Surface Preferences
All animals develop preferences for a particular surface on which they like to eliminate. These preferences may be established early in life, but they may also change overnight for reasons that we don’t always understand. Your cat may have a surface preference if:
She consistently eliminates on a particular texture—for example, soft-textured surfaces such as carpeting, bedding, or clothing, or slick-textured surfaces such as tile, cement, bathtubs, or sinks.
She frequently scratches on this same texture after elimination, even if she eliminates in the litter box.
She is or was previously an outdoor cat and prefers to eliminate on grass or soil.
What You Can Do:
If you recently changed the type or brand of cat litter, go back to providing the litter that your cat had been using.
If your cat is eliminating on soft surfaces, try using a high-quality, scoopable litter.
If your cat is eliminating on slick, smooth surfaces, try putting a very thin layer of litter at one end of the box, leaving the other end bare, and put the box on a hard floor.
If your cat has a history of being outdoors, add some soil or sod to the litter box.
Location Preferences
Your cat may have a location preference if:
She always eliminates in quiet, protected places, such as under a desk, beneath a staircase, or in a closet.
She eliminates in an area where the litter box was previously kept or where there are urine odors.
She eliminates on a different level of the home from where the litter box is located.
What You Can Do:
Put at least one litter box on every level of your home. (Remember, a properly cleaned litter box does not smell.)
To make the area where she has been eliminating less appealing to your cat, cover the area with upside-down carpet runner or aluminum foil, place citrus-scented cotton balls over the area, or place water bowls in the area (because cats often don’t like to eliminate near where they eat or drink).
OR
Put a litter box in the location where your cat has been eliminating. When she has consistently used this box for at least one month, you may gradually move it to a more convenient location at a rate of an inch—seriously!—per day.
Everyone Makes Mistakes
If you catch your cat in the act of eliminating outside the litter box, do something to interrupt her like making a startling noise, but be careful not to scare her. Immediately take her to the litter box and set her on the floor nearby. If she wanders over to the litter box, wait and praise her after she eliminates in the box. If she takes off in another direction, she may want privacy, so watch from afar until she goes back to the litter box and eliminates, then praise her when she does.
Don’t ever punish your cat for eliminating outside of the litter box. By the time you find the soiled area, it’s too late to administer a correction. Do nothing but clean it up. Rubbing your cat’s nose in it, taking her to the spot and scolding her, or inflicting any other type of punishment will only make her afraid of you or afraid to eliminate in your presence. Animals don’t understand punishment after the fact, even if it’s only seconds later, and trying to punish them will often make matters worse.
Other Types of House Soiling Problems
Marking/Spraying: To determine if your cat is marking or spraying, consult a veterinarian or animal behaviorist.
Fears or Phobias: When animals become frightened, they may lose control of their bladder and/or bowels. If your cat is afraid of loud noises, strangers, or other animals, she may soil the home when she is exposed to these stimuli.
