What's wrong with Pepino?

d student

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Hello! this is my first post and I joined the forums because I have a very specific problem with my cat, Pepino. First some background: I have had my cat for over a year. He came declawed on all 4 paws and is a very large tom cat. He is extremely social and is the opposite of a hidey cat. When I have parties at my house he seems to always be in the mix and people who fancy themselves 'dog people' or generally hate cats seem to love my kitty. Other than the occasional 'love bite', he's the perfect cat.

Fast forward to the last week. In the last week Pepino has become an extremely messy eater. I feed him 3 types of food: his wet food that he loves and 2 types of dry food. A new kind of dry food he does not like but has been mixed with is favorite dry food. Normally he'll make a small mess - a few morsels of food on the floor after he eats but in the last week it has become a disaster area. I'm not even sure he is consuming the food or just letting it all drop to the floor. Even his wet food is finding its way to the floor.

I didn't think too much of this just giving him a bit less food in hopes that he would create less of a mess. Then this past Sunday he pooped on the floor. He pooped in his favorite laying spot in the living room. After reprimaning him, I thought maybe the poop was caused because of the tiny bit of vanilla ice cream he managed to get a few licks of earlier in the day. I thought maybe that upset his stomach. And mind you, it was about 4 tiny licks before I cleaned it up and threw it away. So by the end of the night I made amends with him and he fell asleep on the bed for the night.

The next day before leaving for work I closed my bedroom door. I typically let him have free roam of my apartment but felt just in case the pooping was not a one time thing and maybe he was sick, it'd be best he not poop in my room. I get home at my normal time that same day and found he had pooped on the same exact spot on the living room floor! I was furious! I reprimanded him again and he was knew I was upset at him. To make matter worse, my landlord was coming upstairs to my apartment to discuss some general apartment complex matters. I quickly cleaned up the poop while Pepino was in hiding. After cleaning his mess I walked towards my bedroom to change out of my work clothes and Pepino bolted towards the door hoping to go inside. It was as if I didn't just reprimand him for his actions. I cast him aside and did not let him in the bedroom. When I emerged from the bedroom, my landlord was already at my front door and I went to let her in. My cat, who like I said is very social, came to greet her as well. As we sat down to talk, Pepino jumps on my lap purring and brushing his head against my chest - as if nothing had happened again.

What is up with my cat??? He's become a messy eater and has had 2 'accidents' which I don't believe to be accidents at all. His box is cleaned daily, nothing had changed in terms of my playing with him or giving him attention but he seems to be really acting up lately. Any help would be most appreciated!

 

mystik spiral

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1. Welcome! Cute kitty and cute name!

2. The food - if you are feeding him a new food that he doesn't like, he is probably picking around it and dropping what he doesn't like on the floor. As to the wet food, he may be picking around that too, just to make sure it's what he likes. My cat is the same way... I am amazed at how she can manage to pick out the ONE flavor in her 4 flavor dry food that she doesn't like and leave it on the floor.


3. The pooping - it is possible that the first outside the box incident was due to the ice cream. I used to let Holland have the excess milk from my cereal in the morning until she started having a little diarrhea, and I discovered that many cats are lactose intolerant. It's entirely possible that the first time he simply couldn't make it to his box so he pooped in his comfortable spot. You will need to clean that spot with an enzyme cleaner, or he will continue to go there (even though you may not see or smell it, he CAN, unless you use the enzyme cleaner).

I'm sure others will have much more insight for you.
 
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d student

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Originally Posted by Mystik Spiral

1. Welcome! Cute kitty and cute name!

2. The food - if you are feeding him a new food that he doesn't like, he is probably picking around it and dropping what he doesn't like on the floor. As to the wet food, he may be picking around that too, just to make sure it's what he likes. My cat is the same way... I am amazed at how she can manage to pick out the ONE flavor in her 4 flavor dry food that she doesn't like and leave it on the floor.


3. The pooping - it is possible that the first outside the box incident was due to the ice cream. I used to let Holland have the excess milk from my cereal in the morning until she started having a little diarrhea, and I discovered that many cats are lactose intolerant. It's entirely possible that the first time he simply couldn't make it to his box so he pooped in his comfortable spot. You will need to clean that spot with an enzyme cleaner, or he will continue to go there (even though you may not see or smell it, he CAN, unless you use the enzyme cleaner).

I'm sure others will have much more insight for you.
Thank you for your response! He's had the new dry food for a few months now (I bought the economy sized bag). And he did initially pick around the new dry food but it was never as messy as it's been in the last week. Especially not with the wet food. It's been a full blown disaster area in this time. I was worried about enough that I just caved and started giving him his favorite dry food to not avail... still the same mess.
 

catmom2wires

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Economy bags lose their freshness, especially when only one cat has to eat the WHOLE BIG BAG. It may be stale, and he's not enthused--would you be? LOL

Declawed cats sometimes develop an aversion to the litter box, but if he's not peeing out of the box, I wouldn't think that's a problem.

I think with a little brainstorming, you can nip this problem in the bud.

Any possibility he has a sore tooth?

Good luck.
 
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d student

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Originally Posted by CatMom2Wires

Economy bags lose their freshness, especially when only one cat has to eat the WHOLE BIG BAG. It may be stale, and he's not enthused--would you be? LOL

Declawed cats sometimes develop an aversion to the litter box, but if he's not peeing out of the box, I wouldn't think that's a problem.

I think with a little brainstorming, you can nip this problem in the bud.

Any possibility he has a sore tooth?

Good luck.
He is peeing in his box. And he did poop in his box after the two 'accidents'.

A sore tooth is a great possibility. I noticed that he hasn't been inhaling his cat treats as normal. Its been taking him a few chops to get through them. I checked his teeth two days ago to make sure they were all in tact and they were but didn't think of one to being sore. How would I go about checking this?
 

natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by D Student

I checked his teeth two days ago to make sure they were all in tact and they were but didn't think of one to being sore. How would I go about checking this?
Your vet will be able to tell.
 

mrblanche

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"Reprimanding" a cat for inappropriate elimination is likely to cause more problems, not solve them. Cats prefer to use the litter box, so if he doesn't, it almost certainly indicates another problem. Either the box is dirty, or the cat is sick, or something has attracted his attention to the particular spot.
 
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d student

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

"Reprimanding" a cat for inappropriate elimination is likely to cause more problems, not solve them. Cats prefer to use the litter box, so if he doesn't, it almost certainly indicates another problem. Either the box is dirty, or the cat is sick, or something has attracted his attention to the particular spot.
The box is defintely clean. I clean it daily and wash it out bi-monthly.
 

auntie crazy

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

"Reprimanding" a cat for inappropriate elimination is likely to cause more problems, not solve them. Cats prefer to use the litter box, so if he doesn't, it almost certainly indicates another problem. Either the box is dirty, or the cat is sick, or something has attracted his attention to the particular spot.

Not only does "reprimanding" cause stress - which is a source of inappropriate elimination all by itself - it can, especially over time and repeated instances, damage your relationship with your cat.

And it doesn't work. The cat has no idea why you're angry at him or what it is you want from him. There's no association in his mind with the activity of pooping away from the litter box and your anger upon coming home.

I'd recommend cleaning the area with a good enzyme cleaner and keeping an eye on him to see if something is bothering him. Have you changed anything in your house or your routine lately?

Also, leaving poop uncovered in a clearly visible spot is classic "this is my territory" feline communication behavior - is it possible a strange cat has been hanging around your house lately?

Is Pepino neutered?
 
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d student

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Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy


Not only does "reprimanding" cause stress - which is a source of inappropriate elimination all by itself - it can, especially over time and repeated instances, damage your relationship with your cat.

And it doesn't work. The cat has no idea why you're angry at him or what it is you want from him. There's no association in his mind with the activity of pooping away from the litter box and your anger upon coming home.

I'd recommend cleaning the area with a good enzyme cleaner and keeping an eye on him to see if something is bothering him. Have you changed anything in your house or your routine lately?

Also, leaving poop uncovered in a clearly visible spot is classic "this is my territory" feline communication behavior - is it possible a strange cat has been hanging around your house lately?

Is Pepino neutered?
Pepino is neutered. The only thing I can think of that has 'changed' is my gf living in my house the past few days while she gets a new place. But I don't think it's because of that. She has spent longer periods of time at my apartment and the cat has known her for nearly a year now.

I think the sore tooth/teeth thing is the most logical reason. Should I point this out to the vet or should I let the vet come to his own conclusion??
 

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I'd take Pepino (cute name and very cute cat) to the vet for a check-up - and I'd bring a list of symptoms with you.

I agree a vet check is in order, and if he's due for an annual check-up, I'd schedule it as soon as possible. That should include a look at his mouth for any issues. If he's just been to the vet, well, I'd still take him in - unless his eating habits suddenly and immediately return to normal.

Also, yeah, with one cat, the large economy size may not be great - especially if he doesn't like the food. With my own two, I usually get the medium bag, like 7 pounds. Also, how do you store the dry food? I use a human grade plastic sealed container (super duper Tupperware).

My guess is that his tummy was upset, and that's the only way he had to 'tell' you that something wasn't right. Do use an enzyme cleaner on the spot, and try very very hard not to be upset with him....cats pick up stress so easily and then that upsets their tummies even more. My boy could always tell I wasn't happy about his accidents, even though I really did understand it wasn't doing it to be 'bad'. It's stressful, for both of you. I know - I've been there. My boy has a sensitive tummy, I think - sometimes just a tiny bit of something, even turkey, can throw him off a bit.

Good luck - I do know it's hard.
 
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