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a bit of back story since most cat problems are social.

i got a 4 month old in september and she has been a total and complete delight to raise, she never once has gone to the bathroom outside her litter box, never had a problem with noise, she can be a little rambunctious but that's because she's 6 months old and she does have many outlets for scratching and playing, so my furniture is fine.

anyway, on monday i adopted a new male kitten (probably 2 months old, they don't know) and since being separated from his 2 litter mates he spent the first day or two constantly yowling loudly or being listless and despondent. he would hiss and avoid my original cat. (yes, i know you're not supposed to introduce them right away, but my original cat is very positive, social, calm, accepting, and doesn't get stressed easily, so i thought it would be ok for just a brief introduction before letting the new cat roam)

continuing on, they get along great now and are really quite fond of each other, so i know that isn't a factor, but i can't figure out why my new kitten continues to have what looks like stress related diarrhea OUTSIDE but NEAR the litter box. sometimes he'll sit by the litter box, yowl loudly for a minute or two, (because i'm not going to reward that behavior i don't acknowledge him) then shit on the floor. he's not declawed so the litter can't be irritating him, unless it's irritating his butt which may be sore from all the diarrhea. anyway, i'm at a total loss here and it's becoming tiresome coming home to puddles of liquid shit all over the floor around the litter box.

does anyone have any insight on something i could be missing?

anti-cat fucks, flame away.

Just a few questions / suggestions

1.) Are you being incredibly diligent about keeping the litter box clean? I know with multiple cats it can be a lot tougher to do that. Might explain why the one cat is shitting outside it
2.) If you're home and you hear that yowling while the cat is by the litterbox....I'd suggest walking up to it, picking it up, and placing it right in the middle of the litterbox. Repeat whenever you hear it happening. Just get it used to going IN the box.
3.) Have you considered getting a second litterbox? I know a lot of people with 2 cats have 2 litterboxes. Perhaps it could help cut down on the shitting outside of the box issues.
4.) Have you changed its diet? The concerning thing is that it's diarrhea....so it could legit be having difficult bowl movements. Often cats yowl when they are uncomfortable or not feeling well. I know my cat yowls whenever he's about to puke.
5.) Does he make it into the box sometimes, or never? Is it just when he has diarrhea that he misses?

Anyway, those are just my quick suggestions/questions. I don't think it's a mental issue...my gut says it's an upset stomach/bowels kind of thing. I haven't heard of stress-related diarrhea

Cats aren't people, and they don't play by the same rules. Cats, as a rule, have miniscule comfort zones, and they have to expand them on their terms. You can't expect a cat to be reasonable because they're not creatures of reason.

My cat also came from a household with many cats, and also had separation anxiety. When introduced to our house, it began searching under every table and chair, meowing loudly, looking for the other cats. When approached, it would hiss.

Anyway, your problem is pretty simple. The new kitten doesn't want to share its litterbox with the other cat. That is what it is trying to communicate to you by defecating on the floor around the litterbox. Fine - get another litterbox. I also recommend separating the two cats, situating their respective food, toys and litterboxes on opposite sides of your house. Let them approach each other on their own terms. This will help reduce their stress level.

Declawing cats is cruel and should never be done under any condition. If you need to declaw your cat, then you and/or your life situation is not suitable for cat ownership.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

My stepmom had a cat, that she had to get a second litter box for, and she had to meticulously clean said box daily.

Cat didn't like shitting in the same box as others, and wouldn't shit if there was already shit in the litter box.

Druid: Meowth
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THIS.

Before my cat was given to me by my parents when I moved to Chicago, they were getting new leather furniture and decided he needed to be declawed. I argued and argued at the cruelty of it. They were his owners at the time, and I was rebuffed.

It's just awful...for humans...imagine if someone literally came and cut off all your fingertips. That's what it's like.


Side note as I know we have some cat haters on this board who might come in and troll....fuck you, in advance.

i already have two litter boxes that are separated. i can't control my original cat from shitting in either when i'm not home. also, i would never, under any circumstances declaw a cat. i also have a pheromone diffuser so i don't think it's stress related either. you're probably right and that he's just very particular about his litter situation, which i'm not sure i know how to rectify. there's already two litter boxes and he shows no preference, it's arbitrary, and if i move it, he shits where it used to be. and if its a problem with my original cat shitting in there too, how can i control which one she goes into?

confusingasfuck

Segregate them on opposite sides of the house. Use a baby barrier if you have to.

Also try changing brands of litter.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

Find out what it was eating before you got it and slowly ween it off that food (a month or two maybe?) until its eating the same food as the other cat. We had to do that a year or two ago with a shelter cat.

I don't know much about shitboxes as i've only ever had free range cats and any shitboxes were temporary measures.

It was cheaper to get the cats declawed than it was to replace my sofa.

Druid: Meowth
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They have one of those... they can't use it very well though.

JOKES ON THEM!

you bought them a scratching post after you had them declawed? is that some kind of sick joke?

Nah, they had a giant cat tower and a small scratching post they would make use of, but when we moved to the new house, they decided to go after our new furniture. We took their nails off, they recovered and maintained the same personality, and all is well... except for their phantom claw syndrome.