elderly cat pooping & peeing everywhere

[telnaga]

My cat Patch is maybe 13, female, spayed. No teeth (removed years ago, all but one fang). very sensitive digestive system, can only eat wet food & only gets freeze dried chicken as treats. doesn't move around a lot but I try to get her to play as much as I can, which will mostly just be, if I'm lucky, her batting at a shoelace for a couple minutes.

We've lived in this very small apartment (4 rooms - kitchen/living room, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath) for around a year and a half. I have her litterbox in a little tool closet by the front door, because it's about the only place that isn't carpeted and she's extremely messy. It's accessible in the kitchen/living room.

she's not super mobile, but she's been getting better. she likes to climb onto the couch and sleep there, or climb up onto the back of the couch so she can look out the window.

a few months ago she started getting especially bad about pooping & peeing places - I think it started along with the onset of summer, because we run the AC in our bedroom & keep the door closed for efficiency. that means either she gets locked in our bedroom (and goes and poops or pees somewhere) or she gets put out into the living room so she can have access to her litterbox. but she's still been pooping and peeing in the living room... almost once a day. she's been doing it on the couch, even, and I've had to clean it up way too many times. since she's old and stiff, I bought an extra big litterbox so she'd have more room to move around in it (since she was so messy with the smaller one and, most of the time, went over the edge of it.) it didnt help, and I realized the entryway of the new litterbox was probably hard for her to get in, so i sawed it low so she can just walk into it. she has a much easier time getting into and using the litterbox now. but she's still pooping and peeing everywhere, usually overnight. even if it's cool enough to not use the AC and leave the door open, she'll come into our bedroom and pee on the bed, right between my partner and I, while we're sleeping.

I'm planning on moving her old litterbox as a second one in the corner of our bedroom, but that'll take some rearranging and im not sure it'll stop everything since she's still peeing/pooping in random places just a short walk from her first litterbox? is there anything else I can do?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. You didn't mention that she has recently been seen by a vet. If she hasn't I would start there - at 13yo, there a lot of health issues that could be impacting her peeing/pooping outside the litterbox. At that age, a vet would want her to have a senior checkup including Superchem blood work, urinalysis, and possibly a fecal test.

The other possibility could be that the locations she has peed/pooped on still retain her scent and that would encourage her to go in those locations again and again. I've included links (below) to TCS articles that discusses varying ways to try to remove urine/feces smells from carpet and linens, etc, as well as another article that addresses possible reasons for litterbox avoidance.

When adding another litterbox to your bedroom, I would replicate the litter box that is easier for her to get in and out of - rather than using her old one that she had a harder time with.

You might also want to talk to your vet about supplements that could help with her arthritis (e.g.; glucosamine, chondroitin, green lipped mussels).
How To Get Cat Urine Smell Out Of Carpet: Effective, Non-toxic Solutions – TheCatSite Articles
How To Get Cat Pee Smell Out Of Clothes And Linens – TheCatSite Articles
Litterbox Problems? Here’s Why You Should Call Your Vet – TheCatSite Articles

 

[telnaga]

Hi. You didn't mention that she has recently been seen by a vet. If she hasn't I would start there - at 13yo, there a lot of health issues that could be impacting her peeing/pooping outside the litterbox. At that age, a vet would want her to have a senior checkup including Superchem blood work, urinalysis, and possibly a fecal test.

oh man you're totally right!
I'm afraid I just straight up do not have the money to take her to the vet right now... I'd have to work really hard to raise it up. If it seems pretty important, I'll do that, but. generally every time I've taken Patch to a vet (last time was about a year ago) they've charged me a lot of money and not helped anything, just tried to sell me Hill's. so I'm always a little hesitant to think about that, but. it's still important, regardless.

I'll work at getting the scent completely out & if I can, try to buy another bigger catbox & saw that one down too, but I just really don't have that many resources available to me rn, so I'll take it in order of what I can do without much trouble to try to help her.

thanks so much for your help!

 

[FeebysOwner]

I'm afraid I just straight up do not have the money to take her to the vet right now... I'd have to work really hard to raise it up. If it seems pretty important, I'll do that, but. generally every time I've taken Patch to a vet (last time was about a year ago) they've charged me a lot of money and not helped anything, just tried to sell me Hill's. so I'm always a little hesitant to think about that, but. it's still important, regardless.

Some vets will allow for a payment plan if you can't pay all at once - you could at least ask them about it. There are other potential options you could check into, such as carecredit.com. Maybe some additional tips in this article?
No Money For Vet Care? How To Find Help And Save Your Cat’s Life – TheCatSite Articles

And, if you take her in to this same vet and they once again don't seem terribly helpful, that would be the time to find another vet in a totally different practice (to avoid colleague bias) - perhaps, a friend/family member/co-worker/neighbor could offer you the name of a vet that they trust. Getting copies of her records (which you should be able to do for free) and sharing them with another vet could help reduce redundant costs.