Unusual Toileting Issues

Hi there

So my cat is a three year old, indoor, cat who is generally healthy. She is de-sexed and vaccinated and sleeps and eats normally. Over the past couple of months we have become concerned though as about once a week she will either pee or poo outside her litter box. The other 14 or so times she goes she is happy to use the litter, so we haven't yet taken her to the vet, but we were wondering if anyone has had a similar issue? We are aware it may just be that sometimes we forget to clean her litter for a couple of days, but she has never done this before now, and we haven't changed anything. Hope someone can recommend if they think its something the vet should deal with, or if they've gone through a similar thing.

Thanks!

By pooping and peeing outside do you mean hanging their butt outside of the box and then going? or going all around the house? If it's around the house I would try putting litter boxes in the area's where they have been going, using different amounts. I would also check to see if her poop is really hard or soft, if it's hard it might be an irritable bowel or inflamed bowel. I would just buy a few more litter boxes first and see if that works. 

How often do you scoop the box and clean it and replace the litter?  It might not be cleaned frequently enough for her.  Also, she might need one box for peeing and one for pooping.  Some kitties are peculiar like that.

Thanks for the replies so far. 

Sparkymema - she is going randomly around the house. She only ever really pees in the bathroom (which is also where her litter is) but not even in a specific place there - just around. With the poos she has done them in the bedroom, living room and bathroom. The poos also vary, once it was soft, but it has also been normal.

It may definitely be that we just need to clean her litter more regularly. I just know that for some cats when they are going outside the litter box is can be due to illness or disease, but as she is otherwise healthy, and only does it about once a week, I wanted to get other cat owners opinions before I freaked out!   

I would clean out the bathroom completely with something like vinegar, or something like an H2O cleaner first. Then I would buy them some litter boxes for those areas you mentioned. You could also slowly move the current box out of the bathroom about 6in every morning and every night until its out of the bathroom. That way you can close the door. The bathroom really isn't a social area which can cause cats to have issues at random moments. If it has a topper on it also just take it off. There might be something that is being seen or heard as a threat to your cat, this will give he lots of escape routes.