My cat keeps pooping outside of his litter box but urinating in it

[mrpepper]

Just got back from the vet today. The new doctor took another x ray and he determined that his colon was full but the poop was soft not hard (in other words no blockage). He said he saw no reason to do anything other than give it more time and keep giving him the miralax. He said if he doesn't poop by Monday to call him back so he can give him different medication.

He did say that he suspected it could be his anal glands are full and that every 1 in 100 cats will have a problem with this to the point they wont defecate.

 

[Furballsmom]

Thanks so much for the update --i've been thinking about you two

 

[iPappy]

Just got back from the vet today. The new doctor took another x ray and he determined that his colon was full but the poop was soft not hard (in other words no blockage). He said he saw no reason to do anything other than give it more time and keep giving him the miralax. He said if he doesn't poop by Monday to call him back so he can give him different medication.

He did say that he suspected it could be his anal glands are full and that every 1 in 100 cats will have a problem with this to the point they wont defecate.

This is good news that he's not blocked. Did he mention what could be done about the anal glands?

 

[mrpepper]

Did he mention what could be done about the anal glands?

No he just said that they would try a different medicine if he didn't go by Monday. I'm not sure if that attacks the full gland problem or not.

 

[mrpepper]

Just got home from work an hour ago and was disappointed to see that Pepper still had not pooped. I decided to throw away the old litter box and go back down to one box total. The box that I kept was the new one that he did poop in a week ago so I figured maybe if I remove the old box it will entice him to go again. Sure enough, 11 minutes after I threw the old box away he pooped in the new one - and it was a lot.

Was it the miralax kicked in finally or was it the sight/smell of the old box - either way he did it? I plan to keep giving him the miralax until he starts going more frequently but I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel - hopefully its not a train.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh my gosh, what great news!!

 

[iPappy]

Just got home from work an hour ago and was disappointed to see that Pepper still had not pooped. I decided to throw away the old litter box and go back down to one box total. The box that I kept was the new one that he did poop in a week ago so I figured maybe if I remove the old box it will entice him to go again. Sure enough, 11 minutes after I threw the old box away he pooped in the new one - and it was a lot.

Was it the miralax kicked in finally or was it the sight/smell of the old box - either way he did it? I plan to keep giving him the miralax until he starts going more frequently but I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel - hopefully its not a train.

If he's happy with the new box, this is great! And it's great he's using the box vs. the couch!!! It shows he knows where he's supposed to go to do his business, which is very good for the future of keeping plastic off your couch.
It took my cat, initially, a few days for the miralax to kick in but when it did, he "went" a lot, too. I can't remember how much I gave my cat for a maintenance dose to keep things regular without triggering diarrhea, but I think it was the minimum dose for cats.

 

[mrpepper]

If he's happy with the new box, this is great! And it's great he's using the box vs. the couch!!! It shows he knows where he's supposed to go to do his business, which is very good for the future of keeping plastic off your couch.
It took my cat, initially, a few days for the miralax to kick in but when it did, he "went" a lot, too. I can't remember how much I gave my cat for a maintenance dose to keep things regular without triggering diarrhea, but I think it was the minimum dose for cats.

I just want to see him go one more time in this box and at that point I might just stop using it and go back to normal. I'm starting to think that it was the old box that made him constipated and not the other way around. I should have just changed that in the first place but every vet that I talked to was more worried about the low number of boxes/ the location of said box, instead of the box itself - so I decided to increase the number of boxes to two. He did use the new introduced box a week ago - even with the old box was right next to it - so I thought it would be better not to mess with it further. There are places where every one of my theories breaks down so I'm not really sure what the actual problem was. I just hope its over now.

 

[Furballsmom]

There are places where every one of my theories breaks down

Hang in there, they do that to all of us at times.

 

[iPappy]

I just want to see him go one more time in this box and at that point I might just stop using it and go back to normal. I'm starting to think that it was the old box that made him constipated and not the other way around. I should have just changed that in the first place but every vet that I talked to was more worried about the low number of boxes/ the location of said box, instead of the box itself - so I decided to increase the number of boxes to two. He did use the new introduced box a week ago - even with the old box was right next to it - so I thought it would be better not to mess with it further. There are places where every one of my theories breaks down so I'm not really sure what the actual problem was. I just hope its over now.

Here's hoping it's over! Watch him closely and if you notice he's not regular, you could start the miralax up again. I hope this is all a thing of the past.

 

[mrpepper]

So its been a few months and unfortunately Pepper started pooping outside of his box again - this time on my bed. He was using his box fine for a month and a half but on January 13th I found poop and a bit of throw up on my bed. I thought that if I just threw away the litter box like last time he would go back to using his box - which he did for about another month and a half but today (Feb. 24th) I found more poop and throw up on my bed for the second time. I'm starting to wonder if he actually is constipated and that is the reason I found throw up and poop both times?

I'm trying to decide whether or not these incidents are related to the ones he was having on my couch in November and December of last year or they are for different reasons. He never threw up on the couch he only pooped but now I'm finding both on my bed and it seems to happen every month and a half or so. I'm just so confused what to do about this because I thought he just didn't like his box but now hes doing it again. He will go from having no problem using the box to just deciding my bed is a good place to do it today. Since I replaced the box right away last time its hard to say if the box was the problem or something else.

I think I might keep the current litter box to see where he poops next. If he poops in the box then maybe it has nothing to do with whether or not the box gets replaced and the reason is something different. Either way this is beyond frustrating and I'm running out of ideas. Taking him to the vet did nothing but cost me time and money. He ended up seeing 3 different vets and 1 said he was constipated the others disagreed and said it was probably behavioral. All I know is replacing the box seems to fix it but only for a month until he ends up having the issue again.

 

[DreamerRose]

I wonder if there is some kind of disposable box that you could get and throw out every month. I feel sure it's the box situation that does it. Some odor must be retained in the plastic after a few weeks.

 

[mrpepper]

I wonder if there is some kind of disposable box that you could get and throw out every month. I feel sure it's the box situation that does it. Some odor must be retained in the plastic after a few weeks.

Yeah thats basically what I do already except I replaced it every 2 weeks. That was the problem in my mind originally, that the box was being replaced so often that it must have carried weird smells with it (possibly from the truck or something outside) and thats why he was having litter box aversion. But then that doesnt make sense from the standpoint that he pees in his box but just didnt poop in it. The smell would have been there if he was peeing as well.

The current box I am using I've had for about a month and he never had any issues with it until now. I could replace it again but then I wouldn't know whether theres an actual correlation between the box and his accidents.

I'm really focused on the fact that both times it was on my bed and both times I found poop and vomit. Thats a really weird coincidence - and it makes me think he actually is constipated. Maybe he has cancer or something the vets didnt test for?

 

[Alldara]

Are you still giving Miralax?

I noted the vet previously said his glands were full. My friend's cat has to get a monthly expression of the glands to solve poo issues. They can teach you to do it at home, or you can go to the vet to get it done. The glands being swollen or full can cause pain.

Pain with peeing or pooing can cause litter box aversion.

Lastly, don't stress yourself over which individual factor it could be. It could honestly be a combination of things. Almost 95% of the time with cats though, it's not behavioural, it's a medical issue. I think some vets say behavioural because they aren't as familiar with cat issues. (And who can blame them. Even human doctors have specialties within the one human body, vets are expected to be experts on all pets!)

 

[mrpepper]

Are you still giving Miralax?

No I stopped giving it to him once I replaced the box and he stopped pooping on my couch. It is safe for him to be taking it all the time?

I figured the miralax was pointless since the problem had to do with the box itself but I can try it again and see if it helps. Problem is now he seems to be doing it every month or so - meaning its going to be hard to tell if he pooped in his box due to the miralax softening him up or he was going to do it regardless. I think the only way to tell for sure is keep the same box and if he poops outside of it again then I'll replace it - if he then poops in the new box then it is for sure the box right? The first time he had these issues he just held it for 5-7 days and didnt poop until the box was gone - even with the miralax. Did the miralax finally kick in or was it the box that did it?

 

[iPappy]

Are you still giving Miralax?

I noted the vet previously said his glands were full. My friend's cat has to get a monthly expression of the glands to solve poo issues. They can teach you to do it at home, or you can go to the vet to get it done. The glands being swollen or full can cause pain.

Pain with peeing or pooing can cause litter box aversion.

Lastly, don't stress yourself over which individual factor it could be. It could honestly be a combination of things. Almost 95% of the time with cats though, it's not behavioural, it's a medical issue. I think some vets say behavioural because they aren't as familiar with cat issues. (And who can blame them. Even human doctors have specialties within the one human body, vets are expected to be experts on all pets!)

Expressing glands is not difficult to do, but if they won't express easily, don't apply more pressure. If they're impacted, you can rupture them, but the vet can show you how to do this! mrpepper IIRC miralax is perfectly safe to give long term.

 

[Furballsmom]

It is safe for him to be taking it all the time?

Yes.
I honestly don't think the issue is related to the box.

How often, -- daily, every other day, does he poop? You need to focus on that variable more, and since there was poop and vomit together, plus that occurred more than once, I'd strongly advise a vet visit.

 

[mrpepper]

Yes.
I honestly don't think the issue is related to the box.

How often, -- daily, every other day, does he poop? You need to focus on that variable more, and since there was poop and vomit together, plus that occurred more than once, I'd strongly advise a vet visit.

He poops every 2-3 days. When he was having the issue previously he held his poop for almost a week at a time before he would go. If I never replaced the box who knows how long it would have taken him?

 

[Furballsmom]

Are you going to be taking him to the vet?

 

[Alldara]

No I stopped giving it to him once I replaced the box and he stopped pooping on my couch. It is safe for him to be taking it all the time?

I figured the miralax was pointless since the problem had to do with the box itself but I can try it again and see if it helps. Problem is now he seems to be doing it every month or so - meaning its going to be hard to tell if he pooped in his box due to the miralax softening him up or he was going to do it regardless. I think the only way to tell for sure is keep the same box and if he poops outside of it again then I'll replace it - if he then poops in the new box then it is for sure the box right? The first time he had these issues he just held it for 5-7 days and didnt poop until the box was gone - even with the miralax. Did the miralax finally kick in or was it the box that did it?

Even if you put the new box down and no Miralax and he does poo, you won't know for sure. He could have litter box adversion from the pain and you put a new box down and he uses it. It doesn't mean he doesn't have a health issue causing it; it just means that you temporarily solve the adversion to the box.

Your vet noted that his glands were full. It's not likely a behavioural issue. Even with an incident in severe constipation, my cat didn't have full glands.

There's nothing wrong with tapering down the Miralax to every other day or similar, but he will continue to need it.

Miralax will continue to bring water to the poo. He could likely benefit from some extra fibre that pads the poo and helps express the glands.