Gigi- The Floor Sh*tter

[JayAshby]

My cat has been having some recent problems. No matter how clean his box is, he will shit in the floor.

For background:
-He wears a cone because of his overgrooming and had been wearing it for a while. He used to go in the box with it on (I have removed the lid)
-We're using his favorite litter
-I keep the litterbox clean.
-He only soils the floor when he is in the same room as the litterbox
-His butthole looks a little inflamed and he has runny poops because I just switched him over to a new food (Rabbit, grain free. We're trying to figure out his allergies)
-I always clean the area with lemon cleaner, so he just goes to another spot in the room.

What can I do to help my kitty?

 

[Wile]

My cat has been having some recent problems. No matter how clean his box is, he will shit in the floor.

For background:
-He wears a cone because of his overgrooming and had been wearing it for a while. He used to go in the box with it on (I have removed the lid)
-We're using his favorite litter
-I keep the litterbox clean.
-He only soils the floor when he is in the same room as the litterbox
-His butthole looks a little inflamed and he has runny poops because I just switched him over to a new food (Rabbit, grain free. We're trying to figure out his allergies)
-I always clean the area with lemon cleaner, so he just goes to another spot in the room.

What can I do to help my kitty?

Hi Jay - it sounds like you have a sick kitty on your hands! From what you have posted my best guess is that your cat might have pain when doing a #2 and has come to associate that pain with your current litter box. In the long term the proper way of dealing with this issue is to solve his health problems. Once a cat is no longer in pain usually their bathroom habits will naturally fix themselves. In the short term you could try adding another litter box and a new variety of litter. Something new that he has never seen before, and has not associated with pain. That might help with the issue. If not, you could try puppy pads on the floor where he is going.

Good luck! I know how frustrating allergy testing can be.

 

[Jem]

Did he only start to avoid the box when the runny poops started after switching his food? Did he ever have poop issues before switching?
The fact that his bum is inflamed, he is probably experiencing discomfort/pain, when he poops and associates that pain with the litter box so avoids it. Did the vet tell you that he has an allergy to something? What have been his symptoms as to why you think he has allergies?
Does he or has he ever had issues with peeing?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. It is highly likely that he is experiencing some pain when pooping. He associates the pain to the litter box, hence the reason he goes outside of it rather than inside.

A vet visit is in order to check out why his poop is runny and his behind a little inflamed - although loose stool could cause the irritation after a while. Did the poop changes occur with the new food? If so, probably ought to go back to something you know doesn't cause the same trouble, or ask the vet about his/her recommendation for food specially for allergies.

Is food allergies why he is constantly wearing a cone?

 

[JayAshby]

Hi Jay - it sounds like you have a sick kitty on your hands! From what you have posted my best guess is that your cat might have pain when doing a #2 and has come to associate that pain with your current litter box. In the long term the proper way of dealing with this issue is to solve his health problems. Once a cat is no longer in pain usually their bathroom habits will naturally fix themselves. In the short term you could try adding another litter box and a new variety of litter. Something new that he has never seen before, and has not associated with pain. That might help with the issue. If not, you could try puppy pads on the floor where he is going.

Thank you for this. I will try that.

I need to take him to the vet because of his allergy stuff, but I've recently fallen on hard times so money is a bit tight. Sometimes I feel like such a bad pet parent.

Once his calming spray arrives, I'll order another box. Until then I'll try the pads

 

[FeebysOwner]

I need to take him to the vet because of his allergy stuff, but I've recently fallen on hard times so money is a bit tight.

Will your vet accept a payment plan as opposed to having to pay it all at once?

 

[JayAshby]

Did he only start to avoid the box when the runny poops started after switching his food? Did he ever have poop issues before switching?
The fact that his bum is inflamed, he is probably experiencing discomfort/pain, when he poops and associates that pain with the litter box so avoids it. Did the vet tell you that he has an allergy to something? What have been his symptoms as to why you think he has allergies?
Does he or has he ever had issues with peeing?

He was avoiding the box before, but I'm not sure if that was his own choice or if he was mirroring his brother (who was unahppy with the new litter). Now it's just Gigi.

The vet did not tell me what his allergy was. She dismissed the test after telling me it would be expensive.
He has ear infections and grooms obsessively to the point of balding.

He has never had issues with peeing. In fact, he has continued to pee in the box through all pf this

 

[JayAshby]

Hi. It is highly likely that he is experiencing some pain when pooping. He associates the pain to the litter box, hence the reason he goes outside of it rather than inside.

A vet visit is in order to check out why his poop is runny and his behind a little inflamed - although loose stool could cause the irritation after a while. Did the poop changes occur with the new food? If so, probably ought to go back to something you know doesn't cause the same trouble, or ask the vet about his/her recommendation for food specially for allergies.

Is food allergies why he is constantly wearing a cone?

The FAQ of the food said that it would change their color and make it very very stinky. The food is very dark in color (which they said was also normal)

Yes, that is why he's wearing the cone. He has given himself sores before from overgrooming. I'm trying everything I can to try and figure out what his allergy is

 

[JayAshby]

Will your vet accept a payment plan as opposed to having to pay it all at once?

I've asked them, but they told me no despite telling me yes before (which was the whole reason I went to them in the first place).

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know if it would help - or, unfortunately perhaps mask the allergy source - but, is it possible to ask the vet about giving him some Benadryl to help relieve some of the over-grooming problems?

 

[Jem]

One thing I would recommend, although I'm not sure how many you already have, is get a second and even third litter box (all in different locations, not side by side). The general rule of thumb is one box per cat PLUS one. They may be OK sharing overall, but some cats do not like to poop and pee in the same box, even if it's clean.
How long has he had runny poops at this point? How long has he been eating the new food?
And to confirm, his prior poop issues were that he avoided the box, but only recently, because of the food, he has runny poops and an inflamed bum?

 

[JayAshby]

I don't know if it would help - or, unfortunately perhaps mask the allergy source - but, is it possible to ask the vet about giving him some Benadryl to help relieve some of the over-grooming problems?

I started giving it to him, and the vet said it was okay, but it doesn't seem to help much? And I think it also gave him sores on his tongue.

I'm starting to wonder if his allergy is actually anxiety or something else?

 

[FeebysOwner]

I guess you are going to have to ask the vet what she thinks the allergy is from, and how she arrived at that conclusion. Then, at least you can assess for yourself whether she seems to be on the right track.

 

[JayAshby]

One thing I would recommend, although I'm not sure how many you already have, is get a second and even third litter box (all in different locations, not side by side). The general rule of thumb is one box per cat PLUS one. They may be OK sharing overall, but some cats do not like to poop and pee in the same box, even if it's clean.
How long has he had runny poops at this point? How long has he been eating the new food?
And to confirm, his prior poop issues were that he avoided the box, but only recently, because of the food, he has runny poops and an inflamed bum?

It was slightly runny before because he was eating wet food only for two days (we were waiting for the new food).

My partner is telling me that it has been runny since the new food, but not consistently (he says that sometimes it will be solid, but it's mostly just liquid when he goes [apologies for the visual]).

I have a second box but he much prefers the bathroom box (where he has been soiling). The other cat prefers the living room box.

He had potty issues before the food (I'm unsure if it was mirroring or not) that stopped after switching back to the old litter.

The new issues cropped up, his butt is inflamed, and he has very runny poops

 

[JayAshby]

I guess you are going to have to ask the vet what she thinks the allergy is from, and how she arrived at that conclusion. Then, at least you can assess for yourself whether she seems to be on the right track.

I'll try my best to get him there. I'm going to look into any programs that might help with billing.
My poor baby

 

[Wile]

I started giving it to him, and the vet said it was okay, but it doesn't seem to help much? And I think it also gave him sores on his tongue.

I'm starting to wonder if his allergy is actually anxiety or something else?

If you only started the new diet this week then it is still to soon to tell if it is working or not. He'll need to be on the new food for a couple of months before you will know for sure. Anxiety can cause overgrooming, but anxiety from what?

 

[FeebysOwner]

The vet's office shouldn't charge you for a phone call - at least you could have more information from her about the allergy in the meantime.

 

[Jem]

I'm starting to wonder if his allergy is actually anxiety or something else?

I'm kinda thinking the same thing, stress and anxiety causes several behavioral issues, over grooming and improper litter use both point to stress OR illness, but the stress can still be caused by an underlying illness, like allergies...... You're probably dealing with a combination of both stress and illness, but it's kind of a chicken or the egg scenario.

Have you thought about going to a different vet who is more willing to explore the situation?

So how long have his allergy symptoms (over grooming and ear infections) been going on? Did your vet do ANY testing over time, other than just speculating that he has some sort of allergy? If so what were the results?

And I'm sorry about all the questions, I'm not a vet but have had experience with a poo, pee, anxiety, illness issue combo cat. So I'm just trying to get perspective.

 

[Kflowers]

You have a right to know what the conclusion of any and all tests the vet preformed.

Your vet doesn't sound all that helpful, particularly after pulling the bait and switch of 'yeah, we do payments, oops, no payment due when services rendered." This doesn't sound like an honest person.