Bad litterbox Habits

Q.: I recently brought a kitten of six months home from a local shelter. My roommate already has a female, spayed cat of one year. The cats get along great, no problems at all there, but we're having an issue with the litter boxes. They each have their own: Nameless (my kitten) in my room and Phoenix in my roommate's room, but Nameless never seems to use her own unless she has no choice. Especially when she has a particularly messy job to do, she goes not only in the other cat's box, but all over the floor and even got some on the wall somehow. How can I dissuade her from using the other cat's box?

A.: If your cat's jobs are that messy (I assume we're talking diarrhea here), I would try deworming (if that hasn't already been done). If that doesn't help, I would consult a vet, preferably bringing a sample of the mess, to check if there's an intestinal infection of some kind. Since the two cats get along so well, I can't think of any behavioral issues that could be at work here.

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