Cat pooping outside litter box.

[JennKitty]

Hi everyone,
My cat has been pooping right next to the litter box recently (Not in, but on the floor RIGHT next to it.) He does pee inside the litter box.
This has never happened before. It's been happening for almost a month now.
There has not been a change of diet or any drastic changes in the house. We did get him a new litter box a few months ago but he seemed to be okay with it before.

Here's some extra info:
- He is pretty overweight, but the other family members just feed him whenever they please.
- Because of that, he could be constipated (?) He does drink water regularly.
- He's neutered.
- 2 years old.
- He goes to the litter box at least once a day.
- His poop seems healthy (From what I know).

I don't know if that's a behavioral issue or a health one, but any help is appreciated ^^

 

[Kurisunium]

I ma sorry to hear about that, you might want to bring him to the vet for better intervention.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'd be in favor of having your vet take a look at him. Very often, when a cat avoids the litter box, it is the first sign of something physical going on. If it hurts to poop, he'll associate that with the box, rather than his own fanny. And since he goes right next to the box, it would seem he KNOWS where he should go, but it is uncomfortable for him, and he's making the best of it that he can.

 

[riley1]

The vet is a good idea! I didn't know that cats needed their anal glands taken care of until my kitty had pooping problems. This is not something you can deal with alone. Good luck & let us know what you find out!

 

[hurricanemix100]

My cat started doing this and I did 2 things. I changed litter to one that clumped better. I surmised the poor clumping of the old litter was causing a lot unwanted leftovers to stay in the box after scooping making the box unpleasant for her even though I was scooping daily. Also I just got a bigger box. They say the litter box should 1.5x the length of the cat. Mine wasn't that. I think the bigger box was the key. They kind of poop with their butts hovering pretty far off the surface of the litter. It's not that hard to accidentally miss if the box is too small.

Also try just putting more litter in the box as more never hurts and it may be more enticing to the cat to have more litter to dig/play in.

 

[Bobsk8]

My cat was on Pine Pellets litter for many months and started doing this. I switched to Clump and Seal litter, and the problem immediately ended. Try a different litter or litter box.