My mother-in-law died about 6 months ago. Her kitty cat is about 14 years old (give or take a few) and has developed increasingly frustrating litterbox issues. The cat both urinates and defecates outside the litter box.
My father-in-law started to get very frustrated with the problem, so we ended up taking the kitty and trying to work with him. Before giving him to us, my FIL took him to a vet and got him some medicine, but that didn't help. (I'm not sure if the medicine was for a UTI or if it was some other problem)
The kitty has dry hard stools, so obviously constipation is an issue. The cat is also overweight, though I've noticed that he's dropped some weight and slimmed down some since we brought him to our house and put him on a more controlled feeding regimen with set meal times and also put him outside where he exercises more, instead of sitting in the corner all day.
We've switched the kitty to a grain free wet food diet. I've tried mixing in prune juice with his food and also previously tried mixing ground flaxseed with his wet food. We've given him CatLax as well.
I asked the vet about constipation and his reply was basically to change the diet and give laxatives.
We also try to give him love and attention, although that is challenging because he is a very anti social cat and hides most of the time. He won't usually come with he's called, so finding him is basically a game of hide and go seek.
His litterbox issues have remained unchanged, so for the time being he's living outdoors. We live out in the woods, far from the main road, and have a lot of property available to us. (our landlord owns a whole bunch of acreage)
I suppose that I could eventually get him a heated cat shelter if he has to stay outside permanently, but it frustrates me that what I've done so far, hasn't addressed the issues that he has. I love cats and would prefer to be able to have him indoors part of the time like my other kitty. (our other cat is an indoor/outdoor cat and was a stray kitty that adopted us)
Any suggestions that I haven't considered?
My father-in-law started to get very frustrated with the problem, so we ended up taking the kitty and trying to work with him. Before giving him to us, my FIL took him to a vet and got him some medicine, but that didn't help. (I'm not sure if the medicine was for a UTI or if it was some other problem)
The kitty has dry hard stools, so obviously constipation is an issue. The cat is also overweight, though I've noticed that he's dropped some weight and slimmed down some since we brought him to our house and put him on a more controlled feeding regimen with set meal times and also put him outside where he exercises more, instead of sitting in the corner all day.
We've switched the kitty to a grain free wet food diet. I've tried mixing in prune juice with his food and also previously tried mixing ground flaxseed with his wet food. We've given him CatLax as well.
I asked the vet about constipation and his reply was basically to change the diet and give laxatives.
We also try to give him love and attention, although that is challenging because he is a very anti social cat and hides most of the time. He won't usually come with he's called, so finding him is basically a game of hide and go seek.
His litterbox issues have remained unchanged, so for the time being he's living outdoors. We live out in the woods, far from the main road, and have a lot of property available to us. (our landlord owns a whole bunch of acreage)
I suppose that I could eventually get him a heated cat shelter if he has to stay outside permanently, but it frustrates me that what I've done so far, hasn't addressed the issues that he has. I love cats and would prefer to be able to have him indoors part of the time like my other kitty. (our other cat is an indoor/outdoor cat and was a stray kitty that adopted us)
Any suggestions that I haven't considered?