Help! Cat won't poop in litterbox.

[pb&j]

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[elliput]

Have you tried putting a box upstairs where he is pooping?

I have had two older cats (about the same age as yours 15/16yo) do the same thing, and pretty much had to put the litter box where they wanted. Not exactly "House Beautiful" material, but it was acceptable to the kitties.

And not to be really morbid, but both died within a year or so of starting this behavior.

[lilycat88]

Does he always go in the same place upstairs? Or in the same room? Is it possible to put a litter box there? The general rule is to always have 1 more litter box than you have cats. Or, at least 1 per level. Especially, as cats get older. We have a 15 year old and a 12 year old and my parents lost a 23 year old cat just over a year ago. I know it's not the most convenient but as they get older, some dementia sets in and there's not much you can do to change the behavior, unfortunately. I hope you can find something that works for you all.

[CAM7]

Yep it's sad when they get to that stage. Our 16 year old calico kitty just started peeing in the upstairs extra bedroom. Dunno why she's picked that spot but it's where she has been going lately.

Last year our two other geriatric kitties (17 yo and 16 yo) started doing this right before they passed on too. :-(

It's time for us to get a litterbox for that bedroom now...

[pb&j]

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[CAM7]

...some dementia sets in and there's not much you can do to change the behavior, unfortunately.

Yes exactly...and also I wonder if as they get older maybe a little arthritis might set in to make it difficult for them to get around as much.

[CAM7]

Other than the pooping, he is in fine shape.

You may want to get him checked then for a UTI? Peeing out of the box is usually an indication of UTI... but sometimes pooping is too.

If he's not looking like he's aging and is still very active and young looking he might just be sick or have a urinary tract infection.

[lisams]

It is very common for cats who are in pain to start pooping or peeing on softer things. They may have pain when pooping or peeing for various reasons and think it's the litter box causing the pain, so they start going on softer surfaces. Seeing as your cat is older, I'd really suggest you take him to the vet to rule out a medical cause. Another idea is to put the litter box in the area he keeps pooping in to see if he'll then go in it.

As far as taking him to a shelter, honestly the chances of him being adopted at that age are very slim. I think that considering putting him down is an ethical consideration since he would very possibly sit in a small cage waiting for someone who wants to adopt an older cat. If he does get adopted and poops outside of the litter box in his new family, they may not be as humane and who knows what will happen to your cat. Just wanted to bring that point up in case you do decide you do not want him anymore.

[pb&j]

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[lisams]

DH is taking him to the vet next week to rule out any fixable medical issues like UTI or pain. I am fairly certain he does not have arthritis - he still chases after bugs and toys like a kitten. But I hadn't even thought of a UTI!

And our inability to control who he goes to if we give him up is the prime reason why we would put him down instead of giving him up. We do love him very much, we are just exasperated right now!

Thank you all so very much for your thoughtful replies. It's hard to feel like a bad cat mom. :(

I'm sorry you're having to go through this. It's so hard to have to make these tough decisions.

[KHF]

I feel your pain, though I have no useful advice to offer. We adopted 2 4 year old cats (siblings) a few years ago and one of them has NEVER pooped in the litter box. She does at least do it right next to the litter box, so we put paper down and clean it like that. Her brother had to be put down in the spring, and we thought maybe the behavior might change when she was an only cat. No such luck. This sounds terrible, but I've been really upset it was her brother that got sick and had to be put down, and not her. He was a model cat.

We've tried everything with her, the vet has suggested tons of things. And we (and the vet) have come to the conclusion that she just doesn't like pooping in a box.

[CAM7]

We've tried everything with her, the vet has suggested tons of things. And we (and the vet) have come to the conclusion that she just doesn't like pooping in a box.

One of our cats was like that too... the box had to be really really really clean or she'd poop over the edge of the box. It's like she was always looking for that clean spot to go and could back up no further and... poop! LOL! Could never really figure her out... coz sometimes even if the box was newly cleaned she'd still have accidents.

Cats... sigh....

Hey... I've heard that sometimes cats don't like too much litter...they don't like that feeling of it being so full it's like quick-sand? Kwim? Maybe try less litter...

[KHF]

Heh, she doesn't even attempt to get in the litter box when she poops. Just goes straight for the areas next to the box. Apparently this was a problem with her from the start. Her former owner's neighbors (they were the ones adopting the cats out after he passed away unexpectedly) told us that she'd done it pretty much from birth! We knew what we were getting in to and still (stupidly, I think sometimes) agreed to adopt them!

We've tried differing levels of litter, different kinds of litter, pine litter, newspaper in the box, and probably a ton of other things that I'm forgetting now... We've kind of thrown up our hands. We have the litter boxes in the finished basement in a big storage closet with it gated off, so it's away from our toddler. If it starts happening outside of there, that may very well be where I draw the line.

[SpaceGal]

My cat wasn't old but was pooping everywhere...at first we thought it was because of having a baby. Well it carried on for two years then we finally noticed he had horrible breath and staring drooling (Turner & Hooch style). Anyways, before we took him to the vet...we were stubborn...we tried Cat Attract...a natural herbal litter that is supposed to draw a cat to the litter box more. It worked for us...but ultimately there was something wrong with our kitty and once he was all fixed up...he's back in the box. I still use a little bit of Cat Attract since I worry he's used to it in his litter. You can use it straight up or mix it in with your current litter.

[kransden]

I have a cat that is nervous over dd and other things. I occasionally have to lock her in my big bathroom with litter, food, etc. It seems to reset her litter box training. The vet said she is fine.