Cat poops outside of box

[emo]

Hi,
My cat Clyde poops outside his box quite often. Sometimes he even poops on his blanket or next to his food bowl. He's 8.5 yrs old and I'm his 3rd owner (he was adopted from Humane Society). He's been to the vet a lot and I've tried everything
-feliway diffuser & spray
-cat attract litter
-multiple litter boxes
-scoop twice a day

I've recently had him tested for UTI at the vet because he was peeing outside the box. They did blood test and urinlysis. Everything was fine but sodium was a little high. Since he had been to the vet on April 1st he was being good. No accidents outside the box until Thu, April 9th. I can't figure out what his deal is.

I moved in Feb and he was having a hard time adjusting...he seemed a bit stressed. He seems a lot better now but why is he back to the accidents? Any suggestions would be great. The vet says that his problem is behavioral and recommended putting him on Clomicalm. My boyfriend doesn't want him doped up and thinks that he just needs to get adjusted to his new home.

Has anyone had any luck with herbal remedies like flowers or Cat Calm? Any suggestions would be great. I don't want to give him back to the HS...I really love him and I don't know that anyone will want him since he's been adopted and brought back twice before.

He's a good cat and I know that he loves me. He knows that he's messed up when he does it and I never punish him. When he does poop in his box he does not cover it...he takes off right away.

Help!! I'm not sure how to correct his behavior. I need a "Cat Whisperer"

[Medusa]

Welcome to Pet Talk! You've come to the right place for information and most definitely for encouragement.

I have a few cats who did inappropriate urinating on occasion. They're on Clomicalm and it's been a godsend; no episodes since starting them on it. I've recommended it several times to people here on PT. You may have to play w/the dosage until you get it right but it doesn't take much. My cats get only 5 mg. at night before bed and they show no side effects whatsoever. To ease your boyfriend's mind, they are not doped up at all and they have not demonstrated any change in personality. They get blood work done once a year just to be sure that all is well. I'm pleased that your vet recommended it because I'm quite an advocate of it. As for not covering up his mess, some cats just don't. My 18 year old blackie Boo doesn't and never has. I have another Maine Coon cat, Specs, who is just the opposite and digs to China to cover.

One thing, though: you're not moving the litter box from place to place, are you? Since Clyde has been through a lot of change w/you being the third family he's lived with, if you've moved his litter box, that could add to his stress. Cats don't like change much and this could be part of the problem, if you've done it, that is. Just a thought. So your boyfriend could be right about Clyde having to adjust to his new home, if you can be patient enough to wait it out and see.

Good luck and please keep us updated. We'd love to see some photos of Clyde when you have the time.

[emo]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I will say I'm so glad that I found this site. I've been on Justask.com a few times and actually paid for advice on what to do.

Thanks for the info on Clomicalm! I think that I will use that as my last resort though. I'm a little worried about have to pill him...I've only ever given him liquid medicine. I was going to inquire with my local pharmacist about getting it put in a liquid suspension that I could mix with his wet food.

He has been diagnosed with IBD so that's the other reason I'm leary about using Clomicalm since it can disrupt his GI system which is finally under control with prescription food. Royal Canin Green Peas & Duck. I free feed dry food and he gets 1/4 can in AM and PM.

It's just so annoying that sometimes he'll poop in his box and then he'll poop again 3 feet away from it. He's got 2 boxes within 6 feet of each other so it just doesn't make sense. For a little while it was getting so frustrating that I didn't know what else to do. I took him to the vet thinking he had a UTI but nothing was wrong.

Do you have any suggestions for treating behavioral problems? Any info would be so great!

Take care!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi and welcome to PT. I'm so sorry to hear that you're having these problems. I have a cat,Starr, who has colitis and IBD and he would also poop outside of the litter boxes even though I scooped 2 times a day and he had 6 to choose from. He had severe diarrhea so he would just explode even though a litter box might be close by.

Is your cats stool firm, semi-firm, or loose like diarrhea? Starr is now on a grain free diet,Innova Evo, and he has to be on prednisolone for the rest of his life. He's also on a probiotic powder called Primal Defense by Garden Of Life which you can buy online. He also takes GI Encaps by Thorne Research which I mix in with his Primal Defense Powder and you can buy these online too. He was seeing my regular vet and a holistic vet and they both helped him a lot. He received many acupunture treatments which also helped him.

Sometimes this problem can be caused by stress so now Starr is also on the generic form of prozac and has been doing well on this. He gets a very small doseage of this so it hasn't changed his personality at all. I give him his pills in chicken flavored pill pockets and he loves them. I hope that you'll be able to figure out a good solution to Clyde's problem. Good luck.

[emo]

Well Clyde didn't do very well this evening while we were gone. He did poop in his box a regular link of poop but he also had a loose stool on his blanket and one on the couch. He has never pooped on furniture before so I didn't like that at all!

It seems like he's been having good normal poop lately so I'm not sure what the deal is with the loose stools. Anyhow, I think that he's acting out because he's a little stressed. We moved in with my bf in mid-Feb so he's been getting adjusted to that. He usually sleeps in bed with us but my bf has been having some kind of allergy on his neck and though it could have something to do with Clyde so he isn't sleeping with us right now. Last night was his first night sleeping downstairs without us. I feel terrible doing it but we are trying to rule Clyde out as the cause of irritation. I'm afraid that this change is causing some very negative behavior. I was thinking about sleeping downstairs with him but I'm not sure if that will make him worse.

I love him and I'm just going to give him time to adjust but I'm not sure what else i can do to make things easier for him. Thanks for the suggestions. Luckily his IBD isn't bad enough to warrant any medication. Interestingly enough Clyde looks very similar to Storm...he's a Russian Blue too.

Oh yeah, anyone have suggestions on how to keep him off the counters. I've been trying to use a water bottle but once he sees me he jumps down. I'm so glad that I've found this site and am glad to have any and all advice.

[Medusa]

Oh boy. I imagine that the IBD may change things as far as taking Clomicalm. As I said, I've not seen any side effects in my cats so I wasn't aware of possible GI irritation. As for behavior solutions, that's why they're taking Clomicalm; it's normally prescribed for dogs w/behavior problems but it's given successfully to cats as well. I wish I had an answer for you but I can't seem to come up w/anything. And keeping the cats off the countertops...I wish I knew. I keep the disinfectant companies in business.

I sure hope that you see a solution to your problem soon and that Clyde calms down and settles in.

[Pinot's Mom]

It seems to me there's been quite a bit of change in this poor kitty's life, and he could just be acting out a bit. If the food has changed as well, that can account for the loose stools (Pinot's going through a bit of that at the moment, too, as I've just changed from Science Diet regular indoor to the more natural ingredient Science Diet); any food change can cause poo change temporarily.
You mentioned there has been another change in where he sleeps, this is disruptive as well and very well could be a part of the problem, but it's not insurmountable.
There are some very knowledgeable cat people on this site; keep working with your vet, see what other suggestions work on the behavioral aspect, give the kitty some time, and it'll all work out. We know it's stressful, but Clyde has been through enough - let him settle in. As I understand Russian Blues - they are very loyal once they realize you actually belong to them! Good luck, let us know how things go, and take care!

[Pinot's Mom]

...oh, forgot - the countertops? Good Luck! It just seems some cats can be taught to stay off, and some can't. I've had both! If they at least get it enough to jump off when you come in, that's half the battle!

[lvpets2002]

Welcome to Pet Talk & enjoy all the talks & pics.. Oh by the way we would love pictures of your baby or babies..

I think your getting some great advice so far.. I have two babies that wont cover their poop.. Then I have two other babies that will cover the other's uncovered poop up..

[emo]

Thanks for all of your advice. I really appreciate it. It turns out hair gel was my bf's allergy problem and not Clyde!! Yea!! So we're going back to all sleeping together this evening! I've been sleeping on the couch with him so it wouldn't mess him up as much.

Has anyone tried flower essences? I saw something about them on cat faeries
http://catfaeries.com/essences.html and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

I'm probably trying to many things and should just leave him alone but I'm trying to get this stuff straightened out before it becomes a habit.

BTW, there is this chair he keeps peeing on and my bf doesn't know about it. I've tried cleaning it with POO (Pet odor out) but he peed on it again before I was done treating it. I'm going to AIP (anti icky poo) next. Any suggestions on how I can keep him off the chair without my bf knowing what's going on? Right now I have a box on it because I'm moving but the box can't stay there forever. I'm up for any and all suggestions. I never catch him on that chair and there is always pee in his boxes so I don't know when he does it.

Thanks for everything. I'm hoping to get some pics posted this weekend!

[emo]

It seems to me there's been quite a bit of change in this poor kitty's life, and he could just be acting out a bit. If the food has changed as well, that can account for the loose stools (Pinot's going through a bit of that at the moment, too, as I've just changed from Science Diet regular indoor to the more natural ingredient Science Diet); any food change can cause poo change temporarily.
You mentioned there has been another change in where he sleeps, this is disruptive as well and very well could be a part of the problem, but it's not insurmountable.
There are some very knowledgeable cat people on this site; keep working with your vet, see what other suggestions work on the behavioral aspect, give the kitty some time, and it'll all work out. We know it's stressful, but Clyde has been through enough - let him settle in. As I understand Russian Blues - they are very loyal once they realize you actually belong to them! Good luck, let us know how things go, and take care!

Clyde was on Hill's i/d for awhile but there is something in Science Diet/Hill's food that does not agree with him. He's been on Royal Canin Limited Ingredient Diet - Duck and Green Peas since November and he's doing a lot better. Sometimes i think the loose stools are from stress or if he gets into something he's not supposed to.

[BTA]

Hello,

My cat did this and it turned out she didn't like the new cat litter pellets we had got her. She's very sensitive to textures but once we changed back to the usual sand-like cat litter she was fine.
Have you maybe changed the litter to a different brand?

[emo]

Good news! He's used his box 2 days in a row now! I happened to be home today when he was pooping in his box and he made a huge fart noise when he pooped and then he took off. I wonder if he is scaring himself and runs out before he gets a chance to cover it up. I just don't know why he always takes off after he poops but when he pees in the box he hangs out and tries to cover it (most of the time he's pawing at the side of the litter box).

Tonight we get to go back to sleeping in the bedroom. I might be more excited than Clyde is but that's okay. I just want him to be a happy cat! I love him a lot! I had a bad day today and he's been at my side since I got home from work!

Here's some pictures of Clyde...Let's see if this works!

[Medusa]

Oh what a handsome boy Clyde is! And such good news, too! As for not covering his stuff, my boys hardly ever do either. I don't know what the deal is w/covering #1 but not #2 other than possibly marking that box as theirs. The important thing is that they use the box. Good for Clyde and good news for you!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Clyde sure is a handsome boy and I'm glad that he's using his box again. My cat Starr won't cover up his pee or his poop. He always leaps out of the box in such a hurry that sometimes some of his poop will follow him. Luckily either Pearl or Storm will usually go back to the box and cover up his business or I have to do it. Maybe Clyde has just been very stressed out and now he's finally beginning to feel more secure in his new home. I hope that he'll continue to do well. Please keep us updated about him.