Cat is sometimes pooping anywhere he pleases, not sick...

Hello Everyone,

I'm coming online in search for some advice as a last resort before I give my cat up for adoption / shelter / etc.

We have two cats, a 5 year old and 4 year old both male shorthair tabbys. The 5 year old cat is great and we have no problems with him. The 4 year old cat began pooping (only sometimes, not all the time) outside his litter box about a year and a half ago. This was the same time my wife was about 4-6 months pregnant. At this point its clear that the cat is doing this for reasons of jealousy, anger, etc. We have taken the cat to the vet and after roughly 400$ of wasted cash on tests and xrays etc its clear the cat didn't have health problems. The little box has been cleaned and replaced with other types of litter boxes etc so we know that's not the case. When the cat poops outside the litter box is usually in the center of the room on the carpet, or on the couch or on the bed. We've tried multiple litter boxes (4) in various areas of the house which didn't work. The cat unfortunately has to be confined to a single room. Even when we let him out and we're watching him, he will still poop on the floor right in front of us if he feels like it. Does anyone have any last suggestions or advice we might try?

To recap and summarize the cat only poops outside the litter box sometimes (gone for a day or more, when we refill his litter, when we come back from vacation, and sometimes its just random). It's always in the middle of the floor, on the couch, or on the bed., Its not a health, clean box, multiple box, or box type problem.


Thank you!

Sorry to hear about your kitties problem with pooping. Thank you for coming to this forum. I am sure many people will chime in and try and lend some help to you. Please listen and try some of the advice before getting rid of your cat. Take a deep breath and let us help!

What tests were done? Was he checked for constipation? Enlarged / infected anal glands?

Where are you placing the litter boxes? Do the litterboxes have lids? Have you tried putting a litterbox on a spot that he is consistently pooping on? Is the litterbox big enough for him to move around in? Wal-Mart has big plastic storage containers..58qt's. They are see-through. You usually find them in the storage..waste basket area and they run around $4 to $5.00. You don't buy the lid with it. You will have to cut out a hole on the side near the top for him to get in and out of easily.

What type of litters have you tried? Have you tried Dr. Elsey's cat attract? This is a great litter for getting cats to start using the litter box again. What do you feed your cat? this could be a factor as well in why he is pooping outside of the box.

Have you tried natural stress relievers for your cat? Like Feliway plugin diffusers? You can buy them at the vets office (a bit expensive) or online ie: http://entirelypets.ecomm-search.com...iway+diffusers or http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?ur...liway+diffuser Plug in atleast 2 diffusers in the house (one in the room that he is staying in forsure). Bach Pet Rescue remedy is a good stress reliever for cats that can be applied to the cats leather part of the ear. Or in the drinking water or even on the cats gums. You can purchase them at many health food stores or online ie: http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm or http://www.iherb.com/bach-original-f..._medium=c&at=0

Something else that may work very well for your kitty is a flower essence formula made specifically for your cats situation. You can call the compnies to discuss the right formula for your kitty.

http://www.anaflora.com/essences/index.html

http://www.spiritessence.com/

http://www.abfeusa.com/index.html

Animal communication is another option you can look into understanding why your cat is pooping outside of the box.

What are you using to clean the spots he is pooping on? Is it an enzyme cleaner. If not this may be why he continues to poop in the same spots. What you are unable to smell cats can smell!!! Most pet cleaners just mask the smell. Here are two very good pet cleaners

http://www.justrite.com/index.htm#HomeTop

http://www.nokout.com/

Also....here is a group that you can join that deals with Feline Inappropriate elimination
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/F...e_Elimination/

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WholeCatHealth/

I think this type of problem is best when we as pet owners step back and look at the entire picture. And try to understand what our cats are trying to tell us. It may not be one thing but a multitude of things. I know they play with our patiece but they have no other way to tell us what really is wrong.

I once pet sat a cat who was doing that. He had very hard stool and began associating his litter box with the pain of defecating. Some canned food to add water to his diet softened his stool and he reverted to using the box.

Has your vet seen a sample of the stool that goes outside of the box?

Also, it's rare for a cat to defecate as a behavioral problem. Typically, they urinate. If he's never urinated outside of the box I might keep prodding the health angle.

I also advocate that this is health related. He may be having constipation problems. He blames the box for his problems so poops else where.

Chronic constipation is a very serious problem. It can lead to megacolon. the only cure for megacolon is surgery. Otherwise it's a life time of medicines that only work for a while, then have to be continually increased.

Watch him when he poops. do you see any straining? Does he squat, turn around, squat, scratch the litter, squat, etc before pooping? Any vomiting?

Another thought is, the behavior may be stress related. He may have separation anxiety since you mention that this happens more when you are away. Stress can cause him to be constipated, so he avoids the box.

Get some Rescue Remedy and use it at times when you are going to be out for long periods or other stressful situations.

Please try not to consider the money spent on him as wasted. His health is important, and money spent to find out what's wrong, or to rule things out, is not a waste.

Rehoming him is not the answer either. You're just passing the problem on, and he's likely to end up out on the street.

I agree with trying a diet change. As was mentioned, putting him on an all canned diet will get more fluids into him and may help...unless he's already developed a megacolon.

Make sure he gets plenty of exercise. Scheduled interactive game times, every day, where you encourage him to run and leap, will help keep his bowels moving. String on a stick toys, and a laser pen are good for this.

I also recommend a second opinion with a different vet.

Welcome to the forum, and please keep us updated.

Hi all,

Thank you for the advice some of the stress items mentioned are a good thought, we haven't tried them.

As for health issues I couldn't give a specific set of tests but the items you're describing have been checked. We've tried various litter boxes (roofs, non-roofs, different sizes, placement, etc) and it doesn't help. Constipation / pain doesn't seem to be an issue either as he still uses the box most of the time. His stool is not hard either. He doesn't really poop in the same spots either, it's quite random, usually just out in the open where it's the first thing you'll notice walking in the room.

He has urinated outside the box. But the only times he does that is when we put something like a cat bed in his room with him. He will pee on that and that only, hes never peed on the carpet, bed, etc.

Health problems don't necessarily need to be related to their digestive system. My alpha cat Stumpy started to poop out of the box (usually in the middle of a room) when he because sick with an auto-immune disease. His particular disease affects his mouth. He was in pain, didn't really show me that he was in pain, other than pooping in the middle of the living room floor.

Sounds like your vet went after digestive disorders. If you haven't done so, have a full blood panel run on him and look at anything out of the ordinary.

And thank your for coming and asking for help first before you took the drastic step of rehoming him!

If you haven't done so, have a full blood panel run on him and look at anything out of the ordinary.

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Good piece of advice

How MANY litter boxes do you have? The suggested rule is one for each cat plus one. So if you have two cats you would have three litter boxes.

I had four cats and three litter boxes when Whimsey my top kitty began urinating on the rug outside the box. When I went to FIVE litter boxes, he began using the box again and no more problems.

Welcome to TCS - you've come to the right place for help!

Let me first start off by saying the ugly - in most shelters "litterbox issues" translates to an automatic death sentence. Sorry to say it, but it's the truth in many places.

Second - you mentioned this started after your wife became pregnant. Perhaps a hormonal/stress reaction on the cats part? I would try looking into Feliway Diffusers.

Second - one of my cats poops outside the box when they have UTI issues, did the vet ever test a urine sample to rule out that possibility?

Does he *always* poop in the same place, or few places?
If so have you cleaned them with an enzymatic cleaner?
Have you tried putting litterboxes in those places?
Exactly what type/size of litterbox are you using?

I know we are suggesting spending more $$, but in this case there are *so* many possibilities not yet explored.

I second what everyone else has said, there is usually a medical issue or change in the home that causes the pooping

- you mention trying different boxes, have you tried different litters? Cat Attract (an additive or litter that smells like dirt to them that attracts them to the box)

- is he still getting attention with the baby being there? If it is a jealousy issue he may just need some attention

Originally Posted by Slimins

I'm coming online in search for some advice as a last resort before I give my cat up for adoption / shelter / etc.

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Someone once gave me a poster for the office in the shelter that says, if you can't love your cat with their issues, how do you expect someone to walk in off the street and choose them with their issues. Please rethink the shelter idea until you are sure you have tried everything possible as, like Natalie said above, many cats with litterbox issues are euthanised in shelters or spend forever in a cage at a nokill