defecating outside the box, any ideas?

tobyo

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My darling boy Frankie is having issues again. We adopted him when he was 3.5 years old nearly 3 years ago. We had issues with him going outside the box, both #1 and #2, and we had confined him for a couple of weeks until he went in the box(es) in his small room (basement bathroom). All has been fine until hubby went out of town on 9/5 for nearly a week, longest he's been gone. He was not himself (no interest in going outside when he went outside daily prior to hubby's departure) and I figured he missed his pops. He didn't have the accidents until hubby came home. And it was only #2. He peed in the box okay. We gave it a little over a week and then took him to the vet. All tests came back normal but she said he was constipated. So we started him on a regimen mixing Miralax with his wet food. The vet also said he was ready to poop. When he got home after being at the vet for several hours (due to the tests) he was very happy!! but then he became Mad Kitty and was darting through the house, squatting occasionally as if to poop but nothing ever came out. We decided to confine him to the basement bathroom again. We were never going to get to sleep with him running madly through the house.

Next day we let him out and he seemed so much calmer and happier AND he went outside!! He seemed back to normal. then hubby was cleaning the boxes and Frankie jumped into one of them and finally out came the poop he had been saving!! FINALLY pooped in a box!!

Enter this morning. I could tell by the way he jumped on my bed (hubby feeds him early in the morning while I try to get more sleep, ha ha) that he was at it again. so I tossed him out of the room, went to the kitchen to make coffee when I smelled that old familiar smell of poop. This time he pooped on hubby's shoes!?!?!?!?!

I'm at a loss as to what to do next. And so I came here to seek guidance again. So many people here helped 3 years ago when we first brought him home and he had similar issues. He had crystals in his urine and was highly stressed so that was the reason he went outside the box 3 years ago. But what is it now and what do we do?? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 

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Constipation will definitely make him act like that. running around and squatting means he has the urge, he just can't go. The stress of your husband leaving, definitely can cause constipation, and now it may be more stress at something or he is not drinking enough water. I set a few small bowls of water around so they check them out and hopefully drink. He finally went on your husband's shoes because they may have given him comfort (smell) and he finally relaxed enough to go. you may have to try to monitor his #2 habits and when his stool gets a little hard or starts running around, give him Miralax as you did before, usually 1/4 tsp. mixed in a little of something he likes. I use lickable treats.
 

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tobyo

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Thanks to you both. He had one #2 in the box the day after confinement(Wednesday) so we thought he was back to normal. We have kept up the Miralax 1/8 tsp. twice a day. I just don't understand why after going in the box two days ago he's back to doing it outside the box. I'll check out the constipation article and hope it helps.
 
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tobyo

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Oh, I should have mentioned too that Frankie is very particular about his boxes. He usually does #2 in the upstairs box but hubby said that he had just peed in it and I guess he couldn't get it cleaned fast enough for him to poop in there?? yea, maybe it's a simple as that because everything else about him seems normal now. He's going outside like he used to before hubby left town.
 

rubysmama

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Oh, I should have mentioned too that Frankie is very particular about his boxes. He usually does #2 in the upstairs box but hubby said that he had just peed in it and I guess he couldn't get it cleaned fast enough for him to poop in there??
Awww, Frankie. It's hard to get good human servants, isn't it. :catman:

If it happens again, that you don't get the litter box cleaned quickly enough, you could try putting a 2nd litter box right beside the 1st one.
 
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tobyo

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ah.....and we thought we were done with this episode. I guess not.

Darling boy wouldn't eat his supper. He's now taking a dislike to one type of wet food that we bought a case of.....and on we go. Then, since he wasn't going to eat it anyway, I added water to it like the vet suggested since she said he might be dehydrated. She thought that would be a good way to add water to his diet. When she said this my immediate thought was "he's not going to like that" and I was right. He sniffed after I put the bowl on the floor, then pawed at the wall and then headed upstairs and wanted to go out.

Maybe an hour later hubby let him in and he's back to his looking for a place to poop! I mean, what up dude??? He gets this look on his face as he jumps on the table, I toss him off, he heads for the couch. He only goes on the couch(or bed, any bed) when he's like this and looking for a place to poop. Hubby grabbed him and held him in the box and yep, he did poop. Later I noticed a loose stool on the floor close to his box. Ah, the miralax. The vet suggested 1/4 tsp twice a day. and we had issues with our daughter when she was younger and her doc recommended a child's version of miralax. we mixed it in with her food and well, she had to come home from day care early for soiling herself because her stools got too loose. So, THAT must have been his problem tonight!! He gets very upset when he's got the runs. Btw, we did NOT give him 1/4 tsp twice a day as the vet suggested solely because of our experience with our daughter.

I guess we're going to try 1/8 tsp just in the morning....

As for being dehydrated. yep, probably. I just let him in and gave him dry food and he gobbled that up and had THREE nice big drinks of water. I just want him to be regular again :(

Thanks for letting me vent and for the help and suggestions. I appreciate it.
 

rubysmama

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I'm going through a similar situation with my Ruby right now, in that she's having more outside the litter box poops, than in the litter box. So far, she only goes on the floor (or the basement carpet :(), but it's still frustrating, as I know she knows she's supposed to use the litter box. But as my vet mentioned at our appointment last week, they avoid the litter box, when they associate it with discomfort or pain.

With Ruby, it tends to go from hard stools, to too soft ones, almost from day to day. I'm sure part of the problem is I can't get her regular food right now, which is maddening. My vet suggested putting some Fortiflora on her wet food, as it's a probiotic, and could help settle down her system. So far no noticeable changes, but maybe it'll take a bit of time.

It's so sad how many cats (and dogs) have digestive issues these days. :( .

Hopefully your guy, and my girl, start feeling better again soon. :crossfingers:
 
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tobyo

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I'm going through a similar situation with my Ruby right now, in that she's having more outside the litter box poops, than in the litter box. So far, she only goes on the floor (or the basement carpet :(), but it's still frustrating, as I know she knows she's supposed to use the litter box. But as my vet mentioned at our appointment last week, they avoid the litter box, when they associate it with discomfort or pain.

With Ruby, it tends to go from hard stools, to too soft ones, almost from day to day. I'm sure part of the problem is I can't get her regular food right now, which is maddening. My vet suggested putting some Fortiflora on her wet food, as it's a probiotic, and could help settle down her system. So far no noticeable changes, but maybe it'll take a bit of time.

It's so sad how many cats (and dogs) have digestive issues these days. :( .

Hopefully your guy, and my girl, start feeling better again soon. :crossfingers:
ah yes, we do have the same issue indeed. Frankie arrived 3 years ago very stressed and we knew at the get go that we would eventually have more episodes in the future. well, here we are. I think you're onto something with the food. guess what? we had the SAME ISSUE!! so the stuff that Frankie refused to eat yesterday was the fill-in while we waited for his regular food to come back into stock. and I guess now that he has that he no longer likes the other one? oy yoy yoy!

so the pandemic has even affected our feline friends. more of the supply chain issues we've all been experiencing over the last year plus.

yes, here's hoping our feline friend start feeling better soon.

👌:thanks:
 
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tobyo

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I'm going through a similar situation with my Ruby right now, in that she's having more outside the litter box poops, than in the litter box. So far, she only goes on the floor (or the basement carpet :(), but it's still frustrating, as I know she knows she's supposed to use the litter box. But as my vet mentioned at our appointment last week, they avoid the litter box, when they associate it with discomfort or pain.

With Ruby, it tends to go from hard stools, to too soft ones, almost from day to day. I'm sure part of the problem is I can't get her regular food right now, which is maddening. My vet suggested putting some Fortiflora on her wet food, as it's a probiotic, and could help settle down her system. So far no noticeable changes, but maybe it'll take a bit of time.

It's so sad how many cats (and dogs) have digestive issues these days. :( .

Hopefully your guy, and my girl, start feeling better again soon. :crossfingers:
I thought I'd give an update and also to see how Ruby is doing.

Pretty much the same old, same old. we're still cleaning up after Frankie and if we're fast enough we can hold him in his box while he does his duty. However, after many conversations with the vet I am pretty sure it was the food that has caused Frankie's issue. The vet was going to research medication for his colon thinking there might be something wrong with it but after talking with her colleagues she discovered another cat under another vet's care that had the same issues and they determined that it was the food and a digestive issue! Frankie's regular food finally came in and we started him back on that food about two weeks ago so we're hoping his digestive system gets back to normal. If it doesn't, the vet has another food that he might digest better. and since we just got another 7.7 lb. bag it's going to be a while before we're done with it. I'm not so sure I want to wait that long if his issues continue.

stupid pandemic and its related supply chain issues!! I hope Ruby is better by now.
 

rubysmama

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Thanks for the update. Sorry Frankie hasn't improved yet, but hopefully the regular food will solve the problem. :crossfingers:

Ruby's been doing really good the last week or so, with nothing outside the litter box. :yess: I've been giving her Merrick limited ingredient turkey, and it seems to have made all the difference. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the cans of the other food I've accumulated. :ohwell:
 

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Morning .. oh, I sympathize ! I had constipation issues with one of my kitties for years. she ended up on so much meds, Rx food, etc. .. even hospitalized 2X ! a few tricks I learned in all of that ... staying hydrated important ,but they dont like water much . So I would give her gravy or Creamy Treats for extra moisture. Loved those ! When she was going outside her box it was usually because she was associating the box with discomfort .does the box have a lid ?? mine did. I found taking the lid off so she could " stand up " helped her to go better and she would be more inclined to use it. If I kept the lid on , she would go out side of it. by the way, sometimes the discomfort was not from pooping ! once she was pooping and peeing on my carpet , but her problem was a bad tooth ! so maybe checking for urine crystals / UTI might not hurt as it might be an issue. Usually once they feel OK, they act ok ! Good luck with all your playing detective.. it takes some of that with kitties as they are pretty good at hiding whats wrong with them. ! hope they feel better !!
 
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tobyo

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Thanks for the update. Sorry Frankie hasn't improved yet, but hopefully the regular food will solve the problem. :crossfingers:

Ruby's been doing really good the last week or so, with nothing outside the litter box. :yess: I've been giving her Merrick limited ingredient turkey, and it seems to have made all the difference. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the cans of the other food I've accumulated. :ohwell:
So glad Ruby is doing better! Not sure if this is progress but about an hour ago Frankie had that "look" and he was about to hop onto the couch and I grabbed him, placed him in his box where he left a nice load. hopefully we're almost done with this.
 
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tobyo

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Morning .. oh, I sympathize ! I had constipation issues with one of my kitties for years. she ended up on so much meds, Rx food, etc. .. even hospitalized 2X ! a few tricks I learned in all of that ... staying hydrated important ,but they dont like water much . So I would give her gravy or Creamy Treats for extra moisture. Loved those ! When she was going outside her box it was usually because she was associating the box with discomfort .does the box have a lid ?? mine did. I found taking the lid off so she could " stand up " helped her to go better and she would be more inclined to use it. If I kept the lid on , she would go out side of it. by the way, sometimes the discomfort was not from pooping ! once she was pooping and peeing on my carpet , but her problem was a bad tooth ! so maybe checking for urine crystals / UTI might not hurt as it might be an issue. Usually once they feel OK, they act ok ! Good luck with all your playing detective.. it takes some of that with kitties as they are pretty good at hiding whats wrong with them. ! hope they feel better !!
Thanks so much. Yea, we have wondered what could be the issue like you say your cat had a bad tooth. The issue still has not revealed itself. He's staying hydrated in that we changed from mostly dry food to more wet food so that he gets more moisture. His boxes do not have lids so that isn't an issue. When we first adopted him we learned that he did have crystals in his urine and he's been on Royal Canin urinary food ever since, oh except for when it was unavailable for I'm guessing much too long. I still wonder if this wasn't the issue, however, he's been back on his regular food for I thought long enough to be done with this very long episode. it's just #2 though, he continues to pee in his boxes. **scratching my head still** :headscratch::headscratch::headscratch:

Thanks for your thoughts, I appreciate it greatly!
 
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