Dog or cat pooping in house.

Dr. Marie replied:

Well this is definitely a frustrating problem! The first thing we need to do is see if we can figure out which animal is doing this.

I have an idea. With your small dog's next meal, add in about 1/4 cup of rice. And keep giving him rice with each meal for a few days until we figure out who the culprit is. Within a day or two of feeding the rice, your dog's stool should have some rice in it. So, if you are seeing rice in the stool then we know it is the dog and otherwise it is the cat. (If the dog won't eat rice then you can try corn as it will do the same thing.)

My guess is that it is likely the cat as cats tend to develop bad behaviors like this more than dogs do.

If it is the cat, here are a few things you can try:
-temporarily covering the area with aluminum foil or double sided tape as cats hate stepping on either of these things. If we can break the habit then after a couple of weeks you should be able to remove the foil/tape.
-Put a litter box in the exact spot where the poop is happening. Then, each day move it a few inches towards where you would like to have the cat pooping. Eventually we should be able to break the habit.

If this is not working then you could talk to your vet about stress relieving products such as feliway or a medication called amitryptyline.

I hope this helps!
Dr. Marie.

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Dr. Marie replied:

This is a tough one! Here are a few things I can advise:

-If you do see that she has defecated in the house - don't get mad at her. Then, she will try to do her poops when you are not watching and this will lead to more "presents."

-When she does defecate outside lavish her with praise and treats.

-Take her out about 30 minutes after each meal and also after she has had a sleep. This way she has more opportunity to go in a correct spot.

-Continue to lock her up when you are not watching her. After a couple of weeks she may have broken the habit and retaught herself where the appropriate place to go is.

---This question was asked in our Ask A Vet For Free section.---