At Wits End - Any Help Greatly Appreciated

My beloved Maine Coon uncharacteristically has been heeding nature's call anywhere except in his litter box for the past couple of months. His stool has remained extremely runny as well (looks like a mud pie). My long-time vet has examined him several times including blood work and several stool analyses, prescribing a stool firmer which hasn't made a difference. Generally, for his age, which is approximately 15-17 (he was a stray who adopted us about 11 years ago so that's based on a vet's guestimate at that time), and an ongoing kidney issue for which the little guy's been medicated for several years, the vet can find nothing wrong for his age.

He's also been losing weight. At one time he was 18lbs and now is just over 10. On the other hand, he seems quite content, purrs frequently, loves his food, interacts (sometimes begrudgingly) with his three 2 1/2-year old sisters and still has some spring in his jump. However, while his disposition has generally been sweet, this morning he did growl at me when I first prevented him from relieving himself on the bed, and then afterwards in another inappropriate area of the house. This is not like him at all.

For the last several years his diet has consisted of Eagle Pack kibble and a few spoonfulls of wet to go with his pills and the occasional table scrap in moderation. I'm in the process of switching him to a Natures Balance grain-free formula (green pea & duck) to see if that helps.

We don't know if this combination of litter box forgetfulness and loose stool is an inevitable function of his declining years, a specific medical concern or a behavioral issue, maybe a delayed resentment-reaction to his little sisters who he's known since they were literally a day old.

Any advice or guidance from someone who's gone through a similar situation or from a professional perhaps having a different perspective than our respected vet would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Fay

With extremely runny stools and severe weight loss one or two serious possibilities come to mind right away.
You also mention an ongoing kidney issue and that your little guy has been medicated for that for several years. All very worrisome.

When it comes to litter box forgetfulness, the severe weight loss and runny stools plus the ongoing kidney issue are very important details. In my mind they point to medical problems as most likely underlying causes. However, it would be perfectly all right to put deterrents on the bed to make sure your little guy won't continue to eliminate there. You might also try to add one or two (brand new) litter boxes and experiment with different kinds of cat litter in those. Something like that might help a little.

Since you write: "Any advice or guidance from someone who's gone through a similar situation or from a professional perhaps having a different perspective than our respected vet would be greatly appreciated." I'd like to give you this advice: please, take your baby to a board certified internal medicine specialist. (You may need a referral from your vet.) A board certified internal medicine specialist is the kind of professional you need in this situation, the professional that can do the most for your baby.

I was wondering about IBS - a friend's cat was recently diagnosed with this, and her blood work was pretty darn good, but some of the other symptoms were similar...they had to do a kitty colonoscopy to get the diagnosis. I don't think a referral to a feline internal specialist would be amiss, if you have access to one.

So sorry - had a friend helping me out with posting this and completely missed the mistake of the kidney problem. It's not his kidney, it's a thyroid problem that he's had for years now. He has 2 tapazole pills a day for that. Everything was tested and shows all normal results. Have had him on the Natures Balance for a couple of days now and this morning was the first time in a long time that he actually used the litter box. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it wasn't just by accident.
Thanks again.

If the Natures Balance seems to be helping, that's wonderful. Very good news. I hope it will work for your baby.

I don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but because of the huge weight loss you mentioned in your earlier post, something can still be very seriously wrong with him - in spite of normal looking blood work results. (Some diseases don't cause changes in the blood values so their presence can't be detected by looking at blood work results.) So please, consider pursuing this and having additional tests done to find out what's really going on with him.