Cat recently began pooping outside the litter box

[pmv]

So for the past four days, I've found cat poop outside the litter box. I'm almost certain it's my oldest cat, Reggie (7). I also have two younger kittens (about 7 months). It's about two months since they finished introductions and began living together fully.

Some general facts first:

• I don't think it has to do with litter box cleanliness. This has happened just after the box was cleaned, and in the five years I owned Reggie prior to this, he's not had litter box issues, even when his box has been quite messy, for example when friends looked after him when I've been out of town.
• In each of these cases he pooped about a foot away from a particular litter box. We have four litter boxes, but this one is by far his favorite to use - the kittens will use whichever box is closest, but Reggie will use this one box nearly exclusively.
• After one case, I tried to move the box to where he had pooped, and he still pooped about a foot away from its new location.
• It didn't look like he made any attempt to bury his poop (he didn't pull litter out of the box and onto the carpet or anything).
• He seems to still be peeing in the litter boxes as usual, it's just poop that is ending up on the carpet. As near as I can guess, this is every poop he's done in the past four days.
• In the past he's had issues with dehydration leading to constipation, but he hasn't shown any symptoms of that recently, and his poop has been moist, so he doesn't seem to be having issues with that right now.
• He gets along generally well with the kittens, but doesn't like when they try to 'roughhouse' with him. One of the kittens in particular loves to play-fight, and Reggie gets agitated. Reggie will usually be the one to back down and run off after a minute or two. This happens once or twice per day - most of the time, though, they coexist peacefully and Reggie will even groom them or run around with them.
• I've been cleaning with an enzymatic cleaner. I'm going to borrow a carpet shampooer as well on Monday so I can get a deeper clean.

And my own speculations:

• Perhaps something occurred to cause an aversion to that box (like being "attacked" in play while trying to poop)?
• Could it be a territorial thing, to make the area smell more like "his"?

Any thoughts as to what the problem could be - or more importantly, what can be done to help Reggie get back to using the litter box as usual?

 

[rubysmama]

My first thought / question: are the kittens spayed/neutered?

 

[pmv]

Yep - the kittens were spayed and neutered a little over two months ago. Reggie has been neutered since before I got him.

 

[rubysmama]

I figured as much, but still thought I'd ask. I wonder, though, if even being neutered, if them getting older is making Reggie territorial. Is he acting normally, other than the litter box issue? No change in eating or sleeping habits? Doesn't seem stressed or depressed. No strange animals hanging about outside your home is there?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How is Reggie doing otherwise - eating/drinking/behaving normally?

Reggie is 'closing in' on his senior years - could this be the beginnings of some arthritis? Cats typically hold different positions between peeing and pooping - if the position Reggie gets into for pooping is causing some irritation, it could be why he is going outside the box. Cats tend to associate pain with the box and not with the 'action'. There is no harm in putting Reggie on some arthritis supplements, much like what humans take - glucosamine, chondroitin, and/or green lipped mussels. I would also watch his movements to see if you notice any changes that might give you a hint about possible arthritis. You might also think about having your vet take some x-rays to check for arthritis.

If you have a normal routine for corrective action when he shows signs of constipation, perhaps you could administer a much smaller dose of whatever you give him just to see if he might be heading down that path?

You could set up a baby cam, or other type camera, focused on Reggie's litter box to see if that might shed some light on what could be going on when Reggie is trying to use the litterbox but is going outside of it.

Lastly, mostly for the purpose of helping with clean up until you get to the bottom of Reggie's issue, you can buy puppy pee pads to place outside the litterbox. If he would use those that would at least keep his poop off the carpet.

 

[pmv]

Thanks for the suggestions. Reggie seems in normal health apart from the fact I think he may have a hairball as he vomited a small amount of food (he's prone to hairballs - he gets some petromalt hairball paste twice per week).

The camera is a good idea - I've always been somewhat hesitant to put cameras in my home from an "I don't want some random company to have access to video from inside my house" privacy concern, but maybe I can find something that will have local storage only. That would definitely help understand what's going on, as that litter box is the farthest away from where I usually am.

 

[pmv]

Well, it's at least been two days and no poop outside the litter box, so maybe this problem ended as suddenly as it began. Reggie does look to have started using a different litter box, as I found poop that I definitely think is his in one of the other boxes. I'll still go forth with the camera option to see what I can learn, but right now it's looking like maybe I have one fewer cat-poop-related problem, which is always good!

 

[rubysmama]

Fingers crossed it was just a weird phase, and it's over.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Well, it's at least been two days and no poop outside the litter box, so maybe this problem ended as suddenly as it began. Reggie does look to have started using a different litter box, as I found poop that I definitely think is his in one of the other boxes. I'll still go forth with the camera option to see what I can learn, but right now it's looking like maybe I have one fewer cat-poop-related problem, which is always good!

Did you find a camera with local storage only? I have the same concerns about privacy and have been meaning to research this.

 

[pmv]

Did you find a camera with local storage only? I have the same concerns about privacy and have been meaning to research this.

I ended up not finding one I liked so I decided to make my own - I'm a techie guy and I have some extra Raspberry Pis and I have a 3d printer to make a case and camera mount, so all I did was buy a night-vision-enabled camera module and an IR motion sensor to trigger it.

I won't have the project completed for a little while, but I can share the results / how-tos when it's done. My aim will just be to record to a USB flash drive and access the videos on a PC that way.