Cat pooping outside box

[solowars]

Hey guys, need some insight here. My 4 year old has pooped outside the box 2 days in a row, but it’s kinda weird because what happens is she starts pooping in the box, then jumps out with the poop still dangling from her butt, which ends up going in a trail across the floor. For the first day half the poop was inside the box and on the second day all the poop was in a trail outside it.

I thought at first she was constipated, but the poop itself is still quite soft and squishy. Doesn’t seem like diarrhoea either, it’s still a well formed sausage of poop. The best explanation I could come up with is that she’s experiencing a rough spot of digestion resulting in inconsistently formed poop? She acts pretty normally otherwise.

She’s a long haired cat so I’ve been giving her some hair ball remedy in case it’s fur causing the problem, and giving her more fresh water with her wet food. Anyone else has this problem before / can think of any solution to this? I’m just monitoring her for now, if it gets worse I’ll bring her to the vet.

 

[di and bob]

To jump out of the box half way through indicates to me that there is pain involved or a dislike of the litter/box. There was no change in litter or box lately? Or diet? The pain might be from straining (try to watch her go), from cramps (gas or irritable bowel), or maybe even a slight wound from straining hard a few days ago. I had a cat that did this while urinating and he had a UTI, so his was pain. More water and hair ball remedy which is basically a laxitive should help. If she continues to do this past a few days definitely take her in to have her checked out. The problem may resolve itself in a few days.

 

[rubysmama]

My Ruby will have "poop outside the litter box" accidents when she's having digestive issues. She'll actually poop in the litter box, but then she'll have to go again, and sometimes she'll go in her other litter box, but sometimes on the floor (or carpet ). Usually her accidents are either "soft serve" or more harder and drier. So basically when her digestion is messed up.

Is the hairball remedy and extra water something you've just started doing? If so, both could maybe cause looser stools.