cat and a new carpet

merrill77

Hello,

First off let me preface this by saying that I love my cat, she has been my best friend and companion for the last 13 years, and I would never give her away, rehome her, physically discipline her, or have her put down, ever.

Anyway, we have just purchased a new home in which we replaced all of the upstairs carpets.  My cat has never ever had an accident or urinated/pooped outside of the litter. She did pee on the plastic that we had covering the carpet while we were painting which I was not that shocked by since I have had cats in the past that peed on plastic. Now she is pooping on the carpet. I have lived in about 6 different apartments since I adopted her and she has never done this before.  Does anyone have advice on how to keep her from doing this? (I have moved the litter out of the basement).  Incidentally she does this while I am at work. Also, she still uses her litter box.

ndolehan

It's possible since she does this when you're at work and it's a new home that she's feeling stress/anxiety about the new place.

A few things you can try are feliway (collar or diffuser) to help calm and cat attract litter - even though she's using the litter box, perhaps she needs an extra "boost". 

Another option is to keep her in a "safe room" with her things until she feels more comfortable, this might just be something to do while you're at work. 

Not sure if this works for cats, but for dogs they fell less stressed if you leave the radio/TV on when you're not home. Wouldn't hurt to try!

merrill77

Thank you for your suggestions! We currently use exquisi-cat litter but I am going to get cat attract.  I will also get a diffuser (she won't wear a collar). We did leave her in the bedroom with all of the familiar things in it (bed, comforter, clothing that she was used to sleeping on) for the first few days but then she seemed to become more confident and began wanting to explore the house.

merrill77

One more question, with the feliway diffuser should I put it in the room that she is pooping in or should I plug it in near the litter box?

destination09

I'm not trying to be a fear-monger, but please take her to the vet to be sure she isn't having intestinal issues.  When my cat suddenly started pooping outside the box, I didn't act soon enough.  He had an extreme case of mega colon and constipation, but because he never acted like he was in pain, I didn't know.  The only sign was going on the floor occasionally.  I'll always wonder if his outcome would have been different had I taken him in the first time it happened.