‘Fouling’ means defecating in this instance. Domestic cat marking with faces as opposed to urine is not uncommon and the reason behind the territorial marking will fundamentally be the same. Other than territorial issues there is health and the all-important litter box management in terms of cleanliness and position. The size of the litter tray and whether it is covered or open may play a part. Some cats might dislike a covered tray.
Unless there is incontinence which is unlikely or other health issues, depositing faeces outside of the litter box and inside the home – or simply doing it even when the cat usually goes to the toilet outside the home – will be down to territorial marking. The cat feels a need to establish ownership of their territory and remind others that they own it. To feel like that something happened to challenge ownership or they feel so insecure that they need to confirm ownership to others.
The solutions are in order:
- Check the cat’s health.
- Do research on litter tray type, size, substrate, cleanliness and position. Which way does it face? North or south!
- Ask if you are leaving your cat alone for too long. All day is too long.
- Ask if you are creating a stressful home environment perhaps inadvertently or for any number of reasons due to human issues.
- Check inter-cat stresses due to the introduction of a new cat or in a multi-cat home.
More: What is the most common behaviour problem in cats?
Example: I have told this one before but it is an excellent example. It is first hand experience. My ex-wife kept our boy cat when we split and I took the female.
She was a lawyer and very busy and she liked to stay out late. Her cat was left alone in an apartment in north London all day and sometimes into the late evening. What can you expect? A very stressed, sweet cat who become so anxious he defecated on her bed.
It was a cry for help actually. It was marking territory when there was no need to but a distortion of the need to mark territory to tell other cats that they owned it. This was an instinctive expression of anxiety not from the presence of another cat on his territory but from the absence of his ‘surrogate mother’ my ex-wife.
It is a misconception that cats are so indepent-minded that they can be left alone for long hours. They definitely can’t. Doing it is probably the single biggest reason why cats become stressed and an alternative response from the cat is not to defecate on the carpet or bed but to urinate on them instead.
For the cat this is the same difference.
Please search for answers to inappropriate defecation or urination on this website as there are many articles which provide the best answers. 😃😉👍
