I'm trying to figure out why my roommate's cat is suddenly not using the litterbox. We have a large, three bedroom apartment, which I moved into a couple of years ago. I also have a cat, it took a month or so, but the cats are now friends. We got a new third roommate a year ago, but nothing else has changed. There is a large litterbox in the laundry room. We also have a walled in deck room behind the kitchen and there is a cat door for them to go into the deck room. We have two more litter boxes out there. We have tried very hard to keep them all pretty clean. We all love cats and they get lots of attention from the three of us.
My roommate, who owns the problem cat, is frequently not home and at her partner's place, which has always been the case. When I moved in, she told me her cat had been known to pee on the sofas. In the first year and a half, I lived with her, he never peed on anything, I was like, maybe it's a thing of the past? Then several months ago, it all changed. He started pooping on the back stairs that go to a back door from our deck room. He would also sometimes poop in the house, on the floor or one of the sofas. We started cleaning the boxes more often, but he would still poop on the outdoor stairs sometimes, even when the boxes were totally clean.
Now he has started peeing again. Last night, I was sitting on our smaller sofa, talking to my other roommate, who was standing. The cat jumped up on the large sofa, looked directly at me and peed on the sofa! We know he is trying to tell us something and are worried he may be ill. He has also become very thin over the past several months and he used to be very large. He otherwise acts normal, likes to eat, drinks water, likes to play, killed a mouse not too long ago, etc.
His owner was not home last night but I contacted her and she says she will try to get him into the vet today, which I'm hoping will happen. She is not always the most attentive cat owner. We try to help out too and give him attention.
Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong?
My roommate, who owns the problem cat, is frequently not home and at her partner's place, which has always been the case. When I moved in, she told me her cat had been known to pee on the sofas. In the first year and a half, I lived with her, he never peed on anything, I was like, maybe it's a thing of the past? Then several months ago, it all changed. He started pooping on the back stairs that go to a back door from our deck room. He would also sometimes poop in the house, on the floor or one of the sofas. We started cleaning the boxes more often, but he would still poop on the outdoor stairs sometimes, even when the boxes were totally clean.
Now he has started peeing again. Last night, I was sitting on our smaller sofa, talking to my other roommate, who was standing. The cat jumped up on the large sofa, looked directly at me and peed on the sofa! We know he is trying to tell us something and are worried he may be ill. He has also become very thin over the past several months and he used to be very large. He otherwise acts normal, likes to eat, drinks water, likes to play, killed a mouse not too long ago, etc.
His owner was not home last night but I contacted her and she says she will try to get him into the vet today, which I'm hoping will happen. She is not always the most attentive cat owner. We try to help out too and give him attention.
Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong?