We have a senior female cat (16 going on 17) who has for two days running pooed on the bathroom mat and a couple of other times recently.
She doesn't have a litter tray but she does have a cat flap- we tend to keep the door that leads to the cat flap closed while we are around to stop other cats getting in and it has never been a problem for her before as we are always on hand to serve her every needs. If we go out the door that leads to the cat flap is left open and also at night. The first time this happened we were out with the cat flap open, the second time we were in. She sleeps upstairs (where the bathroom is) and at her age spends most of her time sleeping- tends to only come down for food/cuddles at food time and sometimes if we are watching TV (ditto for a lap sleep).
Having had it two days running I have closed the bathroom door (at risk of her going somewhere worse) and constantly offering to let her out and generally keeping a close eye on her. To be honest she seems very reluctant to go out and I think for the last year or so tends to just go out to do her business except if we are outside in the Summer months. She had only been out today for about a minute or two and came running back in.
She also seems a bit edgy at the moment but in apparent good health and no physical signs she had a run in with anything outside that has put her off going out. Also no obvious sign she is being caught short as her stools are solid enough and she can get down the stairs quick enough.
I have googled it and obviously a few age related things come up but nothing to specifically explain our situation with an outdoor cat with cat flap.
We are going to be trying a litter tray downstairs and blocking off the cat flap to see if she just wants to stay indoors at her age but I wondered if anyone recognises the symptoms enough to hazard a guess as to what the specific issue might be.
She doesn't have a litter tray but she does have a cat flap- we tend to keep the door that leads to the cat flap closed while we are around to stop other cats getting in and it has never been a problem for her before as we are always on hand to serve her every needs. If we go out the door that leads to the cat flap is left open and also at night. The first time this happened we were out with the cat flap open, the second time we were in. She sleeps upstairs (where the bathroom is) and at her age spends most of her time sleeping- tends to only come down for food/cuddles at food time and sometimes if we are watching TV (ditto for a lap sleep).
Having had it two days running I have closed the bathroom door (at risk of her going somewhere worse) and constantly offering to let her out and generally keeping a close eye on her. To be honest she seems very reluctant to go out and I think for the last year or so tends to just go out to do her business except if we are outside in the Summer months. She had only been out today for about a minute or two and came running back in.
She also seems a bit edgy at the moment but in apparent good health and no physical signs she had a run in with anything outside that has put her off going out. Also no obvious sign she is being caught short as her stools are solid enough and she can get down the stairs quick enough.
I have googled it and obviously a few age related things come up but nothing to specifically explain our situation with an outdoor cat with cat flap.
We are going to be trying a litter tray downstairs and blocking off the cat flap to see if she just wants to stay indoors at her age but I wondered if anyone recognises the symptoms enough to hazard a guess as to what the specific issue might be.
