Okay, I think I've posted about this before, but it's been a while, so
anyone who has any suggestions at all, *please* share them with me!
 
Bear is four years old.  We adopted him at six months, and he had
apparently spent those first six months at a garden shop with very
interaction (and I would suspect no litter box) when he wasn't sold right
away.  He was a biter, and the salesgirls complained about him.  (Of course
he was a biter -- no one handled him!!!  Grrr.)
 
When it comes to poop and general ickiness, the boy has *issues*.  He is
the worst, most un-ferretlike, most *slovenly* boy I've ever met!  He will
poop anywhere, and then he will sleep on it.  A few months back when Xena,
one of our girls, threw up in the bottom of the cage, he rolled around in
it and subsequently had to be bathed.  He just doesn't care.  Every attempt
at litter box training has met with failure.
 
He is not ill -- this has been an ongoing problem since we brought him
home, and he recently was thoroughly checked out by the vet when he had to
have that large inflammatory nodule removed from his back (the one we were
afraid was fibrosarcoma).
 
He goes in cycles -- at times, he will at least get it *near* the litter
box (as in on the same level -- ours is a four-level cage).  However, other
times (such as now) he seems to be *deliberately* pooping in upsetting
places.  He is pooping on the sleeping level on top of their bedding, and
also *RIGHT NEXT TO THE FOOD BOWL*.  There is an entire level there with
plenty of corners, but he is putting it in the middle of the floor, right
next to the bowl.
 
Does anyone have any suggestions?  I love the little guy terribly, but he
tests me at times!  What is going on in his fuzzy little head?  Most
importantly, how do I STOP it???
 
-Tasha
[Posted in FML issue 3051]