Cat poops outside litter box and vomits once a week

I adopted a 4 year old blind siamese/thai cat in January. I initially had some issues with her toileting outside her litter box, but I switched to Dr Elsey's cat attract litter and the problem all but stopped. Being a novice cat owner, I hadn't realized some cats don't like scented litter.

However, there's still an issue where once a week, almost like clockwork, she poops outside her litter box and throws up. It seems that usually there's more poop than she usually leaves in her box (even when she poops the day before), and sometimes she poops in more than one spot (today it was on my bed and rug!). Usually she will also vomit, although last week she didn't. She also has two litter boxes as of yesterday, one with just the Dr Elsey's, and a new and bigger one mixed with Dr Elsey's and Worlds Best Cat Litter. They're both open top and side by side, and she never has an issue finding or using them, and sometimes she'll poop right next to them when these incidents occur. I scoop them once, sometimes twice a day. Tonight, there were only one or two clumps in her mixed box, and her other Dr Elsey's-only box was completely clean.

I'm at a loss as to why she's doing this. I didn't keep track before, but I know for certain that she's done this every week at around the same time for the last 4 weeks in a row. I know vomiting once a week is not something to be too concerned about, especially in siamese, but the pooping is what really concerns/irks me. I already intend on taking her into the vet at some point in the next week, but does anyone know what this could be?

It could be something else, but to me it sounds like constipation. The discomfort and pain that a cat feels when stool is hard to pass can be associated with the litter box, causing them to avoid it when they need to poop to try to avoid the pain. Vomiting can also happen as a response to straining hard to have a bowel movement.

A vet check-up is definitely necessary. If she's still pooping every day then the constipation is likely on the mild side, but if she starts going longer in between bowel movements, her appetite decreases, or she starts showing any signs of lethargy, fever, or dehydration, then she would need to see a vet immediately, because those are signs of severe constipation which can become very serious if left untreated.

Some other clues to constipation might be the texture and size of stool (drier, smaller, and harder = more constipated). Keeping her well hydrated is something that won't hurt until the vet visit by feeding canned food, or if you're already feeding wet, adding some extra water to her food. Extra brushing (so she doesn't swallow too much fur) and exercise are also helpful activities for some constipated kitties if you can work those in. If the vet confirms constipation, there are a few other supplements you can add to her food like Miralax or pumpkin, but I'd wait for a vet's OK just to be safe.

If it's not a case of constipation or anything medical, my next guess would be that something alarmed her while pooping in the litter box once and now she's still a little scared about doing that. In that case the new litter box was a great idea, as she doesn't have negative associations with that one yet. But, if she's experiencing pain while she's using the new one, you'll just end up with 2 litter boxes that she's afraid of, so it won't help until her medical issue is resolved.

Honestly that makes sense. Her stool has always been small and on the hard side, but then again she only weighs 5 pounds or so. I feed her wet food once or twice a day already depending on how quickly she eats it (she seems to eat more whenever I open a new can of a different flavor, she gets bored fast), and she's been eating regularly and drinking almost her entire bowl of water each day, which is cleaned and replaced each morning. Despite this, constipation does seen to make sense. I wasn't here tonight when it happened, but last week she was pacing around growling before and during it.

I don't know if it's relevant, but she did let out an astounding loud, long fart for such a tiny cat a few days ago whilst pooping. I don't know how long it takes other cats to poop, but it does seem to take her a little less than a minute of squatting and pushing before anything actually comes out.

Oh, and as far as her diet, I kept everything the same as her foster, with the addition of dental treats. Blue buffalo grain free dry food, different flavors of Friskies patě, and some Friskies party mix treats through out the day. I wonder if there are healthier alternatives to the Friskies products, or are they okay?

That definitely sounds like constipation. Passing gas might be because of it, and cats should be able to poop pretty much as soon as they start pushing.

It could be that she's been constipated to some degree since even before you adopted her and perhaps her foster/shelter was not observant enough to notice it, especially since she had some litter box issues to begin with. Or it could have been triggered/made worse by the stress of being adopted and adjusting to a new home.

It seems like she has a very high thirst level for a cat, which is not a symptom of constipation but I'm a little worried it could be a sign something else. Be sure to describe that to the vet.

As far as diet goes, if you can wean her off of dry entirely and just feed wet she'll be a bit better off. In addition to low water content, dry food, even grain free, has more unnecessary plant material than wet to bind it into little kibble pieces. Friskies is not a bad option, especially if you stick to pates. Fancy Feast pates are perhaps a slightly better option (fewer carbs) in a similar price range. But Friskies shouldn't be causing constipation, so I don't see a reason to change at the moment if that's what she's comfortable with while you figure out the constipation. The Friskies treats are probably not the cause either, although some heavily processed treats can be irritating to the digestive system. It would be a lot healthier to switch to a freeze-dried 100% meat treat. My cat snubbed the first few healthy treats I tried because she wasn't used to the texture, but she found Orijen Wild Boar treats irresistible.

When she goes to the vet, it is likely they will need to do an x-ray to see how blocked up she is, and if it's significant she may need to have an enema. It sounds like her stool is not absorbing water while it's in the colon even though she's drinking a lot, so a soluble fiber like canned pumpkin or a stool softener like Miralax can help with this by drawing extra moisture into the stool. However, if there's a lot of hard stool already sitting in her colon and you start softening the stool behind it, it could leak out around it and make an uncomfortable mess, so that's why you should wait to see if she needs an enema first.

I had a very similar experience when I adopted my cat last year, and her constipation ended up being particularly stubborn. I've tried lots of different foods and remedies, and I had the best results by far with adding probiotics to her food. I started off with pet formulated probiotics, but now I use a less expensive human brand with high levels of acidophilus and bifidus, and since then I have had zero incidences of pooping outside the litter box, which was always a tell-tale sign for me that something was off.

I hope your kitty starts feeling better soon! 5 lbs, she is a tiny little thing! And thank you for adopting a "special needs' kitty, she is fortunate to have found you.

I've wondered a couple times myself about her water consumption, she does pee a good 4 or 5 times a day, but I wasn't sure if that was normal or not. I've pet sat and cared for cats numerous times in the past, but this is my first time actually owning one, so I figured maybe it was normal. I'll be sure to mention it to the vet.

And as far as a "special needs" kitty, I wouldn't have had it any other way. As someone who hopes to go to vet tech school in the next year or two, I have a soft spot in my heart for all "special needs" creatures.

Thanks for all your help, Molly!