old cat not pooping in her litterbox

Hi there,

My bf and I are the owners of a 13-14 year old cat named Sister. She is an indoor cat and also spayed. Before we moved out of our one bedroom apartment about eight months ago, she was always very good at using the litterbox. We never had any problems. About two or so months after we moved into our new place, she started pooping on the floor every so often. It wasn't an everyday thing, maybe once a week at the most. BTW, she always urinates in her box. For the past 5 days or so, she has not been pooping in her box at all! Everyday there is a pile on our carpet. It looks as if she might have diarrehea sometimes. I don't understand it, because we live in a small two bedroom trailer and the litterbox is pretty reachable in the bathroom. Yesterday, She used the littlerbox once in the morning and I was very happy, I thought that perhaps she was over it. But, lo and behold last night I found a surprise. I am calling the vet to see if she might have some sort of infection, do you think this might be due to old age as well? If so, what kind of options do I have?

If the vet doesn't find anything wrong with Sister, you might try getting her an another litterbox. My Vilma started to poop on the floor right next to the litterbox and this went on for a long time. But when I bought an another litterbox, she stopped. She apparently just doesn't want to pee and poop in the same litterbox.
Also you might try changing the place of the litterbox. Vilma doesn't mind peeing if anyone sees it but she will only poop when she has privacy.
Let us know how it goes and what the vet says. Good luck!

Thanks Satu for your reply. I have an appt. with the vet tomorrow morning, so we will see what he finds! Thanks for your suggestions, I plan to try them. I also did a search on these boards and found lots of other great things to try. Thanks again!

You need the vet's opinion to eliminate any medical issues.

If it isn't medical, then as said already the first step would be to give two litter boxes (it does help!) and make sure there is reasonable privacy. If that doesn't work, then it is a matter of troubleshooting diet issues and environmental changes and a bunch of other stuff.

Anyway, good luck at the vet!

Well, just got back from the vet. We did a fecal test and that came back negative. The vet said she was a little underweight at 6.4 lbs. She just doesn't eat much at all. Right now, for the past 5 days I haven't given her any can food, because I thought that could be giving her problems. She usually eats a half can of can food in the morning and then the other half at night. In between she has her normal dry food. The doc also said to get another litter pan and try to help her gain a bit more weight. It's going to be a bit difficult deciding where to put the second pan though. We don't have much space and it will have to be in the kitchen or something. She did use her litterbox yesterday, but this morning I found more poop in the living room. Hmmm. Thanks for everyone's help!

Ok here are my thoughts- you moved to a new place, upsetting her routine. That causes stress and stress causes illness and other problems in cats. The problem with these types of illnesses is that sometimes they go undetected for a long period of time until it is to late. Did your vet run a senior panel on her? I would strongly suggest one.

If in your new place there are old pet stains, she will smell them, and she will try and cover them with her scent. For some cats, this is done by urine, others by stool. I would invest in a black light and shine it at midnight in your home, you might be surprised

I would also get her a box with low sides. She is older, she could be arthritic and hopping over the sides of the pan isn't attractive for her anymore. She may do it once, but not twice, as her bones hurt.

I would get her a second even a third litter pan. Hands down the BEST thing to use for litter pans is the under the bed storage box that you can buy at any walmart, target or other bargain department store. You get a large low box and a top, so you have two litter pans at a cheaper price (usually) than a regular pan costs. I have 6 of these out in the enclosure now and the cats love it. They move around when they live outside, they pee in one place and then move off and poop in another. These large bins allow them to do this, without soiling the floor or the carpet.

If you are not taking up the stains with an enzyme cleaner, you aren't going to be able to stop her from pooping there. You need www.odordestroyer.com or www.urine-off.com to work the enzymes and break them down. Otherwise every three days she will return to the same area and poop again.

But, if she were my cat a Senior Panel (bloodtest) would be my first call- then I would go looking for the underbed storage unit


Good luck

I don't know if any of you remember me, but about a few weeks ago I had a thread in the Behavior column concerning my 14 year old female cat named Sister. We were having litterbox problems. She would poop outside her box at least once every two days. You can read the original thread here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ping+litterbox

Everyone gave me great advice and we've tried everything (The vet tried to deter me from getting bloodtests done until we've tried the second litterbox and other suggestions). I noticed something interesting though. Ever since she's started this behavior, she has also stopped covering her poop in the litterbox. This is really odd because she has always covered her droppings ever since I've known her. We have many stray cats in our park which are cared for by an old woman who has lived there for over fifty years. I was thinking that maybe sister smelled the other cats and was trying to mark her territory? Could that be possible?

Saturday night, I came home and found the usual pile on the floor. I turned on the light and proceeded to clean it up. I noticed there was a mucusy looking blood covering parts of it. The vet told me to call immediately if we found blood in her stool. I called just now and the vet said the next step would be bloodtests. She did poop on the floor just the other day, and there was no blood in it. I am still having the bloodtests done though. I was curious, does anyone know what kind of diseases/conditions she could have?

No but I am surprised your vet held off so long for blood work. I merged your threads also so people can follow what is going on with your cat.

Good luck, I hope they find out what is wrong and that it is simple to fix, but at the double digit age anything and everything can and does happen.

Originally Posted by Pikaia

I noticed something interesting though. Ever since she's started this behavior, she has also stopped covering her poop in the litterbox. This is really odd because she has always covered her droppings ever since I've known her. We have many stray cats in our park which are cared for by an old woman who has lived there for over fifty years. I was thinking that maybe sister smelled the other cats and was trying to mark her territory? Could that be possible?

Saturday night, I came home and found the usual pile on the floor. I turned on the light and proceeded to clean it up. I noticed there was a mucusy looking blood covering parts of it. The vet told me to call immediately if we found blood in her stool. I called just now and the vet said the next step would be bloodtests. She did poop on the floor just the other day, and there was no blood in it. I am still having the bloodtests done though. I was curious, does anyone know what kind of diseases/conditions she could have?

Click to expand...

I am having the same issue with my cat. We moved to a new place in the past two months. She has stopped covering up her poop in her box. And she has been pooping outside the box. Sometimes right next to it, sometimes in the living room. For two days her stool was both soft and normal. There were secretions near the place where she decided to go. I couldn't really tell if there was blood though. I supposed to take her to the Vet today; but had to cancel until Monday.

I am have problems with my 22 yr old cat not pooping in the litter box..she will pee and only sometimes poop. She was going in the living room but now she is confind to kitchen and basement (she can not jump anymore) by a baby gate. She was using the litter box when she was 1st confine, aobut 2-3 weeks. yesterday she left us 2 surprises I don't know what to do the vet does not have a clue thinks she jsut forgets and goes whereever!

Originally Posted by pbaumgar

I am having the same issue with my cat. We moved to a new place in the past two months. She has stopped covering up her poop in her box. And she has been pooping outside the box. Sometimes right next to it, sometimes in the living room. For two days her stool was both soft and normal. There were secretions near the place where she decided to go. I couldn't really tell if there was blood though. I supposed to take her to the Vet today; but had to cancel until Monday.

Click to expand...

Glad I'm not alone in this! If you figure out something that works, please let me know!! Sister's been very good the last couple of days, she's been going in her box and poop doesn't have any blood in it.

Originally Posted by msyfun

I am have problems with my 22 yr old cat not pooping in the litter box..she will pee and only sometimes poop. She was going in the living room but now she is confind to kitchen and basement (she can not jump anymore) by a baby gate. She was using the litter box when she was 1st confine, aobut 2-3 weeks. yesterday she left us 2 surprises I don't know what to do the vet does not have a clue thinks she jsut forgets and goes whereever!

Click to expand...

It does sound like your cat could be going senile or something. 22 yrs old is really old for a kitty! Poor little baby, I don't know what you could do for her. I'd keep her confined a bit, but visit with her a lot so she doesn't get lonely!

Did the vet make sure she wasn't in pain or sick?

We spend plenty of time with her. We have a finished basement so we're there all the time she also has access to screened in porch when we are at home. She be all means is not lonely. I just think shes lazy some times she makes it to the box only 1 accident in the kitchen so far.

She by all means is not lonely. We have a finished basement and we spend alot of time there. Also when we are at home she has access to screened in porch. She went in the litter box today!!!! She has been good up until about a month ago. Vet has no idea.

Try a very light litter, like corn or wheat. She most likely has arthritis and it is difficult to move the heavy litter over her poo. I'll bet that's your problem!  That's why she doesn't cover it and it most likely hurts to step up into the box. try a shallower one.