cat not using litter box

by KATHY
(PAULDEN ARIZONA)

i HAVE A PERRISON CAT THAT THE LAST TWO WEEKS HE ISNT POOPING IN THE LITTER BOX.HE JUST HAD A HAIR CUT NEEDED BADLY.I CHANGED LITTER ALMOST TWO MONTHS AGO.WHY NOW ISNT HE USING THE BOX?

Answer by Kate
any behavior like this is nearly always to do with something which has upset your cat and he is doing this because it nor only helps him to feel secure in his home again ie marking his territory and making it smell like him but also it shows others that this is his territory. the behavior is called Middening.
By the sounds of it it could have been caused by him having his fur shaved which has perhaps stressed him a little and he is trying to make himself fee l more secure by spreading his scent around. If this is the cause then hopefully it will stop once he has settled down again, if not you may have to try and retrain him to use the litter box again. See my training to use litter box under the training pages here on my site.

Hopefully this is just a temporary set back which he will recover from soon.

best wishes
kate

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