[attachment=1055]I have a new ragdoll male kitten called Cody (he's 14 weeks old) and he is absolutely adorable in every way except that if he is in a main living room he has a tendency to poo in the fire grate (luckily the fire is not lit at this time of year LOL.)
He doesn't go anywhere else in the house except of course his usual litter tray. Maybe he is mistaking the fire grate as a type of litter tray as it has black coals in in? Any ideas how I can stop him going there? I don't want to screen the area off as it is the centre piece of our room.
Hi Glitter;
By fire grate do you mean a fire place type? if so can you put a screen in front of it? Just an idea.
Catherine
Brick, NJ USA
I would at least temporarily block it. There is probably some scent he is overmarking, but I am not sure whether cleaning it will be enough. Typically, one would clean with a 1/10 dilution of bleach. Of course, litterbox issues are most often medical in origin, so you might not want to avoid that and get a vet check and even give a course of antibiotics even if there are no other symptoms. However, it does seem most likely that there is some scent that is attracting the behavior.
Do you have more than one litter box, if not I would try getting another one.
glitterball Wrote:I have a new ragdoll male kitten called Cody (he's 14 weeks old) and he is absolutely adorable in every way except that if he is in a main living room he has a tendency to poo in the fire grate (luckily the fire is not lit at this time of year LOL.) He doesn't go anywhere else in the house except of course his usual litter tray. Maybe he is mistaking the fire grate as a type of litter tray as it has black coals in in? Any ideas how I can stop him going there? I don't want to screen the area off as it is the centre piece of our room.
I have to say, Deb has a good idea. I have a girl that likes to poo in on and pee in another. If you don't have two litter boxes, I would definitely try that too!!
Perhaps try cleaning and blocking the fire place temporarily as Jan suggests, and then put a second litter box in front of the fire place until Cody is back on track.
I agree with Deb and Teresa, maybe you should find another place where put a second litter box... anyway you can also make the fire place less appealign for your cat.
For Example you shoudl put on the fire place a mousetrap in reverse position, so when Cody places himself in the fire place, the truck sets off frightening him without harming.
ehm... I hope to be clear......
Thank you for your replies, I have been using the fire grate again now winter is here in England and Cody has since stayed away. However, when I stop using it probably in spring time then I will certainly take on board some of your suggestions.