Original owner of 2 male cats, bought at the local Humane Society in 1999.
Basic stats:
Brothers from the same litter.
Mixed breed. Domestic Short hair.
They are fixed.
Indoor only.
They are ~13 years old.
~10.5 lbs each.
The problem:
One of the cats defecates outside the litter box.
It all started ~6 months ago, when he began to not cover his stool inside the litter box. Initially it happened on occasion, then over time, he did it every time. Next, he would occasionally drop his stool outside the box. Again, it only happened on occasion. Now he defecates outside the box consistently every time.
He goes into the box like it's going to use it. He digs around a bit. Then he props himself up in the normal position (all four paws on the lip of the box, body sticking halfway out of the box), then slowly steps out and drops his stool on the tile floor (easy to clean, but obviously a smelly mess).
The solutions and where they have failed:
We took him to the Vet a couple weeks ago. As a first step, they prescribed a stool softener medicine since his stool seemed hard and thought this might reduce the struggle. However, the stool softener didn’t solve the problem. He continued to go outside the box.
Next we thought the litter box design might be an issue so we bought two new Dome style litter boxes with stairs (Booda Dome Cleanstep Cat Box). We did this because it appeared he might be straining by the way he positioned himself. To our amazement, we discovered that he did go inside the box 80% of the time. BUT a new problem was created. He began to pee on the stairs of the litter box. That was a bigger problem since he would step in the pee and then track it throughout the house. (Obviously, a major design flaw with this litter box). So, we quickly removed these new Dome litter boxes and replaced them with the old style ones (Petmate Hooded Litter box) they've used for years. He’s back to defecating on the floor again. [We are continuing to research new litter boxes, but haven’t found any new design that looks worth purchasing.]
He’s been walking a bit odd, especially with his hind legs. We took him back to the vet and did x-rays, but didn’t find any evidence of severe (or even mild) arthritis.
Nothing in the cats’ environment has changed. They have lived in the same house with the same occupants for over 4 years.
Food diet has not changed.
Litter and litter box have not changed (although we added a new second litter box after we realized there was a problem).
There is no change in food or water consumption. Body weight has remained consistent. (No weight loss).
We’d love to hear from others who had the same issue and how they solved the problem.
Thanks!
Basic stats:
Brothers from the same litter.
Mixed breed. Domestic Short hair.
They are fixed.
Indoor only.
They are ~13 years old.
~10.5 lbs each.
The problem:
One of the cats defecates outside the litter box.
It all started ~6 months ago, when he began to not cover his stool inside the litter box. Initially it happened on occasion, then over time, he did it every time. Next, he would occasionally drop his stool outside the box. Again, it only happened on occasion. Now he defecates outside the box consistently every time.
He goes into the box like it's going to use it. He digs around a bit. Then he props himself up in the normal position (all four paws on the lip of the box, body sticking halfway out of the box), then slowly steps out and drops his stool on the tile floor (easy to clean, but obviously a smelly mess).
The solutions and where they have failed:
We took him to the Vet a couple weeks ago. As a first step, they prescribed a stool softener medicine since his stool seemed hard and thought this might reduce the struggle. However, the stool softener didn’t solve the problem. He continued to go outside the box.
Next we thought the litter box design might be an issue so we bought two new Dome style litter boxes with stairs (Booda Dome Cleanstep Cat Box). We did this because it appeared he might be straining by the way he positioned himself. To our amazement, we discovered that he did go inside the box 80% of the time. BUT a new problem was created. He began to pee on the stairs of the litter box. That was a bigger problem since he would step in the pee and then track it throughout the house. (Obviously, a major design flaw with this litter box). So, we quickly removed these new Dome litter boxes and replaced them with the old style ones (Petmate Hooded Litter box) they've used for years. He’s back to defecating on the floor again. [We are continuing to research new litter boxes, but haven’t found any new design that looks worth purchasing.]
He’s been walking a bit odd, especially with his hind legs. We took him back to the vet and did x-rays, but didn’t find any evidence of severe (or even mild) arthritis.
Nothing in the cats’ environment has changed. They have lived in the same house with the same occupants for over 4 years.
Food diet has not changed.
Litter and litter box have not changed (although we added a new second litter box after we realized there was a problem).
There is no change in food or water consumption. Body weight has remained consistent. (No weight loss).
We’d love to hear from others who had the same issue and how they solved the problem.
Thanks!
