I recently moved, and my 5 year old cat has twice pooped in the closet instead of her litter box. She's moved with me twice before, and had no problems. She never defecated outside of the litter box in her life, till now. Any idea why she's doing this?
by 
Jenniferocious
ANSWERS: 5
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the cats finally had it up to here with all the moving...frankly, i cant blame her
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Maybe you should try putting the litterbox in the closet :)
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Your cat sounds stressed due to the move. Did you give your cat ample time to settle in when you moved? - The cat should have been left to settle in on its own in one room first - (the room should contain all its bedding and familar items eg. scratching post) then the cat can be slowly introduced to the rest of the house over a period of a week or so-----if the cat hasn't had time to establish its territory in the house and settle in properly it may be defecating in unacceptable places because of stress. Moving is stressfull for terrotorial cats, adjusting to the change will take a while - (try not to allow the cat outside for a while after moving - it may try to return home) To tackle the littertray problem - clean out the tray regularly - cats are very clean animals and a less than clean litter tray could be adding to the problem, also ensure the tray is in a quiet corner of the house - a low traffic area - as this will encourage your cat to use it.
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She is telling you that she is stressed out by all the moves. she can never get comfortable in one place because she is being uprooted all the time.
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Could be because the previous owners (if that is the case) had a un-trained pet that went wherever, and your cat can smell it.
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