Old Cat eating less than usual, brown poop surrounded in black

Let me start off by saying this cat has always been a very picky eater and prone to UTIs. She's 14 years old now and the oldest out of the 3 I own. I switched her over to all wet food during the past year. She was eating fancy feast classics until recently when she decided she wasn't going to eat them anymore. I have been trying to get her to get natural balance and wellness grain free. She has been eating all of her food in the morning, but only a quarter to half of her food in the afternoon. It's not untypical of her to leave some food behind, but this is a little more than usual. She never seems to stick with any food more than a couple months. I tried switching her over to raw in the past with no success.

Recently, I moved the litter box that was in the bedroom out because it was only in there so that the youngest cat could heal from her spay. Since then, she has been pooping outside the litter box every other day in the morning. I recently noticed that her normal brown poop had a black covering. I'm not sure if I should be worried about that.

Besides this she is acting normal. She goes and plays with her flat catnip toys, drops off presents for me, and lays around.

I'm really not sure if something is wrong or if she's just being picky about food again. Is there something she would definitely eat?

Pinkeed said:

Let me start off by saying this cat has always been a very picky eater and prone to UTIs. She's 14 years old now and the oldest out of the 3 I own. I switched her over to all wet food during the past year. She was eating fancy feast classics until recently when she decided she wasn't going to eat them anymore. I have been trying to get her to get natural balance and wellness grain free. She has been eating all of her food in the morning, but only a quarter to half of her food in the afternoon. It's not untypical of her to leave some food behind, but this is a little more than usual. She never seems to stick with any food more than a couple months. I tried switching her over to raw in the past with no success.

Recently, I moved the litter box that was in the bedroom out because it was only in there so that the youngest cat could heal from her spay. Since then, she has been pooping outside the litter box every other day in the morning. I recently noticed that her normal brown poop had a black covering. I'm not sure if I should be worried about that.

Besides this she is acting normal. She goes and plays with her flat catnip toys, drops off presents for me, and lays around.

I'm really not sure if something is wrong or if she's just being picky about food again. Is there something she would definitely eat?

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First she obviously isn't happy with the litter box move, so i would consider adding a second back into the bedroom. A 14 year old cat needs at least an annual vet visit and senior blood panel.  If your cat hasn't been to a vet in the past year then its over due.  There are issues you can catch much sooner (and cheaper) if you have blood work done at this age.

When did your cat last see a vet?

She last saw a vet around August of last year, maybe earlier. I've been through 3 moves and we finally moved to this townhouse in January. Last time she was in it was for a UTI. No blood work has been done in 3 plus years. Not sure exactly when since Mom has the paperwork for this.

Unfortunately, my husband will not let me move the litter box back into the bedroom as it was meant to be temporary and he hates it in there.

It sounds like the vet should have recommended a blood panel last year. This doesn't surprise me as they had the cats on hills t/d at one point in the past and that only made them worse. I have since switched vets and am now visiting a better one. This cat has not been to the new vet, but the other 2 have.

I am worried about the black in the stool. Does it look tarry? Possibly black stool is digested blood. She may need to see a Vet just for the wellness checkup. About the litter boxes, can you put another in a hall way or another bedroom?

As to a food she will definitely eat, your guess is as good as ours.  Every cat is different.  I also have 3, and they used to be free fed kibble.  Once I got them all converted to canned, I  DID successfully convert them to raw, only to then have two of them start refusing it after about a year.  So it was back to canned, and now each one eats different canned food (except my pudge, who goes around and tries to finish off the others' dishes if they don't ).  

So...all I can advise you is to keep trying different foods until you find something your old girl likes.  Different flavors, different textures, etc.  Both my boys like Nutro Natural Choice, but not the same flavors. But my older female doesn't like  ANY of them, and believe me, I've tried them all, trying to find something they ALL like so i don't have to have so many open cans in the fridge.  One of mine only likes chicken (he doesn't even like fish, which I try not to feed too much of anyway), and none of them seem to like turkey.  (from what I read here on TCS, it seems MOST cats like both turkey AND fish, so go figure)   MY old girl loves beef, but not from all manufacturers.  She actually LOVES Sheba beef, but doesn't like Evo.  And she does like Fancy Feast Classics, used to REALLY like them, so maybe this would be a good transition for you, since your's used to like Fancy Feast Classics.   Also, you can try using toppers to make the food more tempting.  I use things like freeze dried salmon, cod, chicken, Flortiflora, even crushed temptations will work. 

As to her stool, is the "black covering" like tar, or is it nice and firm and not "sticky?  If it's tarry, that's a sign of internal bleeding and I would say to see a Vet sooner than later. 

And for the litter box issues, if you have 3 cats, rule of thumb is to have at least as many litter boxes as you have cats, plus one.  I, myself, have 3 cats and only 2 boxes, and that works for us.  But one of our boxes is HUGE....actually, it's a rubbermaid storage container with an entrance cut into it.  Anyway, we used to have more and found the the third was not used, to finally got rid of it.  But perhaps your issues is that when your senior needs to go either she cannot get to the box, or the box is in use and she cannot wait.  OR, is anything else going on in your home right now to be causing stress?  I find when something stressful is happening, my old girl will poop right in front of me (not in the box) as if she's voicing her displeasure with me.  We are in the middle of a bathroom remodel right now, so needless to say, I've been plenty busy cleaning up after her  

We are redoing the fireplace and painting so there's a lot going on that could be stressful. All the litter boxes are in the 2nd bedroom. It's only a 2 bedroom townhouse, so not very big. I was thinking of moving one into the laundry room. You have to pass through the kitchen to get to it though and it's tiny. I spend a lot of time in the 1st bedroom, so cats spend a lot of time there too because they like to sit by me.

Her stool has been sticky sometimes and kinda hard other times. I noticed that it seems to form a u shape, not sure if this means anything.

I might try Sheba, I really never know with that cat and food.

Other stressful things. Other 2 cats meowing at door because they want to get her food. Sometimes bouncing off door as well. One of my cats is absolutely obsessed with food for no good reason. She used to be able to graze on her food every night.

Your remodel and other cats at the door might be the issue with the pooping.  OR, see this article:  http://www.catdocmaine.com/catfeces.html

Pinkeed said:

She last saw a vet around August of last year, maybe earlier. I've been through 3 moves and we finally moved to this townhouse in January. Last time she was in it was for a UTI. No blood work has been done in 3 plus years. Not sure exactly when since Mom has the paperwork for this.

Unfortunately, my husband will not let me move the litter box back into the bedroom as it was meant to be temporary and he hates it in there.

It sounds like the vet should have recommended a blood panel last year. This doesn't surprise me as they had the cats on hills t/d at one point in the past and that only made them worse. I have since switched vets and am now visiting a better one. This cat has not been to the new vet, but the other 2 have.

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Is your husband ok with him pooping in the bedroom without a litter box?