this is unacceptable and I do not know how to stop it: my new cat (age 9) is pooping on my windshield in the RV I call home. It's gross, it smells terrible, and is extremely difficult to clean out of the vents and such. He's done it four times now.

This home is too small for this kind of bad cat behavior. Any suggestions?

wow, that is really bad. I dont quite understand if he is pooping on the inside on the dash or on the outside on the windshield. If it is on the inside I think the first thing I would do is cover it with towels or something so it can be cleaned when he does it again. Unfortunately once a cat finds a place like that they keep comming back to it.

You might try covering with a towel or something and put some of the kitty off stuff on it.

We had a cat we traveled with and a litter box is bad enough in that small an area. Good luck

Yeah, on the inside. I should have said where the dash meets the windshield - that crack. Very hard to get to for cleaning in my rig.

I may have to give the cat back to his previous owners. I can't deal with this and i don't want to have to put a towel in there...it's not easy doing laundry with this lifestyle.

I have some 'no go' dog stuff. Maybe tonite i will spray that in there and hope it helps.

It's too bad, as this cat really likes me and wasn't very lively in his previous home.

Our cats have certain things they like to pee on. Plastic / garbage bags for example. If we ever leave one on the floor they instantly pee on it. I guess it could be something about the smell. So maybe your dashboard has some sort of smell that the cat seems attracted to.

I would definitely try the "no go" stuff, I would imagine they make some for cats?

I saw a program on PBS last year and it was said that if your cat is peeing on windows, doors, it's because he's marking his territory for the cats he see out the window or that he knows are outside (apparently) his door, in the front yard, etc.

Use something that will neutralize the odor after you clean .

I've heard (on a dog news E-Letter) there is a new product called Zero Odor. It (?) binds, or works on the molecules of the odor, and changes the molecule to one that has NO odor! I know you can buy it on line, but I hope to find it in some store. It sounds fabulous!!

Cats hate tape. I got my cat, when I had one, to stay out of my ficus trees by putting duct tape, sticky side up, across the top of the pots. She didn't like the feel of it and learned to stay away from my trees.

Maybe this would work for your dash. The only thing is, you must secure the tape and keep the pieces short because you only want him/her to feel it and leave the area, not get the tape stuck to them.

Or, it might not look great, but could you block off that space so the cat can't go there?

I also remember that they are supposed to dislike the odor of citrus. Maybe some orange or grapefruit peel rubbed on the area would discourage her.

I like all these ideas - I will try the tape next.

I did not use the doggy-no-go last night as I did catch Sauron in the act. In an RV, you pull heavy draperies across the dash and Sauron was hiding behind that and pooping. So I pulled the drapes back and he freaked out and ran to hide. There is no dashboard poop this morning.

So maybe he liked the privacy aspect of it? I am not happy about not being able to have my drapes closed at night - I value my privacy. But maybe I can do this for a while to help Sauron get out of the habit.

There is also now poop smeared on the bottom of my drapes and I am squiked about that. I can't take these drapes down and clean them.

Arrrrrg. darn kitty.

That is great that you're making progress! Maybe you can hang some sort of temporary cloth further away from the windshield, so that you get privacy but that there isn't a "nook" for the cat?

For cleaning the drapes, try making a bucket or pot of hot water with soap, and put it beneath the drapes so they can sit in the bucket.

Okay, he did it again last night. I caught him right after (the smell was unreal and of course it was very soft poop - i like nice hard dog poop so much better) and he just looked at me, like, "what?"

I cleaned it up once again and sat down to sulk. This is so gross. Tonight I am going to put crumpled up tinfoil into the crack between the windshield and dash - I bet that will help. Cats hate foil, right?

If this keeps happening then I can't have this cat.

That's such a shame Jilly, I was hoping that things were better for you.

So the fragrance stuff didn't help at all? Or did it help for a few days?