Nervous cat that poops

I have a 17 pound tabby female that is intimidated by my smallest male. He is a wiry cat, lots of energy but he seems to get pleasure out of intimidating the shy cats in my house. Sometimes he'll corner my tabby in the kitchen and she gets so nervous she'll poop on the floor. Sometimes he'll stalk her when she's in the box and chase her when she comes out. When I catch him doing this he gets a time out in a closed room or the water bottle or both. The other day he caused her to poop on the floor, but for some reason she was so nervous the rest of the morning she went from place to place in the house and squeezed out a drop of poop, the laid on her side and tried to poop more. (there was nothing left except dribbles). This was a huge problem because I had to follow her around and clean up after her. Then she threw up. I took her to the vet and he did an x-ray and blood work. He said there is no blockage and she's healthy. She does have an elevated enzyme that could signal a heart issue, but he wants to recheck the blood in 2 weeks. He said it can be caused from stress. Poor kitty was awake most of the day and slept from the minute we got home. The next day (yesterday) she was fine. Normal poop, normal appetite but still a little nervous. Today she pooped in the kitchen then went to the box and pooped in the box. She started to do the lay down thing again, but I distracted her with a toy and she seemed to forget. Is this a psychological thing? Could she really be that intimidated?

This has happened before, but not to this extreme. Also if you raise your voice she gets more nervous and that doesn't help. Kitty prozac maybe?

It sounds like several things are going on. And I know it must be frustrating for you.

It sounds to me like she's holding her poop for some reason, then when your male intimidates her, out it comes. Either she's holding it because she's nervous, or she's nervous because she's holding it...it can go either way from what I have observed in my cats.

I'll share my hopefully brief story.

I have a boy (Beandip) who has occasional bladder problems. When his problems flare up, he acts very anxious...and I mean VERY. He was sick pretty much constantly for over a year...so long that I forgot that he ever used to be a calm, sociable kitty. We did put him on Prozac and while it did help his anxiety a bit, therefore improving his physical health, I don't think it was the ultimate answer. It's a little too early to tell, but what made the biggest difference was when I found the medicine that fixed his *physical* problem. Now it seems all of his anxiety came from his bladder, not his head. I hope that makes sense. The moral of my story is that maybe your girl has some discomfort that causes her to hold her poop, and that could be the root of her anxiety problem. Was her personality ever different, in the past?

I'm sure it all sounds farfetched, but Beandip did a 180 degree turn (mentally/emotionally) when I put him on the other meds for his bladder. It's truly amazing.

I would be tempted to talk to the vet more about her health...or get a second opinion. Prozac can help, but I suspect there's more to it...that's all.

I'm not sure how many litterboxes you have, but maybe add a couple...just something to help her go when she needs to go...instead of later. I don't think that the laying down thing is psychological. It sounds like there's at least a sensation that something is still in there, or else there is more in there but it won't come out easily for some reason.

Poor thing...can you put out another litter box somewhere else? He can't guard two boxes at once. Maybe keep them seperated for a while, or give her a sanctuary spot?

Sometimes the litter box stalking happens in my house too, but he does all this stalking just to tap her as she's getting out of the box and run...he gets a little time out in the bathroom if I catch him in the act.

One of my former kitties, Sparkle, had a similar problem. Pippin and Simple would chase her, and intimidate her when she went in the box, she was constantly stressed and would end up pooping and peeing on the floor. Sometimes she would use the box, if she could do so without them noticing her.
My apartment was too small to seperate them, so I rehomed her with my ex down in Texas. She is doing wonderfully there and has not had ONE accident. He has a much larger house and she has her own space, litter box & food dish, and actually keeps the other cats out of her zone lol!
The one things I wanted to try and couldn't because of the space issue is to get one of those cat doors with the magnet activation and put it on the door of a spare room. Then only put the collars to activate it on your tabby. Put her litter box and food in there, so she can have a space to herself if she's being bothered, and she can still have the freedom of the whole house.
That might not work for you if you're in a small place, so try adding more boxes and perhaps give her some time by herself in a room with a box a few times a day.
Good luck! I KNOW how frustrating this can be.

Devlyn

My 11 yo cat can at times be a nervous nellie and have stress induced fecal incontinence from time to time. I also have a litter box stalker, which compounds the problem. I give her some Rescue Remedy for a few days when I notice that she's stressed and it helps. I also use feliway plug ins and that helps reduce the stress level in the house.

Stephanie

My first cat used to do the same thing and once I had it trained by a friend. In a few days all was fine. How I miss my little firlie though.

Originally Posted by stephanietx

I also have a litter box stalker,

Click to expand...

, there's something so funny about that. I'm always telling Stanley "it's rude to interrupt ladies doing their business, you little perv"

Thanks everybody. She's been pretty good the last few days. I'm wondering if she was just constipated. The vet recommended Laxotone for a couple days (she didn't like it at all), but I found that a treat of Friskies canned cat food seems to be rich enough to normalize her poop. She occasionally will go into the box and grunt when she tries to go, then nothing happens and she comes out of the box. This morning she went in the box 3 times, grunted and only squeezed out 1 piece. The 4th time was the charm. Normal poop. I think she feels like she has to go, but the poop isn't ready to come out yet. My intimidator male has been a good boy the last few days.

I had a cat (Jazzy) that was the aggressor in my house. He would bully the other cats and he got very jealous if I paid any attention to the others (who were both in the household a lot longer then him). Anyway, Jazzy would poop on throw rugs and I finally figured out it was his jealousy thing. I've since re homed him in a family where he is the only pet and he is very happy and not pooping inappropriately. I'm not saying re homing is the only answer. I did it because I knew he wasn't his happiest and plus I've had a lot of trouble with my asthma this year and he was the one cat I reacted to the most. I'm sure there are other more knowledgeable folks here that can give other suggestions!