Elimination in the car

[cloud_shade]

My older kitty, Spot, goes to the vet frequently. At first, he was urinating on the way home from the vet. Then he started defecating on the way home from the vet. A couple of months ago, he started defecating on the way to the vet's office. Today, he pooped on the way there, and again on the way back (we were only at the vet's office for 15 minutes or so). Has anyone else experienced this? He never goes outside his litterbox at home, and his feces at home are normal. Any ideas on how to prevent this (or make it less messy)? I tried putting down a puppy pad, but I only had the one today, so it didn't help on the trip home.

 

[sharky]

Possiblely a smaller carrier??

 

[cloud_shade]

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

My older kitty, Spot, goes to the vet frequently. At first, he was urinating on the way home from the vet. Then he started defecating on the way home from the vet. A couple of months ago, he started defecating on the way to the vet's office. Today, he pooped on the way there, and again on the way back (we were only at the vet's office for 15 minutes or so). Has anyone else experienced this? He never goes outside his litterbox at home, and his feces at home are normal. Any ideas on how to prevent this (or make it less messy)? I tried putting down a puppy pad, but I only had the one today, so it didn't help on the trip home.

I don't think he's doing it on purpose. He always gets really anxious afterwards. The carrier is a medium Petmate, designed for critters up to 15 pounds. The next one down is for up to 10 pounds. Spot is 9 pounds 9 ounces (we're hoping to get him back up to 10+ -- he had a massive drop in weight this summer from almost 11 pounds down to 7 pounds 1 ounce after his thyroid treatment). He always seems stunned, and he doesn't get up and move until after the fact.

Afterwards, I clean it with either hotwater and dish soap or Nature's Miracle.

 

[hissy]

he is stressed- try this article for tips on how to lower his stress level. You can pad the bottom of his carrier with either puppy pads or disposable diapers


http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_C..._Carriers.html

 

[cloud_shade]

The weird part is that he acts perfectly calm up until the moment he excretes. He'll lie there quietly the entire trip and most of the way back until he creates the "mess" and then he's upset about it and tries to climb away from it. Usually it seems to happen when I get near a hill or some other time when I can't do anything for him because I have to keep my eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

I've been using the puppy pads, and I will continue to do so, but I guess I'll have to start carrying an extra one for the trip home. That was what I thought was weird--until today, he was always fine the entire trip to the vet and only had his accident on the way home.

 

[hissy]

Cats are fastidious creatures, he is trying to get away from his excrement, doesn't want to get any on him, plus he has to smell it and can't cover it up. What about just letting him have a litter box in there? Get a tray that covers the carrier, use plain clay litter, then he can use the box, cover his waste and ride quietly in the other part of the litter tray till you get home? Just a thought-

 

[kumbulu]

Something else you can try is using Feliway spray or Bach flower remedies to help calm him.

 

[cloud_shade]

Thank you both for the suggestions. I will give them a try. I already have some rescue remedy, but I'll try it again.

 

[mugsy]

Little Pete and Shorty used to do this. I think it was the stress of being in the carrier and/or the motion of the car. Half the time we wouldn't even make it to the vet because on the way there they would dirty themselves and we'd turn around to come back home and try to clean them up ASAP... they would get really upset if it was on them. Since then we've done two things which seem to have helped a little:

1) I drive now, instead of my boyfriend. I'm a much smoother driver

2) This may be frowned upon a bit, but it works for us

Once in the car we open their carrier (my boyfriend sits in the back seat with them). They are able to crawl out and sit on his lap if they want. Sometimes they stay lying in the carrier anyway, but I think having the option of crawling out, looking out the window, cuddling with my boyfriend, etc., really reduces the stress for them. They never try to get to the front, so the driving remains safe. I would NOT do this if I were alone though.

 

[semiferal]

I had a foster cat who would pee and poop every time she was in the carrier, no exceptions. I carried puppy pads and taped a new one to the bottom of the carrier each time. It worked well. Other than that, I couldn't think of another solution.