How to stop a cat from shitting in the wrong place: ways to fight and methods of punishment

What should you do if your cat starts peeing anywhere, ignoring the toilet? Moreover, she was accustomed to the litter box and went there regularly “yesterday,” and then suddenly she changed her habits and began to shit in the wrong place. Running around with a rag throughout the apartment, wiping the floors, or constantly washing clothes and hiding clothes in closets is, frankly speaking, not a very bright prospect. And it makes no sense to scold the animal either - then it will do mischief deliberately, to spite the owner. Therefore, in order to resolve the issue, you must first understand its causes. And there can be many of them. Let's talk about the most common of them.

Health problems

Various diseases of the genitourinary system and gastrointestinal tract may well be the reason that the cat began to pee anywhere. Many breeds have a genetic predisposition to urolithiasis, especially if you feed your pet cheap dry food. It is quite easy to determine that urination is causing pain to your cat. She becomes fussy, nervous, hesitates for a long time to approach the tray, and meows pitifully. Having jumped into the toilet, he does not urinate at full strength, squatting on his hind legs and pressing against the walls of the box. Or, on the contrary, he tries to do everything in an unnatural standing position. The latter option is typical for exacerbations of cystitis.

Over time, the animal develops an association that the litter box is pain. This means you need to look for another place. The choice falls on something soft, cozy and safe - for example, a bed, sofa covers, pillows, carpets, etc. Urinary incontinence can also be associated with dysfunction of the bladder sphincter, as well as constipation and cysts in the anal area, which serve as pain provocateurs.

In addition to the above reasons, problems with urination may be associated with the following factors:

liver and kidney diseases;
digestive system dysfunction;
infectious diseases;
inflammatory processes of internal organs;
allergic reactions to certain foods;
neurological disorders;
progressive rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

In any case, when there are suspicions of any health abnormalities, it is necessary to contact a veterinarian and make the appropriate diagnosis. As a rule, blood, urine and stool tests are taken, and an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity is performed to make a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment regimen.

To educate or retrain?

It’s not hard to guess that in a timely manner solves many problems . There are a number of ways to train a cat to use the litter box and even the toilet; there is only one “but”: this must be done on time. The optimal time does not depend on the age of the pet, but on the length of time it has lived in your home. That is, it doesn’t really matter whether you adopted a kitten or an adult cat; you need to teach it “toilet etiquette” immediately after moving to a new home.

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

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

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

Important! If you are adopting a declawed adult cat, it will likely be painful for her to step on any litter! In this case, the pet is immediately accustomed to a tray with a mesh.

Territory designation

At the age of 6-8 months, cats reach puberty, and the reproductive instinct makes itself felt with characteristic signs: loud meowing and guttural screams, changes in behavior (excessive affection or aggressiveness), as well as marking of territory. Urine is used by animals as a way to attract a mate and let him know that they are willing to mate.

The soiling of furniture, curtains, clothes, the owner's slippers and other household items indicates that sexual hunting has begun. By means of secreted pheromones, females notify males that they are ready to reproduce, and males scare away other cats, letting them know that entry into someone else’s territory is prohibited. The marking process goes like this: the animal approaches a vertical surface (wall, door, furniture) with its back, raises its tail and leaves stinking marks on the surface with stunning movements.

It is useless to go against nature, so no educational measures or persuasion will help to reason with the cat so that he does not pee anywhere. In such a situation, three options are possible:

Realize natural instinct and mate animals. It makes sense when there is an opportunity to place the kittens in good hands in the future or sell them if the parents are purebred. It is worth considering that frequent mating undermines the health of cats, and cats only temporarily stop marking the apartment.
Castration/sterilization. A surgical solution to the problem is a fairly common method of contraception. The operation involves the removal of the gonads and, as a result, the animal’s sexual activity is suppressed or completely stopped. It is performed under general anesthesia in a veterinary clinic. After surgery, you will no longer need to try to wean your cat from peeing in the wrong place - they lose interest in the opposite sex, become obedient, affectionate and do not mark in the house.
Taking hormonal drugs. There are many pros and cons for this method, so the decision to use oral contraceptives is made individually by the cat owner. Sterilization surgery may be contraindicated due to the animal’s advanced age, various injuries and health problems.

Important: it should be borne in mind that hormonal drugs can cause the development of mastopathy and malignant tumors. As an alternative, veterinarians suggest bio-sterilization, that is, a one-time injection of hormones into the cat’s body. The procedure lasts for 9-12 months, and then it is repeated again.

Folk remedies for weaning cats from shitting anywhere

Vomiting in a kitten: why and what to do about nausea

These products repel cats so that they don’t piss anywhere:

Cats cannot tolerate citrus fruits. In the place where your pet wants to shit, you need to lay out the peel of an orange, lemon or grapefruit.
Cats hate hot vegetables. If you rub a paste of onion or garlic onto your pet’s “favorite” surface, the cat will no longer appear there.
Perfume products. Not a very effective method, because... Purely individual, but worth a try.
Essential oils. Extracts of rosemary, lavender, mint are mixed with water, citrus peel is rubbed into the solution and dripped onto the place where the cat pees.
Vinegar and alcohol. Cats do not tolerate the smell of alcohol and vinegar. One small glass of alcoholic beverages on the table will give an absolute guarantee that the pet will not climb on it and will not commit its dirty deeds.

The listed compositions have good and time-proven effectiveness. They will discourage any desire to write in the wrong place.

Behavioral factor

One of the reasons that the cat began to walk past the tray is a feeling of disgust towards the tray. Since animals are by nature very clean and picky regarding personal hygiene, the slightest violation in the organization of the toilet can lead to fatal consequences.

The cat will develop a reflexive type of behavior, and isolated “misses” will develop into a stable habit of walking anywhere. What could she not like?

Type of filler. For inexplicable reasons, cats react normally to some fillers, while others completely ignore them, regardless of the brand of the manufacturer and the price of the product. Alternatively, the granules may stick to the paws, have an unpleasant odor, cause allergies, etc.
Tray size and shape. For example, too tight, uncomfortable or with insufficiently high/low sides. Some cats prefer to sit in round-shaped boxes, refusing to pee in standard rectangular trays.

Tray instability. If the container sways and stands precariously on the floor, this causes anxiety in the animal, and it tries to quickly finish its business and jump out of the tray. Subsequently, the instinct of self-preservation kicks in, and the purr looks for another place for the toilet.
Tray location. The appearance of a washing machine, a broom, new furniture and other irritating objects in the bathroom causes discomfort, and in some cases, fear of entering the room. The pet begins to get nervous and choose a more secluded area to “sit down.”

Dirty tray. Often cats refuse to go into an unwashed (or insufficiently washed, in their opinion) litter box.

In such cases, you need to be patient and try to create the most favorable conditions for the cat to go to the toilet. Here are some effective recommendations:

Place several trays with different fillings nearby and one completely empty. Moreover, they must differ in size, shape, and height of the sides. Observe which one the animal chooses, and when it goes there regularly, quietly remove all other containers. Often, cats prefer fine-grained litter that has good flowability - you can rummage in it before urinating.
Use two trays at the same time: the cat will pee in one and poop in the other.
Buy a closed tray-house or make your own structure from a cardboard box with a slot for entry.
Clean the litter box thoroughly after every trip to the toilet. To eliminate odor, it is advisable to wash cat accessories not with warm or hot water, but with running cold water.
Provide 24-hour access to the toilet. The door to the bathroom should always be open or half-open so that the pet can easily get to the tray.

How to retrain a kitten

If the cub is very small, you need to accustom him to the tray with the help of constant supervision. The animal begins to sniff the floor, spins in place, choosing how it is more convenient to sit down. If characteristic signs of a desire to relieve oneself are detected, the kitten should be quickly transferred to the tray.

This should be done without shouting, calmly. If your pet manages to urinate, you need to immediately remove the puddle and treat the area of the floor with an aromatic substance (citrus or pine essential oils are best suited). The product will hide the smell of urine, and the kitten will not try to sit in this place again.

You shouldn't do that!

To draw your pet's attention to the tray, place a little feces or litter moistened with urine into the container. Instinctively, kittens relieve themselves every time where their scent is already present.

If an animal constantly leaves a puddle in one place, the easiest way is to move the tray there: perhaps the pet feels calm only in the selected corner.

Other reasons

There are many other factors that cause stress in pets and, as a result, a desire to defecate in inappropriate places. Among the most likely reasons for a cat peeing anywhere are the following:

Response to disrespectful attitude from the owners. For example, if a cat is forcibly placed on a tray, roughly grabbed by the scruff of the neck, poked with its nose into an “incorrectly” made puddle, shouted at, or left alone at home for a long time.
New people appear in the family (small child, relatives, friends), who distract a large share of attention. The pet has no choice but to start causing mischief and thus switch the viewpoint of the household members towards itself.
Moving to another place of residence. Cats take a long time to adapt to new living conditions, so they have to be toilet trained again.
Apartment/house renovation. The animal is constantly in a nervous disorder and reacts to what is happening in a peculiar way, that is, it urinates in the wrong place.
Substitution of associations. Some household objects can remind a cat of a litter box (flower pots, shoe boxes, furniture boxes, etc.) and provoke “illegal” actions.

Educate or retrain

If a cat is initially trained to go to the litter box, then as an adult he will not change his preferences.

ATTENTION! You can also train your pet to pee on the toilet, but this will require a lot of time and effort. It doesn't matter how old the new pet is.

If you take home an adult cat, then you must immediately teach it to pee on the tray or toilet. The following factors need to be taken into account:

A comfortable toilet is very important for a cat. It should actually be deep, in terms of length - 1.5 times longer than the body of the seal . Some animals like to defecate in rimmed toilets. There are also cats who do not like a simple litter box. For them, you need to look for a dry closet (a house in which there is a tray);
Tray filler. In addition to conventional fillers, you can use sand and sawdust. They differ from filler in that they absorb odor and absorb for a long time. You can choose wood, regular or flavored litter for your pet, based on its tastes.

Sometimes, the reason why a cat behaves strangely is due to the wrong litter.

How to stop a cat from walking past the toilet

If the cat starts peeing anywhere, veterinarians recommend:

Thoroughly wash soiled areas with disinfectants. Animals have an excellent sense of smell, so the remaining smell will attract them to mess up again and again.
Place strong-smelling spices (pepper, cloves, cardamom) or orange peels on “problem” areas. The pungent aroma should stop the cat from urinating in the same place.
Place double-sided tape on the floor/furniture/table and other household items that are within your pet’s circle of “interests”. He will be uncomfortable and afraid to step on the sticky surface, which means that the desire to mark the territory there will disappear.
Place a bowl of food where the cat gets into the habit of going to the toilet. Animal psychology is designed in such a way that they always urinate and eat in different places.
Use special sprays that are sold in pet stores. They discourage cats from defecating outside the litter box.
Wipe the cat's face with a rag, and then wipe the surface where he got into the habit of shitting with the same cloth. Approaching the place of his “crimes,” the pet will hear its own smell and will not want to urinate there.
During periods of long absence, leave a spare tray. If the main litter box becomes so dirty that your cat starts to ignore it, she can switch to a clean box.

And the most important thing to remember is no assault or rude attitude. Physical impact can have the opposite effect, and the animal will simply begin to take revenge. More affection, attention and patience, and it is likely that the cat will quickly accept the established rules and try not to break them.