7 year old not longer using litter box to poop.

Hi There!

I have a 7 year old female cat named Koko. For 6 years, she has had no problem using her litter box. About a year ago, she started going poop on a rug in my living room. Not only would she poop in the living room but also on the washing machine, which is in the room where her litter box is. Her poop does not look like normal "tootsie roll" type of poop; it more so looks like a cow patty. She continues to pee in her litter box.

My husband and I have taken her to the vet multiple times. They have checked her out and we have left stool samples. Each time they say that she has a clean bill of health, yet she continues to poop outside of her litter box! We have not changed her litter or her litter box. There has not been a big change in our household. The only thing we can think that it could be is that we had laminate floors installed in our house. We had carpet before. This is the only thing that has changed that we think could be what is causing her to do this.

Does anyone else have any ideas of what it could be? If you agree with me about the floors, what could we do to re-train her to use her litter box? We do not want to have to get rid of her!!

Thanks in advance for your help.

It sounds like you've already made some good progress by ruling out any medical issues. Since there's no apparent medical issues, it's likely a behavioral issue.

Has kitty's routine been substantially changed? Have any family members started working longer hours? Have any humans close to her passed away? Have you introduced any new cats to the household?

I adopted a 14 year old kitty in March. He was having a lot of issues with litterbox refusal. His primary caregiver died a few months prior and he had experienced substantial changes in his routine like a move to a new house.

After the vet ruled out medical issues, we put him on anti-anxiety medication. (Buspirone)

I also tried Cat Attract litter and bought the cat an additional litterbox. I put both litter boxes underneath a bed, since he likes hiding under beds. Luckily, I have one bed that is high enough to slide litterboxes underneath!

Within a day or two of starting on his anti-anxiety medication, he started using his box again. It got progressively better and now he is using it full time.

Don't give up! There are definitely solutions to the litterbox issues.