Gah!!! Litter box issues!!

[mindy]

Fred is getting worse instead of better with the litter box.

I don't close the door to their cage anymore. I let them have free range in their room because after 7 months of them not finding anything in there to get into I figure it is ok now.

But, since I have been letting them have all that room Fred has decided to poop in different areas of the room. Where ever he chooses to go I put a litter box. That went well for a day or 2 and now, more often than not, he will push the box away and then poop/pee on the floor! It is bad since I have laminate flooring and the pee soaks in

I don't think that he is upset that the boxes aren't clean, there is never more than 2-3 poopies in there. I have many litter boxes in there. They are all filled with wood stove pellets and he never seemed to have issues with that type of litter before. We have been using wood stove pellets for over a year now.

What can I do?? He is also going behind the door and pooping there. I have a bed put there and recently he actually pooped on the bed. That doesn't really surprise me because he will poop on the cage mat if I put one on the bottom level of the cage where the litter box is.

Please help!!

[TayLa]

Hyi AntEe MindY __ iz mE TayLa

FreD iz 1St eviR FLsAc aDopshiN fuZbuTT heM kiN pOOp eNee pLacE heM wanTz 2 pOopp ;D __
knO wuTT i fRe rooMin n mi hooWse noW__ n i pOOp evrie pLaCe 2 __ mi Dadd puTz papir towiLs evree plAce__ iff I pOOp oN daT papiR _- i giT snaCkz __ i haVinT gott No snAcks yett __ I geTt veRi clOse __
FReD RuLeS!!!
lv TayLa

[mindy]

Thank you for the advice

I have tried puppy pads but they just shred them and then climb inside the layers and sleep in there

I think that paper towels would be the same, shredded.

I guess it will just be something that we will have to deal with.

[Tressie]

Hi Mindy,

If illness has been ruled out, I see that you have two options:

1). Accept Fred as is and stop stressing about it. Tortellini, who just turned 6, as well as, Bellissima and Carissima rarely if ever, use puppy pads or litter boxes outside of their cages. They poop and pee wherever they happen to be and I simply clean it up. Tortellini has always been like that and I had to decide early on that I could not allow myself to get upset about it or I would have a nervous break down. By the time Bellissima and Carissima came along I had learned not to stress about ferret poops on the floor. And Linguini would not use a litter box if there was even one poop in it.

2.) Start from scratch. Keep him confined to the cage and don't let him out to play until he uses the litter box in the cage first. In other words train him like you would a kit. Now he is older and I wouldn't have unrealistic expectations.

Have you found any pattern to his pooping? For example, is he worse the more stressed you are?

If he is super fastidious like Linguini was, he will want a clean spot each time. Of course if you aren't home full time it would be impossible to keep his litter box free of poop altogether.

If there are too many litterboxes and papers around then to a ferret's mind, the world is one big toilet and then to a ferret's mind - what difference does it make where one goes?

Bottom line, as long as there is no illness exacerbating this - accept Fred's quirks or start from scratch.

It's always easier for us to change our expectations than to try and change their behaviours. I know you are feeling terribly frustrated but sometimes there isn't anything to do but accept the quirks.

Tressie

[mindy]

Thank you Tressie.

I don't think that it is an illness. There is no change from when he saw Dr. Benoit last. He never had good litter box manners. I just don't understand why. I guess it is just one of his quirks, like you said.

He was pooping in the bench that we have in the ferret room (there are 3 cubbies on the bottom of the bench) but I changed it so there is a blanket hanging in front of the openings and I put beds in there. I did put beds in there before but they would just pull them out and poop in there anyway, but with the blankets hanging in front they don't poop in there anymore.

Then he moved to the corner between the book shelf and the wall so I moved the book shelf so he can't get there anymore.

Now he has moved to either behind the door or right in front of the door. I put a litter box there but sometimes he pushes it away and poops/pees on the floor. I don't mind cleaning it but I don't like that it is making the laminate bubble up.

I can't seem to find any rhyme or reason to it. I can't see a pattern but maybe if I pay more attention I will see it. Who knows.

If things change I will take him to the vet. I really don't think that it is an illness because he seems to be back to his old self again. His sleepiness was pretty much only in Feb., just like Heather said.

I love my big cinnamon old man and I will just have to accept him for how he is.