All of a sudden Mustard wants to poop in my living room!

by Marcia Anne
(Nowata, OK)

I have a 4 month old male cat named Mustard. He's used the litter box since we got him. Then one day he went on my bed... and now he just goes in the living room. I cant seem to fix the problem?? What do I do?

There is nothing thats changed in the household. Or no different litter. It's plenty big enough. And we keep it clean. Its the same litter box he's had since he was 8 weeks old...so why all of the sudden?

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My Thoughts:

He may be having issues with constipation or impacted anal glands, or some other intestinal problem. Medical problems need to be ruled out, so call the vet and see what's happening there.

You'll need to clean the areas that he's using thoroughly and make sure all of the smell is gone. Otherwise he'll keep coming back to them. An enzymatic cleaner like AtmosKlear works well for this.

As I've mentioned to many people, some cats simply like separate boxes for urination and defecation, and cats can develop preferences at any time in their lives. These preferences can also include the type of material to eliminate on, litter box location, and so on.

As for what to do, read the materials on the pages of the Litter Box Problems Guide and begin to rule things out (medical first, then box placement and number, texture preferences, etc.). Isolation retraining may be required once you figure out the cause.

I hope that helps,

-Kurt