Kitty litter behaviour problems

[AnnaLeyah]

My cat is very good at peeing in her litter box, but recently she's decided not to poop in it. She poops near it or around it. This isn't new behavior. It's been happening for almost a year now. Every time I think I have it right for her she starts pooping on the floor again.
I've tried all of these things already;
1. Changing location of litter box
2. Changing litter type
3. Getting a new litter box entirely
4. Having 2 litter boxes (this one seemed to help most)
My cat is a Manx, she does have troubles with her bowels, is that the real problem?

 

[UnoMama]

A year is a long time! ... and considering you've tried everything else, it does seem that the issue with her bowels might be it. The best person to confirm this would be your vet. She's only pooping on the floor, but peeing normally in the litter box?

2-3 litter boxes, in different spots of the house, might help the most (lots of clean litter to choose from, less digging through lumps).

An additional thing to check might be - is her litter box on the smaller side? (i.e. she might not want to dig through a bunch of hard lumps from her pee), is she having trouble with digging into her litter and might need softer litter? (burying the poop requires pretty solid digging so she's avoiding that)

 

[FeebysOwner]

My cat is a Manx, she does have troubles with her bowels, is that the real problem?

What do you mean by this? What kind of problem and is it intermittent or all the time? If intermittent, does it coincide with the times she poops outside the box?

 

[AnnaLeyah]

What do you mean by this? What kind of problem and is it intermittent or all the time? If intermittent, does it coincide with the times she poops outside the box?

The vet told us she has a smaller than average pelvic bone which is because of her breed. This causes the bladder and bowels to be very close together making it harder to poop most of the time and sometimes hard to pee as well. This is intermittent and the don't coincide with the times she poops outside the box. Although I did find she pooped more often in the second litter box.

 

[AnnaLeyah]

A year is a long time! ... and considering you've tried everything else, it does seem that the issue with her bowels might be it. The best person to confirm this would be your vet. She's only pooping on the floor, but peeing normally in the litter box?

2-3 litter boxes, in different spots of the house, might help the most (lots of clean litter to choose from, less digging through lumps).

An additional thing to check might be - is her litter box on the smaller side? (i.e. she might not want to dig through a bunch of hard lumps from her pee), is she having trouble with digging into her litter and might need softer litter? (burying the poop requires pretty solid digging so she's avoiding that)

Her litter box is quite large and I'm using pine pellets. I can't use anything softer than that otherwise she gets it on her bum. I think you're right about having more litter boxes however. She did much better with 2.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is her stool harder? It doesn't sound like it if she gets 'stuff' in her bum. If it is harder, something like a small dose of Miralax might make it easier for her to go?

At any rate, have you tried a very low sided litter box to set along side her 'regular' litter box? And, instead of litter, maybe use puppy pee pads?

 

[AnnaLeyah]

Is her stool harder? It doesn't sound like it if she gets 'stuff' in her bum. If it is harder, something like a small dose of Miralax might make it easier for her to go?

At any rate, have you tried a very low sided litter box to set along side her 'regular' litter box? And, instead of litter, maybe use puppy pee pads?

That's not something I've tried. I will definitely give it a try.
Her stools are only sometimes hard. Very rare, but the vet said to use metamucil for it if it continues on.