At our wits end - any help appreciated

[Peaches&Mango]

Not sure if this should go under cat behaviour or cat health, as it’s kind of both.
We have 4 cats, one of the cats has had a constant ongoing issue with skin irritation, for over a year. We have no idea what it is, he’s been on antibiotics, steroids, changed foods multiple times and he’s had a health check etc. It’s also definitely not fleas.
The vet is unsure what’s wrong and we’ve wanted to take him to see someone professional in the area of allergies/dermatology but we don’t drive and the nearest one is several hours drive as it is, let alone public transport. Anyway, we’ve got a few ongoing methods of care for him that seem to be helping thank god!
Now, the issue is that he has all of a sudden started not using the litter tray! One of our female cats has always been fussy with the tray since we got her and goes on puppy pads instead but this is manageable as she just goes on the puppy pads and then we change them over. With Blue he will sometimes use a puppy pad (rarely) but has also started peeing in any place he feels like it in the living room. He will essentially just get up from where he’s sat, walk a few steps and go there.
What started as just weeing, is now pooing as well. What also started as anywhere on the living room floor is now also weeing on the sofa too and this morning I came down to a poo on the sofa as well! The other day he climbed onto my partner and just weed on him too.
The vet has said it’s likely due to stress/pain from the skin issue.
I am 36 weeks pregnant and so we are due for baby to arrive shortly and we’re stressing because we don’t want the added stress of a cat that unpredictably pees and poos wherever he feels like it when we have the baby around and on the floor/sofa etc.
We really don’t know where to go from here because it just feels like behaviourally he’s getting worse not better, while his skin issue seems to be improving. We don’t want to have to resort to getting rid of him as we do love him dearly, and of course would just rather he was a happy, healthy cat.
Would anyone have any information or an experience on this at all that could help us sort this out?

 

[nurseangel]

Hi, congratulations on your baby!

How old is your cat? The changes in his litter habits could be from a number of factors. I would consult the vet, as it could be a health problem, and probably unrelated to the skin disorder.

Please keep us posted!

 

[piano cat]

My experience is with my dog, my Labrador Retriever, who did not have those issues BUT he did have month and a half long diarrhoea leading to a +20% drop in body weight. He could not stand up. I'm telling you this because his itchy allergy symptoms cleared up and did not come back when we switched to a Holistic/Integrative Vet who stopped all meds and put him on a home cooked diet of novel protein and novel carb. Then we slowly went to raw food. The diarrhoea cleared up immediately and so did the itching and neither came back for the next seven years of his life. it's harder to switch cats to raw but mine did when the dog did. Just something to consider for your cat, Holistic/Integrative Vet and raw food. Vet also used TCM and acupuncture.

 

[Binxie]

Lots of things to be sorted out with the not using the litter box issue. Since he started not using the box has he seen the vet, if not I would first make sure there is no urinary tract infection going on. What is his relationship like with the other cats and the humans in the house? Has the vet ever done a skin scrapping from the irritated area, is the irritation just in one spot or is it the entire body? What do you feed him, you said you have changed foods but what type of foods, have you tried a single protein canned food?

 

[Peaches&Mango]

Hi, congratulations on your baby!

How old is your cat? The changes in his litter habits could be from a number of factors. I would consult the vet, as it could be a health problem, and probably unrelated to the skin disorder.

Please keep us posted!

Thank you!

He’s a year and a half. He has seen the vet, they’re unsure what the issue is as health wise (minus skin issue) he’s coming back as fine! He’s happily eating, wee and poo also normal so completely baffled here

 

[Peaches&Mango]

My experience is with my dog, my Labrador Retriever, who did not have those issues BUT he did have month and a half long diarrhoea leading to a +20% drop in body weight. He could not stand up. I'm telling you this because his itchy allergy symptoms cleared up and did not come back when we switched to a Holistic/Integrative Vet who stopped all meds and put him on a home cooked diet of novel protein and novel carb. Then we slowly went to raw food. The diarrhoea cleared up immediately and so did the itching and neither came back for the next seven years of his life. it's harder to switch cats to raw but mine did when the dog did. Just something to consider for your cat, Holistic/Integrative Vet and raw food. Vet also used TCM and acupuncture.

Thank you for the info on your dog, raw is something I have considered as my aunt feeds her dogs raw but we’re both not keen on handling raw meat so it would really be a stretch to do for us as a family. We don’t have raw meat in the house except beef.
It is something I should look into though, as it may well help
Thank you

 

[Peaches&Mango]

Lots of things to be sorted out with the not using the litter box issue. Since he started not using the box has he seen the vet, if not I would first make sure there is no urinary tract infection going on. What is his relationship like with the other cats and the humans in the house? Has the vet ever done a skin scrapping from the irritated area, is the irritation just in one spot or is it the entire body? What do you feed him, you said you have changed foods but what type of foods, have you tried a single protein canned food?

Yes seen the vet and no obvious signs health wise flagging up unfortunately, vet said he seems to be healthy. His wee and poo are as normal also.

interaction with the other cats is as usual, they all cuddle up, they groom him (have been extra helpful with cleaning places he can’t reach with cone on) and his interaction with people is about the same as well. I’m not sure about the skin scraping, they have previously taken him out back to get a better look at him from someone who they said was likely to know more but I don’t know what they did back there :/ Irritation is just on his neck and around ears, with some minor irritation on one side of face which only appeared after he accidentally caught. He’s had ear meds previously and ears are currently clear of any signs of infection, it appears he just tries to re scratch scabbed areas rather than any new irritation. We feed Feringa pure meat, which is 95% meat, grain free and food grade ingredients. Not sure on that? What would that be? We are in the UK

 

[sunny578]

Hello!
My cat also stopped using the litter box and would urinate etc in a similar way. She didn't have the skin issues, but would just squat wherever whenever. It was awful, and it lasted for a little over a year. It took so much research and experimentation to solve her issues that I actually made up a whole website about it.

Anyways, it sounds like maybe his skin discomfort led him out of the box, but that is clearing up a bit. Were there any other changes around the time that his inappropriate urination started? Outside of your pregnancy progressing (congrats!) Did you change your home at all, add any new furniture, get new baby hand-me-down clothes that smell like someone else's house?

Also wondering about your litter box set up. How many boxes do you have? Where are they located? Type of litter? Even though all the cats are acting normal, the stress from being physically uncomfortable could have made a litter box set up that had been previously manageable for him less manageable.

Does he ever use the litter box now, or is he 100% urinating inappropriately?

Let me know! It might take some work, but I'm sure you can solve this!

 

[Fostercatmom_358]

Since it could be a litter problem, I have suggested an article about litter. You could find it helpful. How To Choose The Right Cat Litter [Answered] - TheCatSite