Pooping under the bed.

This actually is about my MIL's cat, Itty-Bitty. He's about 6-7 and just recently started pooping under the bed. Not anywhere else in the house, just under the bed. He does still use the litterbox too. He seems to do this when she isn't home. Nothing has changed in the house, litterboxes are cleaned regularly, litter is the same, her schedule hasn't changed where she's gone more than before. The dogs are crated or barricaded in the kitchen when she is gone. We just don't understand it.

On thing though...Itty Bitty isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. In fact, he's down right stupid. He will be sitting on the windowsill and just fall off for no reason. He always has. I hate to say that any cat is stupid, but he truely is. We thought it might be a medical condition but she had him to the vet a few weeks ago and he's perfectly healthy.

I sent her links for Cat Attract to use in the litter box. The only other thing I can think of is aluminium foil under the bed. Even if it doesn't keep him from getting under there at least it's easier to just pull the foil out and toss it than climbing under the bed to clean every night. Closing the bedroom door isn't an option because that is HIS domain and the only place he really goes to get away from the other cats, dogs, people, etc.

Any suggestions of why he suddenly started doing this and how to stop it?

Too much noise in the home, maybe?

The easily thing would be to find a way to block him from going under the bed. How many litter boxes does he have? - Is one in the bedroom?

First things first - have him checked out at the vets office. He could have constipation or enlarged anal glands. Once he has been checked out then we can help with other ideas on how to curb the pooping. I say this from experience b/c my cat was doing the same thing. She'd poop in the box and sometimes poop outside of the litterbox. She was treated for enlarged anal glands. After 2 years of treating the anal glands it turned out that she was severly constipated.

My thought was constipation too. Constipation does not necessarily mean the cat cannot poop at all. It means he has trouble pooping, it hurts, or he has to strain a lot. When this happens he blames the box for the problem and so goes elsewhere.

Your MIL may want to pay close attention to his bowel movement habits for a while. Does he go every day? Are the stools normal? Or are they hard and dry, or are they huge?

When he's in the box to poop, does he seem to be straining much? Does he squat, change position, dig, squat again, change position, and so on, as he tries to go?

Does he ever vomit, either before, during, or after going poop

Does he ever have poop stuck to him after using the litter box, or scoot?

Chronic constipation can be a very serious problem and leads to megacolon. the only cure for megacolon is surgery.

My little Ootay (rb 5/09) had a megacolon, she was constipated for a couple of years, but the vet I was using messed around so long, by the time I switched vets it was too late, she had a megacolon. She was not in good enough health to withstand such an invasive surgery so spent the last 6 years of her life taking ever increasing does of medicines 7 times a day, just to poop.

Sometimes it just means a change in diet is needed, but there are certain health conditions that can cause constipation, arthritis and kidney disease, and also hyperthyroid disease.

I recommend a full blood work up to check organ function, and perhaps a diet change. If he's on dry food, start adding more canned to his diet, to get more water into him every day.

Please do let us know how things go with Itty-Bitty.

she was constipated for a couple of years, but the vet I was using messed around so long, by the time I switched vets it was too late, she had a megacolon.

Click to expand...

This is similar to what happened to my kitty. She was misdiagnosed with enlarged anal glands for 2 years. The best thing I did for my cat was leave this long time vet of mine to get a second opinion. The new vet said it was not her anal glands. It was that she was severly blocked with poop and constipation. At this point I think she already had megacolon but it took a few more months of playing with stool softners before we finally took an xray and she was diagnosed with Megacolon. Thank goodness we have it under control now with Miralax/Cisapride but unfortunately she can not poop on her own.

Do yes, if constipation is left too long it may over extend the colon and cause the muscles to not function to push out the stool.

Sometimes it just means a change in diet is needed, I recommend a full blood work up to check organ function, and perhaps a diet change. If he's on dry food, start adding more canned to his diet, to get more water into him every day.

Click to expand...

I also have found that a low fibre, grain free canned diet works best for Lexus. Too much fibre bulks up her stool which makes it very difficult for her to pass. When I look for a canned food I make sure it has 1 to 1 1/2% MAX fibre content.

Please keep us posted

Thanks for the responses! MIL actually did take him to the vet a week after he started doing this (probably 3 weeks ago) to see if it was a health issue. I know they ran blood tests but I'm not sure what other tests they ran, but the results came back fine. She has 3 cats and 3 litter boxed, but they are huge! It's hard to see what he's doing because they are the kind that look like igloos with the steps that go up, so you really can't see him. There isn't a litter box in the bedroom itself, but there is one in the bathroom that is adjacent to her bedroom that only Itty Bitty uses.

I just got off the phone with MIL and asked her your questions. Stools are normal, no scooting and no vomiting.

One thing I DID find out though is, right before he started doing this, she started to introduce a new food that is supposed to cut down on hairballs. It was first mixed with their old dry food and she gradually increased the amount until that was all they were getting. Don't ask me what brand...I didn't think to ask but she did say it was about $40.00/bag and the vet recommended it. That is the only difference in the house that she can think of, and I think that is what started it now. Maybe it didn't agree with Itty Bitty and she went the first time because he couldn't get to the litterbox in time, then once he went once he thought it was ok? (Like I said, he's not very bright...but he's a sweetie).

She's slowly going back to the normal cat food they got (I think it's Iames?) and hopefully once that is all they are getting he will stop. I think we're in for a deep carpet cleaning with major enzime solution very soon. THAT's going to be fun...it was hard enough getting her bed in much less taking it out!

She's probably still going to have to keep him out from under the bed since I have the feeling this has become habit. Any suggestions? Besides 2X6s?

Wood - it could be nicely stained and finished. Or she could paint it. Lattice - either vinyl or wood. Though I wonder if the kitty might try to stick his head in that...
Boxes and/or under bed storage bins to block it off.

The other option is a bed frame that's solid underneath.


The litter boxes sound like the Budda domes (iirc, that's the name). Since those are all covered maybe she could try adding an uncovered one in the bedroom that he frequents.