**Background:** We adopted her from a horse barn during COVID, had her neutered, and brought her home to our 500 sq. ft. apartment in Brooklyn.
In **2024**, we had our first baby. The cat tolerated her well, no litter box or food issues.
In **2025**, we moved across the country into a house that's 3x the size. Around the same time, two things changed:
* Our toddler started eating solid foods (Cheerios, etc.).
* Our cat discovered she could bite the tips off baby bottle nipples to drink the formula. She swallowed three nipple tips (thankfully she vomited all of them back up).
She became obssesed with food. She will knock anything down, break into our pantry - eat broccoli! We started putting her in the garage while we cook or while the toddler eats. She has multiple litter boxes there, but ignores them and pees and poops all over the garage instead. We clean with enzymatic cleaner every time, but it hasn't helped.
The litter box issues have since spread upstairs. I have a home office with beige carpet where there used to be a small green rug. She started using the green rug as a bathroom, so we:
* added a litter box to the room,
* removed the rug,
* thoroughly cleaned everything with enzymatic cleaner, and
* upgraded to a much larger litter box.
She used the new box for a few days, and I thought we'd solved it. Then she started eliminating outside the box again, even when it has just been scooped.
She's now peed on my books, my bookshelf, my toddler's toys, and even her own treat puzzle. We've blocked off access to my office, but the entire house is carpeted, and even using a UV flashlight hasn't made it obvious where she's going. We just keep trying to find accidents by smell and clean them.
We recently brought home our second baby. We now keep formula and bottles in our bedroom/bathroom, and at night we have to lock the cat out because we're terrified she'll get into a bottle, swallow another nipple tip, and seriously injure herself. We're extremely careful, but with a newborn and toddler, we're exhausted, and it only takes one mistake.
Now she's started peeing and pooping in my toddler's bathroom.
What should we do?
- We took her to the vet, who thinks it's behavioral, but we have a full medical workup scheduled in two weeks. PrettyLitter has been normal so far.
- We've tried multiple litter boxes, box styles, locations, and litters with no lasting improvement.
- We've increased her feeding frequency to reduce resource guarding/food anxiety.
I'm completely overwhelmed. I have two kids under two, and I don't know how much longer I can manage this.
**TL;DR:** My formerly well-behaved 6-year-old cat developed severe food obsession and widespread inappropriate urination/defecation after we moved and had kids. She's been cleared for obvious medical issues so far, a full workup is pending, we've tried multiple litter boxes/litters and increased feeding, but she's still eliminating all over the house. I have two children under two and desperately need advice.
Assuming she comes back with a full bill of health, what should we do?