new cat pooing on the floor! Help

[Claire]

Hi All, well the honeymoon period is officially over! Fudge, after a couple of successful trips to the tray, has decided that she would rather poo on the floor next to the living room door! I have moved the tray to where she is going but she just did her business next to it! This seems to have started since my other 2 boys had a sniff and a sit in her tray. Any ideas as to what I can do to help her settle in a bit more? I'm sure that given time she'll get used to her new surroundings and otherwise she is doing so well! Any advice?

[IrishKitty]

I may leave this one to the experts but just wondering if have you cleaned her litter tray thoroughly since the other cats used it?

I recall reading an article before where some kitty's can stop using their tray if another cat uses it!

[WoodsideMaineCoons]

First if all, she probably is being fussy and doesn't want to use the tray if it smells of the other cats. However, once they start messing outside their tray, even if it's only once or twice, it becomes a habit. So, you need to shut her in one room with a brand new litter tray and wait for her to use it. Once she is established using it then she should be OK but it looks as though she is going to have issues with your other cats using it and not sure how you can address that one really in a multi cat household.

[Claire]

I've cleaned it out but I think I'll need to disinfect it too! She has used it before so hopefully it's a blip. If she needs a tray just for her than I'll have to try and sort it!! Oh the joy of cats! (They're worth it though!)

[dave]

A long shot but could the other cats be bullying her on the toilet perhaps?
I am reading this book at the moment by a cat psychologists and she tells stories of different peoples problems with their cats and how she helped solve the issue. One of the stories was one cat had a problem on the toilet and the owner had moved it etc, cleaned but it turned out that the other cats didnt like her using it and would bully her when she was going which in turn scared her to go near it, so they bought a second litter tray and bingo no more accidents and happy kitty.

[Tomiam]

We got both our MC's at the same time and had also read something very similar about litter boxes sometimes being a place of conflict, so we bought two big trays. Never had a problem since day one, hundreds of direct hits and zero misses.
We clean ours out 2 or 3 times a day, as its in the downstairs bathroom its a piece of cake to do it when one of us uses the loo. Plus... there is the incentive of not going to the bathroom when it sticks of cat poop!

Also read that privacy is an issue sometimes. If Loki or Storvenn are in the bathroom using their trays, I have to wait until they are finished before going in, else they wont go. I dont know if your trays are in a frequently travelled area?