Pooping outside his litter box/throw up

[belochka]

Hello all,

Question 1:

Once in a while he poops outside his litter box.

Granted it is not all the time, it happened several times for the past month, but don't want it to become a permanent problem.

So, would like to stop it before it becomes a habit.

The litter box is cleaned regularly. What could the problem be? He had his medical and so far - everything is ok.

What could the reasons be? What to look for?

How can this be discouraged?

Question 2:

A few days ago he threw up - he felt and acted just fine before and after, like nothing happened.

But I am concerned.

What makes cats throw up? What to keep an eye on?

I think he was given a slightly different kibble - could it be that?

Any thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[talkingpeanut]

How often do you clean the litter box? It is also advisable to add another one. Cats don't always like to poop and pee in the same box.

As for the vomit, I wouldn't worry unless it becomes a pattern. Cats throw up for the same reasons people do - upset stomach, eating too fast, food disagreed with them, etc. It happens sometimes.

 

[molly92]

Make sure you clean the area very well with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle.

I do jump to constipation whenever a cat is not pooping in the litter box consistently. It'd probably be slight, because you haven't noticed any health problems, but he could experience some discomfort occasionally and seek other places because of it. The best way to tell is by looking at his stool, to make sure it's moist and soft. If it is on the dry side increasing his water intake is the way to go, by putting him on wet food if he's on dry, adding extra water to his wet food if he's already eating wet, and/or getting a pet fountain to encourage him to drink. (Vomiting can also happen when I constipated cat strains so hard they throw up, but it doesn't sound from your post like these things are happening one after the other.) 

If his stool is in tip top shape, then for whatever reason he went outside the litter box once and now does it from habit from time to time. You can break this habit by putting a temporary litter box in the spot(s) where he goes to get him to use that, then slowly move the box a little every day until it's where you want it or next to his other litter boxes, and then getting rid of those boxes when things have been going well for a while (or keeping them if you want!). You have to get him to the point were he's used the litter box for so long that he's forgotten that going outside of the box was ever something he did.

Maybe the food caused him to throw up, or maybe it was something else. Like talkingpeanut said, if there aren't repeated episodes I would not be concerned.

 

[belochka]

Thank you very much for the replies.

Yes, the litter box is cleaned regularly, but today it was discovered that he did get constipated.

I am going to post a question in Health forum about constipation management.