My kitten keeps pooping where she shouldn't!!

[laurawaterman]

I've had my 2 year old cat Zoe for 1.5 years now... and we recently got a kitten, Tigger. She's about 14 weeks old now, and we got her at 6 weeks (I know that's really young... but under the circumstances, it had to be done) For the first month she was really good. Her and Zoe shared a litter box with no problems. However, for the last few weeks, she's started pooing, and occasionally peeing outside of her litter box. Not around the house, next to the litterbox, or at least in the same room as the litterbox (the laundry room). At first I thought that I should change the kitty litter more often, so I went from changing it once a week to twice a week, and all of their poos, and most of their pees (it's clumping kitty litter) get scooped dailey, if not as soon as they do them. But now even when they have fresh kitty litter, she'll still go on the floor. She doesn't always go on the floor.... about half the time she uses the litterbox.... how do I teach her to use it all the time? Why has she changed her mind about sharing a litterbox? She was doing so good.

[Loki Love]

I'd suggest getting another litterbox - maybe she no longer likes to share A quick visit to the vet to rule out anything medical may also be in order

[Love4himies]

If only we could understand kitty speak . It could be that Zoe spooked her once, so if Zoe is around she won't use it. You will probably never find out the reason.

I second Loki Love's idea of a second litter box and perhaps one that is different than the original. Have you used an enzyme cleaner to clean up Tigger's accidents?

[Barkingdog]

Originally Posted by Love4himies

If only we could understand kitty speak . It could be that Zoe spooked her once, so if Zoe is around she won't use it. You will probably never find out the reason.

I second Loki Love's idea of a second litter box and perhaps one that is different than the original. Have you used an enzyme cleaner to clean up Tigger's accidents?

I third Loki Love's idea , I was going to say that too. How do the two cats get along otherwise?

[laurawaterman]

Thanks. I'm trying to avoid using a second litterbox... but if it need to be done, then it needs to be done.

The cats get along pretty well. Zoe gets fed up with Tigger wanting to play all the time, but they sleep and cuddle together and lick eachother. It took Zoe about a week to warm up to Tigger, but they're friends now. (They actually share the same mom... which is pretty cool... so they're actually sisters)

[Reg]

Hi:
As mentioned, a visit to the vet to make sure there are no medical issues, is something to think about.
The other major thing would be if something is stressing the kitten. What caught my eye was the location of the litter box - the laundry room. Could something have happened there that would have caused a trauma event - such as something falling onto her from a shelf or a running machine or from leaning against a wall, or a machine re-cycling? that would have stressed her out.
The other thing too is - are there cleaning supplies and chemicals in the laundry room? Some of these products can be extremely harsh for a cat because of the sensitivity of their noses.
Has there been any change in the environment in the house - moving furniture - or outside? ie construction or other people's animals in your yard?
There are a myriad of things to go wrong that can cause a cat to eliminate other than in the litter box.
It's just a matter of detective work to find out what the problem is and getting suggestions.