One day, you return home after a stressful day of studying and working and discover a faint "characteristic perfume" smell on the sofa, in the closet or even on your favorite pair of leather shoes. You want to go crazy and just want your cat to disappear immediately.
Wait, my dear, sit down, eat a piece of cake and drink a piece of water and listen to GauGau's excuses.
There are reasons why cats and kittens defecate indiscriminately, and no matter what, there are ways to prevent and solve them. Usually cats will not poop because they hate you, but because their physical, social needs are not being met or they have health problems.
Let's answer the following questions to find out why:
1. Environmental and social factors
Does your house have many cats? Are the sand trays clean? Is there enough for everyone? Because cats are creatures that like to be clean, their toilet requirements are higher than other species. Especially in a family with many cats, a clean litter box is very important.
Is the cat tray placed in a place where many people pass by? Or is there a common living area for other cats? Think about it, who doesn't like to "resolve sadness" in a quiet place?
Have cats ever had a bad impression of the litter box? For example, is the litter box often dirty or has the cat ever been trapped in the litter box?
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2. Marking habits
It is a normal behavior to mark territory. Marking behavior includes scratching, rubbing, urine spraying, and feces.
"Virgin" cats/cats will mark as part of their sexual behavior.
Are there any changes in the home that might make your cat anxious? Especially where cats eat, sleep, and play.
"Victims" are often objects that have a new or difficult-to-distinguish smell such as backpacks, shoes, suitcases...
Are there strange cats or dogs hanging around your house? Because when a cat marks the window or door, it means the cat perceives a threat from outside the house.
Do you have a new dog or cat in your house? or just had a baby? Have guests? Or are you renovating your house? When a cat marks on the stairs, hallway, door, or in the middle of the room: the cat is stressed or there is a threat from inside the house.
3. Medical causes
Cats with health problems may change their behavior. The veterinarian will examine and diagnose possible factors. The cat will have a general examination, urine test to check for infection, cystitis, arthritis, kidney problems, diabetes... If there is any doubt, the vet will do a urine culture, abdominal ultrasound, and X-ray. Abdominal x-ray, general blood test, stool test...
4. Spontaneous cystitis
Is a common cause. Do you see your cat often urinating and frowning in pain? Spontaneous cystitis causes cats to urinate, have difficulty and pain, and may have blood in the urine. Inflammation can get worse or worse over time and can get worse with stress or changes in diet.
At this point, do you have your answer yet? Now let's find a way to overcome the consequences and improve this ugly behavior!
Cat litter trays/toilets and litter mats for cats play a very important role in forming the habit of going to the toilet in the right place. GauGau will guide you through everything on how to set up the litter box most effectively.
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♦ Quantity:
Each cat should have his or her own litter box, and an additional public litter box in the common area. If your house has many cats, living together in harmony, playing together, sleeping together, licking together, they can also share and use the same sand tray with each other.
♦Location:
Avoid placing the sand tray near eating areas
Cats often like private, quiet places. Avoid placing the litter box in a common living area or in a place where it is difficult for cats to get in and out.
Place the sand trays far away from each other, because if placed too close, they will think the whole area is a toilet.
You should place the sand tray where your cat likes to go to the toilet to practice the habit.
If your house has multiple floors, you should place one tray on each floor. Especially for older cats, the tray should be placed in the place where the cat most often lives, because it will be difficult to go up and down the stairs every time there is a need to clean.
♦ Tray size
The litter box/toilet should be 1.5 times larger than the cat's length, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail. You can cover the wall to avoid sand splashes.
For older cats, the entrance and exit part should be lower.
♦ Toilet sand
You should try many different types of cat litter to find the type your cat likes best. Most cats do not like sand that smells too good, sand that has dust, or deodorized sand.
♦Clean the sand tray
You should remove dirty sand at least once a day and add new sand. Wash the sand tray weekly with soap. Do not use harsh detergents or ingredients containing ammonia.
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Sand spread all over the house after the cat has finished defecating, how to handle it?
Immediately use a cat litter mat under the sand bowl to retain the sand as soon as the cat steps out or simply use large-grained sand that does not stick to the feet such as wood or soybean sand.
There is a saying: it takes 3 days to pick up a bad habit but it takes 3 weeks (or more) to break it. What you need most is patience and lots of love for the cats. Take some time to understand your little friend's thoughts and feelings, cooperate with a Veterinarian if you think it is related to a health problem, and solve the problem at the root so that every day together is a day. fun.
Thank you for reading GauGau's article.