My cat Java is 18 1/2 years old. Suddenly a few months ago she started pooping outside the litterbox. Well, that was easy enough to clean up, I was grateful it was just poo. Then occasionally she would pee outside the box. It actually took me quite a while to figure out it was her, since I have two cats and she's always been the one with immaculate litterbox behavior. But I did catch her red-handed.
The 2 cats had always been happy using one box (which I was good at cleaning since my other kitty is very particular), and for several years it was a very high-sided box to prevent scatter. It worked great. I thought maybe Java was just having trouble getting in &out of it (although she was regularly managing to get up to the bathroom sink to drink out of the faucet or just keep me company when I was there). So I got a second, lower sided box. Seemed to improve things for a bit, but then she got worse again. The boxes were in a room with hardwood floors, and I was using puppy pee pads but sometimes she wouldn't use the pads and it was becoming a problem. So I moved everything to my back hallway, which is tiled.
At the moment she NEVER does anything in the box. I have two boxes set out in my hallway, and an assortment of pee pads. She's now good about using the pads, although sometimes she misses a bit and it creates a mess. I was lucky enough that when I went on vacation a good friend (who the cats love & he's good with them) was willing to deal with all this, but I feel like I'll never be able to go out of town again as long as this is the situation.
I did take her in for lab work and a urinalysis and everything was normal (even her kidney function was in normal range although she has had kidney disease for a few years). I just started her on Prozac at the vet's suggestion (5 mg once a day). It's been less than a week, and she seems to be pretty spacey and has a very diminished appetite. She kind of looks at her food like she doesn't know what she's supposed to do with it. Her appetite was declining immediately before I started Prozac, but it's taken a big dip since it was started.
She's a pretty slender cat at this point and has lost a fair amount of weight (even before all this started she'd lost some weight, she used to be a little chunky but not obese) and shouldn't lose any more. I'd like to know if people who have used the topical cream with their cats have ever had trouble with loss of appetite? I know it's a potential side effect of the medicine, but thought it might be different if applied topically. I'm at my wit's end dealing with the inappropriate urination behavior, but am worried that the Prozac (& it hasn't been long enough to know if it will work yet) will cause her to lose too much weight and become sickly.
Thanks for any input!
The 2 cats had always been happy using one box (which I was good at cleaning since my other kitty is very particular), and for several years it was a very high-sided box to prevent scatter. It worked great. I thought maybe Java was just having trouble getting in &out of it (although she was regularly managing to get up to the bathroom sink to drink out of the faucet or just keep me company when I was there). So I got a second, lower sided box. Seemed to improve things for a bit, but then she got worse again. The boxes were in a room with hardwood floors, and I was using puppy pee pads but sometimes she wouldn't use the pads and it was becoming a problem. So I moved everything to my back hallway, which is tiled.
At the moment she NEVER does anything in the box. I have two boxes set out in my hallway, and an assortment of pee pads. She's now good about using the pads, although sometimes she misses a bit and it creates a mess. I was lucky enough that when I went on vacation a good friend (who the cats love & he's good with them) was willing to deal with all this, but I feel like I'll never be able to go out of town again as long as this is the situation.
I did take her in for lab work and a urinalysis and everything was normal (even her kidney function was in normal range although she has had kidney disease for a few years). I just started her on Prozac at the vet's suggestion (5 mg once a day). It's been less than a week, and she seems to be pretty spacey and has a very diminished appetite. She kind of looks at her food like she doesn't know what she's supposed to do with it. Her appetite was declining immediately before I started Prozac, but it's taken a big dip since it was started.
She's a pretty slender cat at this point and has lost a fair amount of weight (even before all this started she'd lost some weight, she used to be a little chunky but not obese) and shouldn't lose any more. I'd like to know if people who have used the topical cream with their cats have ever had trouble with loss of appetite? I know it's a potential side effect of the medicine, but thought it might be different if applied topically. I'm at my wit's end dealing with the inappropriate urination behavior, but am worried that the Prozac (& it hasn't been long enough to know if it will work yet) will cause her to lose too much weight and become sickly.
Thanks for any input!