is that the cat is marking its territory. When a cat marks territory, she sprays some urine on a piece of furniture or other surface. In this case, the excreted amount of urine is significantly less than during normal urination. If your cat is behaving this way, you will find many of the suggestions in this article helpful, but there are a few things you need to do to stop your cat from marking its territory.

There is an opinion that it is very difficult to wean a cat to write in the wrong place: “If you already get into the habit of mischief on the carpet, then there will be a smell, you won’t take it out and you won’t retrain the cat.” A familiar statement? By the way, for this far-fetched reason, many people do not have pets. Let's see if everything is so categorical.

It's easy to guess that timely raising a kitten solves many problems. There are a number of ways to train a cat to the tray and even to the toilet, only one “but”, you need to do it on time. The optimal time does not depend on the age of the pet, but on the length of his stay in your home. That is, it is not so important whether you took a kitten or an adult cat, you need it right after moving to a new house.

The first and main success factor is choosing the right. The size, depth and design itself are important. For training, it is better to use open deep trays with sides and without a grid. In some cases, cats ignore open trays and then the only alternative is to buy a bio-toilet (a house with a roof and a tray).

The second factor is this . In a global sense, cat litter can be divided into: sand, sawdust and other means. With the first two, everything is clear, the third is granules with a certain moisture-absorbing chemical composition (most often, silicone). In separate lines there are fillers with flavorings.

Some owners prefer to accustom cats to sand (construction), paper, sawdust (not pressed) or earth in the old fashioned way. There is some sense in this, but we will talk about this below.

Important! If you adopt an adult cat with its claws removed, it will most likely be painful for her to step on any litter! In this case, the pet is immediately accustomed to a tray with a net.

Physiological causes

Let's say your cat has always gone to the litter box and started peeing all over the place for no apparent reason. Naturally, such antics will cause discontent, and should cause concern. Cats are naturally very clean and do not tend to dirty their home. Puddles that appear in a dwelling can indicate a number of alarming diseases, most often we are talking about kidney failure in a broad sense.

– your cat may not be making puddles on purpose! Usually, animals with urinary incontinence leave wet footprints where they sleep or sit. If you notice that the cat is in the habit of pissing on the couch for starters, visit the veterinarian and only after (if the pet is healthy) start correcting the behavior. The causes of urinary incontinence are associated with injuries or diseases of the spine, inflammatory processes (not necessarily the kidneys), and old age. The same item should include congenital ectopia of the ureters.

Read also: Transportation of cats by transport: basic rules and requirements

Stress– if the cat started to go to the toilet in a flower pot or in another uncomfortable, unusual and illogical place, it is most likely a matter of stress. Perhaps the purr is jealous of a new pet, bored, worried about the illness of a family member. Cats can be jealous of newborn babies and make puddles on the crumbs or in the playpen. Stress can and should be controlled, as it weakens the cat's immune system and can become a "catalyst" for another disease.

(ICD) - older and genetically predisposed cats (especially those that eat cheap dry food) suffer from stones in the kidneys, bladder or ureters. The cat experiences a painful urge to urinate, but cannot urinate. She sits down and literally squeezes out a few drops of urine, while grunting or screaming in pain.

- an inflammatory process, accompanied by symptoms similar to the ICD. Many owners have noticed that a cat with cystitis peeing past the litter box while in it or trying to urinate in an unnatural position, such as standing.

It should be understood that any pathological process of the genitourinary system can become the cause of incorrect behavior. Most often, domestic cats are diagnosed with pyelonephritis and glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the kidneys directly), ureitis. Less common is atony (lack of peristalsis) - urine is poured out when the bladder is full.

Correction of kittens' behavior

So, if we are talking about a kitten, the pet needs to be taught, not retrained. In this case, folk remedies proven over the years work perfectly. Follow the kitten once before he pees. Do not scold! Blot the puddle thoroughly with paper or cotton. The crime scene must be washed and treated with a chlorine-containing preparation. For reliability, use special repellent sprays.

Put the kitten's tray in the same room where he first went to the toilet. Pour a little filler and place the same paper (fabric) in the tray. Watch the kitten, as soon as he starts to worry and look for a place to relieve himself - carefully take him to the tray and calm him down. Again, for reliability, you can use special sprays.

Advice: do not wash the kitten's litter box (if possible) during the first week of training. The kid is looking for a toilet, focusing on the smell. The advice is not relevant if there is a strong helminthic invasion, in which case hygiene is much more important than etiquette.

Read also: Cat litter: types and properties

Correction of the behavior of adult cats

The established habits of adult animals are quite difficult to defeat. At the very least, you will have to "give it your all." All of the tips below imply a scrupulous attitude to cleanliness in the home and regular wet cleaning (at least during educational procedures).

The first thing to do is visit the pet store. An almost infallible remedy is Tray changing and behavioral correction sprays. It is important to purchase a spacious, but closed box in which the cat will feel safe. Privacy is also an important factor, many pets are simply embarrassed to write in front of everyone.

Sprays will either help immediately, or not help at all.. Naturally, preference should be given to proven drugs. Reviews from successful owners can be found on the forums or among friends. The meaning of the application is in the correction of behavior through prompts. Cats understand the language of smells well. Repellent sprays contain extracts from eucalyptus, green tea, citrus, etc. Such smells are unpleasant for tailed ones, and they are not inclined to write where uncomfortable quadrupeds are. Attractive sprays, on the other hand, smell like sawdust or other natural absorbent media.

Advice: The smell of bleach is unpleasant for cats, but they are able to adapt to it. Use household chemicals to clean surfaces, not to scare away.

If there is no special spray at hand, the surface can be treated with a warming ointment for joints or from sciatica (even inexpensive), it perfectly repels everyone famous "Asterisk" and other drugs with a sharp and pungent odor. However, know the measure, some drugs can be dangerous if they get on the mucous membranes, including the nose.

The problem with "pissing out of spite" is deeper and takes more time to resolve. If the cat ignores the litter box (and used to go to it regularly), makes puddles on the bed or pillow, the owner’s clothes, deliberately climbs onto the shelf to “renew” your headgear, this is a clear sign of extreme stress. Such antics, one and all, are explained by the pet's low self-esteem, his constant fear for his own life or health, lack of attention and communication.

How quickly will the problem be resolved? It all depends on the mood of the owner and the depth of the moral trauma of the cat. In mild cases, everything is fixable by communication, while the cat should not be punished for gifts in the form of puddles. The pet must be accepted as he is, gritting his teeth to wash and wash, but sincerely love! If the situation has not changed in a week, you will have to show imagination and guess what worries the pet. Watch the tailed one when he is frightened, when he is nervous, what stress is associated with.

Despite the fact that cats are very clean animals, pet owners may notice that the cat relieves its need not in the tray, but in the wrong secluded place, for example, in the corners, under the front door. Therefore, the question of how to scare away cats so that they do not spoil at home is of interest to many breeders of fluffy purrs. What means will help discourage a cat from going to the toilet in the wrong places in the house?

Why do cats shit in the apartment

The cutest fluffy pets do not always please the owners with exemplary behavior. Innocent pranks will be eliminated by a competent adjustment of the behavioral manners of a pet, but what if a kitten, an adult cat, a cat began to shit in the apartment in the wrong places?

Unfortunately, this problem is not only familiar to many owners of fluffy purrs, but also causes a storm of negative emotions. Why did an obedient pet begin to make puddles on the carpet, in the corners, under the front door, or even worse, urinate on a bed, personal items, shoes or flower pots? What to do so that the cat, so that the cat does not spoil things, stop spoiling in the house, apartment?

Before you start fighting such a bad habit, you need to establish the root cause of this pet behavior.

A cat, a cat can shit at home for the following reasons:

  1. Pet takes revenge. Cats are animals with a fine mental organization, therefore, a disrespectful, rude attitude, lack of attention can cause the animal to show its resentment in this way. Cats need to be loved and respected.
  2. sexual hunting, rut. During this period, the pet tries to attract the smell of individuals of the opposite sex.
  3. Cat, cat not accustomed to the tray. Teach your kitten to the toilet from the first days. This will help you avoid problems in the future.
  4. The cat does not like the tray, filler. Perhaps the cat litter is in a place that the pet does not like. The pet does not fit the size, shape of the tray.
  5. For diseases of the genitourinary system.

Another reason why cats start to shit in the apartment is the lack of tray hygiene. Therefore, after the cat has done its business, be sure to remove the cat tray.

What to do if the cat started to shit

How and with what can you scare away a cat if the pet began to spoil all over the apartment? Noticing that the cat began to go to the toilet in the wrong places, if the pet has chosen a certain place in the house, apartment, you can wean a fluffy pet in a fairly simple way. Beating, using physical force in relation to animals is not worth it. Such an approach can, on the contrary, lead to the fact that the cat will begin to do even more out of spite. Special means, unpleasant odors for cats will help scare away the pet.

In addition, it is not always possible to close all places in which the cat will not shit, or completely restrict access to them. Therefore, it is best to use special products that will not only discourage the pet from defecation in the wrong places, but also eliminate the unpleasant "aroma" of cat urine. It is important that there is a certain aroma that scares away furry pets from their favorite places in the house.

For cats, odors are divided into:

  • attractive;
  • repellent.

Using such a trick, knowing the smells that cats like or vice versa, which scare away, are unpleasant for cute fluffies, you can not only wean a cat, a cat to shit in the house, but also teach you to relieve yourself in the right place.

In veterinary pharmacies, pet stores, purchase tray fillers with a scent that attracts cats. You can also buy products in aerosols, sprays that contain a smell that will help scare away cats so that they do not spoil.

If the cat continues to poop, refuses, or goes to the litter box every other time, try installing special automatic sprinklers with motion sensors that not only spray unpleasant odors for cats, but also help to scare away animals.

Smells that are unpleasant for cats

If the cat began to leave "surprises" in the wrong places, you can solve this problem by using a smell that scares away cats so that they do not spoil. Use the same method if a cat scratches furniture, harms indoor decorative flowers. Attractive aromas for cats can also be used if necessary to accustom a cat to a scratching post, a tray.

Smells that are unpleasant for cats:

  • cloves, cinnamon;
  • black pepper;
  • table vinegar;
  • seasonings, spices;
  • onions, garlic;
  • perfumery, cosmetics.

Cats do not like pungent, spicy, sharp smells. Most essential oils, citrus aromas are also unpleasant, repel pussies, but they must be used carefully so as not to provoke an allergy.

The smell of lavender, ginger, rosemary, lemongrass, citronella, bergamot, fragrant rue will help in the fight against cat marks. It is enough just to lay out dry inflorescences of plants in the places that your pet has chosen for his toilet. This will help deter cats from going to the toilet anywhere.

Put a flower pot with a fragrant plant, a citrus bush in certain places in the apartment or put aromatic balls. This will scare the pet away.

Fragrant rue contains a large amount of essential oils. Their smell scares away the cat so that he does not spoil, but remember, a fragrant plant can be used extremely rarely so as not to harm the health of the pet.

So that the cat, the cat does not relieve himself in the wrong places, a mixture of various peppers with water will help scare away the fluffy. Mix spicy spices with water, spray where the cat poops. Treat restricted areas with table vinegar, liquid laundry soap. The smell of cologne, tincture based on onion, garlic peel will help scare away cats.

The following recipe will help scare away a pet to spoil:

  • Mix three tablespoons of freshly ground black or cayenne pepper in a glass of warm water.
  • Boil for a few minutes, stir thoroughly.
  • When the composition has cooled down, pour it into a spray bottle and spray it in places where a cat crap, a cat.This aroma scares away cats very much and they stop going to the toilet where they can’t.

In the places that the cat has chosen, lay out orange, citrus slices, put bowls with grated garlic, onion gruel.

Cats are afraid of the smell of mint, wormwood, chocolate, and certain medications. Cats do not tolerate tobacco, the smell of alcohol, perfumes, and certain medications.

If you have a personal plot and the cat got into the habit of shitting on the garden, you can use all of the above funds. Plant fragrant plants around the entire perimeter, creating an impromptu "aromatic" barrier. Scatter the spices over the area. Use soil additives containing particles of the urine of predatory animals.

Before using improvised scented products in the fight against cat marks, thoroughly clean problem areas using household chemicals. Add a few drops of essential oils to your cleaning products.

Attractive scents for cats

There are scents that cats love. For example, human sweat. It contains certain hormones, similar to natural pheromones, released by individuals of the opposite sex during sexual activity or when animals are ready to breed. This fragrance has a calming effect on pussies.

You may notice that if the owner comes from the street, the cat rubs against his legs, clothes, trying to get on his hands. So the animals try to kill third-party odors, so they often mark the personal belongings of the owners.

Cats love the scent of valerian. It attracts cats, adult cats, but kittens, on the contrary, may seem unattractive. The medicinal plant contains substances (nepetalactone, actinidin) that resemble sex hormones that cats secrete during the rut.

Using unpleasant aromas that can scare away a cat, it is very easy to wean cats to shit in places that are not supposed to. Be patient, be consistent. Having caught the pet at the "crime scene", do not use physical force. Scold in a strict tone, gently poke the cat's nose into a puddle, take it to the tray. Cats are very smart animals and will quickly understand what their beloved owner requires of them.

Vet

Owners of domestic cats sometimes face such a form of unwanted behavior as urine marks or defecation in the wrong places. Let's say right away that if a pet behaves this way, then he has serious reasons for this, which it would not hurt to figure out, then the problem will be solved by itself.

How to do this is the topic of a separate article, but here we will tell you what smells that scare away cats allow you to correct the behavior of a four-legged pet.

What smell are cats afraid of: natural ingredients

Cats have a highly developed sense of smell and smell about 14 times better than humans. Four-legged pets can pick up scents that people simply don't notice.

At the same time, some odors that are unpleasant for humans, for example, ethyl mercaptan, are considered neutral by cats and do not react to them, but they try to avoid many of our favorite aromas.

The smell of citrus scares cats

Among them, one of the first is the smell of citrus, from the source of which most meowing pets will stay away.

The reason is that the essential oils contained in the peel of these fruits have a smell that is too strong for cats, which quickly spreads in the air. Therefore, for educational purposes, you can use the zest and peel of lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, tangerine.

They are laid out directly near the place chosen by the cat for the administration of natural needs. The sharp citrus smell scares away cats - they will no longer shit in this place (at least until the peel disappears), however, nothing will prevent them from choosing another corner.

Herbs and spices

The aroma of spices and spices is also unpleasant for pets. They will try to avoid a place that smells of ground pepper, cinnamon, marjoram, turmeric.

Preparing a repellent is quite simple. It is enough to stir a teaspoon of seasoning in a glass of warm boiled water. Then you should strain the solution and spray with a spray bottle. Also, ground black pepper can be sprinkled on double-sided tape and fixed anywhere in the house.

Vinegar

Vinegar is one of the most effective scents for repelling cats. Animals with a very sensitive sense of smell cannot tolerate strong sour aromas. For processing at home, it is necessary to dilute the vinegar with water in a ratio of 1 to 3. This solution is used to wipe the places where the animal often leaves its marks.

The smell is quite persistent, and therefore the effect persists for a long time.

Special means for repelling cats

Pet stores and veterinary pharmacies offer a wide range of various sprays. As a rule, manufacturers use synthetic components and promise that such a smell scares away cats so that they don’t spoil or mark. These products are easy to use - just spray them on any surface, but their effectiveness varies greatly.

It is most convenient to choose such preparations that simultaneously destroy the smell of cat urine or excrement, because in order to avoid "relapses", you need not only to scare the cat away, but also carefully remove the stains left by its old "tricks".

In conclusion, I would like to note once again that repelling with the help of aromas can be effective, but this is only a superficial measure. Cats are very clean animals and are easily accustomed to visiting the tray. The only natural and almost inevitable are territory markings in non-sterilized animals.

Instruction

Try to find out the reason
First of all, you need to take the cat to the veterinarian to rule out possible health problems. It should be remembered that worms, constipation and various diseases of the genitourinary system can lead to the fact that the animal starts past its own. Thus, the animal is trying to draw attention to its problem. In addition, in this case, the cat may associate the tray with painful sensations.
One of the most common causes of an "unworthy" cat is resentment and revenge. Cats are very sensitive and touchy. It is often difficult for owners to guess what exactly caused such a reaction in their pet. Sometimes the animal simply does not have enough attention and affection. The cat may not like the tray itself or the place in which it is located. Cats are very picky and quite capable of refusing to go to the litter box if it is not comfortable enough or smells bad. Also, your cat may not be satisfied.

Thoroughly, using household chemicals, wash the entire house. Use special products that eliminate odors. Temporarily remove all carpets. The "marked" animals will never shit where the food is. If there are too many such places, you can glue a few cat food pellets onto cardboard boxes and arrange these cardboard boxes in the “marked” places.

Make sure the litter box is the right size for your cat and is in an accessible and convenient location.

Experiment with fillers - try buying a different kind of filler. Try to change the contents of the tray as often as possible. Each time, put a piece of paper soaked in the urine of the animal in the tray.