Neither of my cats have had litter box problems before. I use two large covered boxes in a bathroom which has doors at both ends for escape, and the doors typically open only about six inches for privacy. I clean the boxes thoroughly every time they've been used. Really thoroughly, every little 1/8 inch piece of clumping litter I find. Red Cat demands this, and if the litter isn't clean enough for him, he whines until I clean the box better or dump the litter, wash the box, and give him fresh. I replace the clumping litter every two weeks (or weekly when Red Cat insists). I've been using the same type of litter and boxes in the same location for the three or so years Purdy has been here.
In the past, maybe two or three times a year I'd find a small piece of feces on the floor of that bathroom, on the carpet of an adjoining room or caught in Purdy's hair. I assumed that those elsewhere had been caught in his hair also, but had fallen off. But for the past several weeks, I've been finding a piece of soft feces on the floor in an adjoining room two or three times a week, not in the same spot, either. It is always just a single piece. (Well, once it was either a big piece or a couple of pieces, but that time I had to chase Purdy up and downstairs four times before I could catch him to take him to the vet. And I don't even know where it was I stepped in it twice, but there was a lot of it on my shoes! But since he was being "pursued," I can understand him doing a necessary duty wherever that time.)
So my questions are these: 1. Does a cat ever do a "partial duty" outside the box deliberately? I've always assumed in reading about these problems, that the cat was not using the box for said duty at all. 2. If this is an accident, with the feces clinging to Purdy's hair, what might account for the great increase in accidents lately? Could the fact that he has gained weight and is now a rolly poly 14 pounds make any difference?
In the past, maybe two or three times a year I'd find a small piece of feces on the floor of that bathroom, on the carpet of an adjoining room or caught in Purdy's hair. I assumed that those elsewhere had been caught in his hair also, but had fallen off. But for the past several weeks, I've been finding a piece of soft feces on the floor in an adjoining room two or three times a week, not in the same spot, either. It is always just a single piece. (Well, once it was either a big piece or a couple of pieces, but that time I had to chase Purdy up and downstairs four times before I could catch him to take him to the vet. And I don't even know where it was I stepped in it twice, but there was a lot of it on my shoes! But since he was being "pursued," I can understand him doing a necessary duty wherever that time.)
So my questions are these: 1. Does a cat ever do a "partial duty" outside the box deliberately? I've always assumed in reading about these problems, that the cat was not using the box for said duty at all. 2. If this is an accident, with the feces clinging to Purdy's hair, what might account for the great increase in accidents lately? Could the fact that he has gained weight and is now a rolly poly 14 pounds make any difference?