This Poop Situation Has Me Pooped

[shyzahkitty]

Hello, I have an 8 year old chinchilla persian that is having problems. I recently took her to the vet for this and we are putting her on prozac. Initially she was pooping on the couch, not urinating at all, just poop. She has never done this before (pooped outside the litter box, urine is a different story). The doctor feels it's probably an anxiety situation, and I moved her to a quiet room (my office). However, when we were at the vet, she pooped on herself, well poop and colitis type discharge. She gets really stressed whenever she is taken out of the house. Being a long hair cat, there was poop all messed up into her fur, so I gave her a bath in our kitchen sink, trying to be very quick.

Since her bath, it looks like she has not groomed herself. I haven't seen her grooming, and she certainly looks like she isn't doing it herself. She hates to be brushed, or I would brush her, but I don't want to increase her anxiety. That was the beginning of October, the vet gave her a clean bill of health, anxiety issues aside. Today, I noticed that the office smelled like cat poop although I emptied her box that morning, but later found out that she had a big matte on her butt fur, and poop was stuck in there. Then I bathed her, the fur around her butt was not long enough that I felt I should trim it. I've been her guardian for 8 years now, I feel I kinda know when a booty cut is in order... Guess I was wrong!

I gave her another bath, then wrapped her up in a towel and trimmed it off with clippers. I don't know why she would stop grooming herself, the Vet indicated no issues with her, but when I was bathing her she was meowing like I was murdering her, which is kind of typical, but these meows were increasing louder than her usual "I hate this" meows. She has lost weight since her last vet visit (previous to the one mentioned above), but she is still eating healthy (more than usual lately), drinking fine and she free feeds kibble. The poop I scooped just this morning was very normal and healthy looking.

Her weight has always been a problem, and she has always been underweight according to vets. She always has dry kibble available and I give her wet food every morning. She eats when she wants. It's just that she prefers to sleep over everything, she is extremely lazy and has been her entire life. I have tried giving her baby food to gain weight, and she will eat it sometimes, but if I give it to her multiple days in a row, she won't eat it. She is very particular about food. She doesn't care for treats either, I've tried many of them. I might try mixing her kibble with Kitten kibble, since it has a higher fat profile, and she does like kitten food. However, she really likes the wet food I give her, so I don't want to change that.

I don't see how getting a bath would cause her to stop grooming herself, unless she just hates the feeling of being clean. I use a cat shampoo with no fragrance. I've had so many problems with her for the last 2 years, either urinating or pooping on things, she's on her last life to be completely honest. This has become an extremely stressful situation for me, and we've also had to replace furniture because of her. She was on transdermal prozac previously and it didn't change anything, I've also tried Canna Companion and I noticed little to no change. I use Feliaway collars, she has multiple cat toys, beds, and scratchers, her own litterbox (she only uses 1, will not use any other box I've put out). For the last year and a half she has had her own room/space free from our other 2 cats. I'm waiting to see if the prozac helps at all, but that will take at least 30 days.

If you have any other suggestions, or could speculate on the grooming issue, I am all ears.

 

[sabian]

It kind of sounds like a deeper issue to me. Maybe something physical rather than mental. I think if it was me I would do a blood test and see what comes up and go from there.

 

[prairiepanda]

There are many physical conditions that can cause this kind of behavior. If nothing has really changed in her life to trigger mental stress, I think it is more likely a physical problem than psychological. As sabian suggested, I would have a full blood panel done to look for underlying health issues.

My Princess Jasmine had started to get extremely finicky about food, and disliking even extra tasty things like baby food or fancy feast if fed more than a few days in a row. She was also getting lazy about grooming herself, which was very unusual for her, and occasionally had accidents outside the litter box. Turned out she had kidney disease, and once we got her on a steady treatment plan for that she went right back to her usual tidy self and lived happily for many more years after diagnosis!

 

[jan nelson]

Hello. We rescued 3 cats about 1 1/2 years ago. Two gray tabbies and one Tortoise long-hair. They all began using the potty box properly except one of the tabbies. She (Peek-a-boo) has a diarrhea (runny stools) problem and poops where it is not allowed (like the carpet, cat beds, 2 corners against the wall on the carpet. We have taken her to the Vet several times. Pumpkin was prescribed for her twice: it did not work at all. We were told to give her mostly dry food (it helped form her stool slightly) but didn't cure the problem.
They sometimes act like they are jealous of the long-haired tortoise who is 17 years old and rather fragil; the gray tabbies are 10 years old (they were born on the same day). All 3 are from the same household. Their previous owner died and her son sent them to Animal Control (where we adopted them).
The long and the short of it is, why aren't the gray tabbies using the potty box at night? My husband changes the litter box twice per day and we always have a clean potty box for the night-time. HELP! ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!
Janiam2

 

[jan nelson]

Oh, forgot to mention that the long-haired tortoise (Tabby) has just seen the Vet and was diagnosed with "Feline Asthma". She received an injection of medicine and we are to let the Vet know if the coughing continues or if she becomes lethargic, etc. All 3 are sweethearts. We are just tired of getting up in the morning and finding an unwelcome surprise on the carpet; in the bathroom; or in the bathtub. Drat.

 

[sabian]

Hello. We rescued 3 cats about 1 1/2 years ago. Two gray tabbies and one Tortoise long-hair. They all began using the potty box properly except one of the tabbies. She (Peek-a-boo) has a diarrhea (runny stools) problem and poops where it is not allowed (like the carpet, cat beds, 2 corners against the wall on the carpet. We have taken her to the Vet several times. Pumpkin was prescribed for her twice: it did not work at all. We were told to give her mostly dry food (it helped form her stool slightly) but didn't cure the problem.
They sometimes act like they are jealous of the long-haired tortoise who is 17 years old and rather fragil; the gray tabbies are 10 years old (they were born on the same day). All 3 are from the same household. Their previous owner died and her son sent them to Animal Control (where we adopted them).
The long and the short of it is, why aren't the gray tabbies using the potty box at night? My husband changes the litter box twice per day and we always have a clean potty box for the night-time. HELP! ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!
Janiam2

You should have more than one litter box for three cats. I think the thinking is one per cat and an extra. I don't know that that's really necessary but I would have at a minimum 2. Make sure they don't have tops on them. Cats sometimes don't like to get in litter boxes with tops on them. It could be the litter you are using also. You may want to experiment with different litters. The cat that has diarrhea may be allergic to the food if it has dyes or coloring in it. I would make sure what your feeding it doesn't. I had a problem with one of my cats once and I put him on Purina One and it cleared up. It may or may not work for yours. I would get away from wet food at least till he gets over the diarrhea. That's wonderful that you adopted all 3 cats. They are lucky to have you! You really should post this in your own thread. I think you would get a lot more replies. Hope this helps.

 

[Snakitty]

Hello, I have an 8 year old chinchilla persian that is having problems. I recently took her to the vet for this and we are putting her on prozac. Initially she was pooping on the couch, not urinating at all, just poop. She has never done this before (pooped outside the litter box, urine is a different story). The doctor feels it's probably an anxiety situation, and I moved her to a quiet room (my office). However, when we were at the vet, she pooped on herself, well poop and colitis type discharge. She gets really stressed whenever she is taken out of the house. Being a long hair cat, there was poop all messed up into her fur, so I gave her a bath in our kitchen sink, trying to be very quick.

Since her bath, it looks like she has not groomed herself. I haven't seen her grooming, and she certainly looks like she isn't doing it herself. She hates to be brushed, or I would brush her, but I don't want to increase her anxiety. That was the beginning of October, the vet gave her a clean bill of health, anxiety issues aside. Today, I noticed that the office smelled like cat poop although I emptied her box that morning, but later found out that she had a big matte on her butt fur, and poop was stuck in there. Then I bathed her, the fur around her butt was not long enough that I felt I should trim it. I've been her guardian for 8 years now, I feel I kinda know when a booty cut is in order... Guess I was wrong!

I gave her another bath, then wrapped her up in a towel and trimmed it off with clippers. I don't know why she would stop grooming herself, the Vet indicated no issues with her, but when I was bathing her she was meowing like I was murdering her, which is kind of typical, but these meows were increasing louder than her usual "I hate this" meows. She has lost weight since her last vet visit (previous to the one mentioned above), but she is still eating healthy (more than usual lately), drinking fine and she free feeds kibble. The poop I scooped just this morning was very normal and healthy looking.

Her weight has always been a problem, and she has always been underweight according to vets. She always has dry kibble available and I give her wet food every morning. She eats when she wants. It's just that she prefers to sleep over everything, she is extremely lazy and has been her entire life. I have tried giving her baby food to gain weight, and she will eat it sometimes, but if I give it to her multiple days in a row, she won't eat it. She is very particular about food. She doesn't care for treats either, I've tried many of them. I might try mixing her kibble with Kitten kibble, since it has a higher fat profile, and she does like kitten food. However, she really likes the wet food I give her, so I don't want to change that.

I don't see how getting a bath would cause her to stop grooming herself, unless she just hates the feeling of being clean. I use a cat shampoo with no fragrance. I've had so many problems with her for the last 2 years, either urinating or pooping on things, she's on her last life to be completely honest. This has become an extremely stressful situation for me, and we've also had to replace furniture because of her. She was on transdermal prozac previously and it didn't change anything, I've also tried Canna Companion and I noticed little to no change. I use Feliaway collars, she has multiple cat toys, beds, and scratchers, her own litterbox (she only uses 1, will not use any other box I've put out). For the last year and a half she has had her own room/space free from our other 2 cats. I'm waiting to see if the prozac helps at all, but that will take at least 30 days.

If you have any other suggestions, or could speculate on the grooming issue, I am all ears.

 

[Snakitty]

Can I ask why she is separated from the other cats? It seems to me that if it is behavioral, wouldn't it be better for her to be with her housemates?
I had a cat that had bathroom issues for a longtime, and it was constipation. He went outside his litter box for the same reason a cat with bladder infection would ...litter box = discomfort. One very good vet put him on Royal Canine GI Fiber Response. He pooped better than he had in a decade, and had no more bathroom issues, and didn't go outside his box.
Sometimes the more we do to try to fix a situation makes it worse. We try a bunch of different things, and that in itself stresses the cat out. Just my humble opinion. I would ask about GI food though. It was a game changer for my elderly cat.

 

[Lalka]

Did your vet check for thyroid issue? Is she always been like that for 8 years or is this behavior recent?
Bathing isnt really good if she does not clean herself anymore...cats like to be covered with their own odor so they can smell everything else around them. Your vet could shave her butt till you can figure out the problem.

 

[prairiepanda]

Did the vet run any blood work or other tests to rule out illnesses that may be causing the diarrhea? I second the idea of shaving her butt rather than bathing. My experience with long-haired cats and diarrhea is that baths just make them smell worse and promote mats if the cat isn't cleaning herself well. A shaved butt works wonders.

Anyway, if illness has been ruled out I would consider trying an elimination diet to assess for allergies or other food sensitivities. Even some very common cat food ingredients such as fish and poultry can be allergens.

Putting out more litter boxes and trying different litters is also worth a shot, as stress can cause diarrhea as well.