My Dad's About To Make Me Give Up My Cat! Help!

[myfurbaby]

My dad is giving me one week to fix my cat's litter box issues before he makes me give her up!
I'm in college right now, and I adopted Suzie about a year ago. She and our existing cat, Gable, are both around 8 years old, and tolerate each other(sometimes he grooms her before they push each other away). She's had diarrhea since I got her, so I switched her to Blue Wilderness Grain Free dry food, and that helped with it a bit. I had also tried a supplement called lykozene(something like that) from the vet that did nothing. She also has separation anxiety when I'm away at college during the week. For her anxiety, I had tried the Sentry Collar that seemed to work for a while, but she's still neurotic.

But, we had the flood last year and we had to send both of the cats (Suzie and our existing cat, Gable) to live with someone else while we repaired. When they came back, Suzie started to poo outside of the litter box. She still peed in it, but she'll poo somewhere near it(she has two boxes). She and Gable have separate litter boxes, and I think that initially helped with her territorial issues a bit. We keep her in my room at night to keep her closer to my scent and Gable with my sister, since she doesn't like to share anything with Gable.

I'm not at home to try to solve things, so I had my mom contact a cat rescue to see if they new anything about her issues, and she's taking Suzie to the vet for a larger fecal test to rule out anything medical (since her initial visits revealed nothing wrong).
Other than her litter box issues, she is a perfect cat who cuddles with you and has to be right next to you. I'm panicking because I don't know what to do, and I can't bear the idea of giving her up!

 

[maggiedemi]

Is her poop really hard, could she be constipated?

 

[myfurbaby]

No, it's still soft. The grain free diet helps somewhat, but she still has diarrhea. I'll find a small bit in the box sometimes like she tried to use it, but it's usually either on the carpet or litter mat.

 

[Shane Kent]

My cat Taz will pee around the house if stressed out. I am not sure if it is applicable to your problem but the following article helped me out a lot.

You can click or touch the article title it will take you to the article. In that article are links to other articles about stress.

How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide

I hope you get it resolved, she is a beautiful girl.

 

[myfurbaby]

My cat Taz will pee around the house if stressed out. I am not sure if it is applicable to your problem but the following article helped me out a lot.

You can click or touch the article title it will take you to the article. In that article are links to other articles about stress.

How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide

I hope you get it resolved, she is a beautiful girl.

Thank you. I sent the link to my mom to see if she can do anything while I'm away. I had already tried a few things with the litter box, but I don't know what I'll be able to do if it's stress-related.

 

[danteshuman]

Litter box issues tend to take longer than a week to resolve. So perhaps start searching for a no kill shelter & be sure to tell them of your cat's health issues? If you can convince your dad to give it 3 months? Or best solution you get a place of your own that allows cats, and have your cat move in with you? If you can do that, I think your dad might be willing to give you a month or two to find a place?

 

[myfurbaby]

Litter box issues tend to take longer than a week to resolve. So perhaps start searching for a no kill shelter & be sure to tell them of your cat's health issues? If you can convince your dad to give it 3 months? Or best solution you get a place of your own that allows cats, and have your cat move in with you? If you can do that, I think your dad might be willing to give you a month or two to find a place?

I won't have the money to get my own place until I graduate in a year, and I've been trying to solve the issue since it started in the spring, but it's hard when I don't know the cause. I know it sounds horrible, but I hope the vet finds something that's wrong medically so that maybe medicine will be able to fix it. If it's stress from her separation anxiety, I can't be home to take care of her, and if it's a territorial thing, I don't want to keep her separated from the rest of the house (she's already kept in my room at night).

 

[orange&white]

There is a small probability that the poop is sticking in her "trousers" while in the box and dropping off after she leaves the box and is walking away or grooming herself. Is that possible, or are you sure she is intentionally pooping outside the box? My kitten has a "furry butt" with her pantaloons and I know sometimes she gets "hangers on" that drop off her fur outside the box.

Even on the slight chance that is the problem, a vet needs to try to assess and treat the loose stools.

 

[maggiedemi]

She might need a special diet from the vet for the diarrhea. I know that diarrhea can be painful and burn coming out, so she might be associating the litter box with pain. And it's really messy and gets everywhere.

 

[myfurbaby]

There is a small probability that the poop is sticking in her "trousers" while in the box and dropping off after she leaves the box and is walking away or grooming herself. Is that possible, or are you sure she is intentionally pooping outside the box? My kitten has a "furry butt" with her pantaloons and I know sometimes she gets "hangers on" that drop off her fur outside the box.

Even on the slight chance that is the problem, a vet needs to try to assess and treat the loose stools.

No, nothing hangs on. Both of the cats have long fur, so we give them a hygiene clip to prevent poop from sticking.

 

[myfurbaby]

She might need a special diet from the vet for the diarrhea. I know that diarrhea can be painful and burn coming out, so she might be associating the litter box with pain. And it's really messy and gets everywhere.

When I switched her to the grain-free diet, it got a bit better and the stools were better formed, but about 60% of the time, she still has diarrhea. I've tried putting her on Royal Canin sensitive digestion, but that just made it worse and she had started throwing it up, so I switched back to Blue Wilderness. I'm hoping the vet can give me a clearer cause with further testing.

 

[Shane Kent]

Thank you. I sent the link to my mom to see if she can do anything while I'm away. I had already tried a few things with the litter box, but I don't know what I'll be able to do if it's stress-related.

There are links to a few stress articles under Step 4 in the litter article.

If you do not already, you should leave some of your unwashed shirts for the cat. That would leave a strong scent of you behind and may help her cope with you not being there. You could put them in a few comfy spots and save putting her in your room at night. She might not like getting confined and it could cause stress. You could wash them next visit and switch them out with the following weeks unwashed shirts.

I used to put my cat Taz in a room for a timeout when he would misbehave. It didn't help and in fact it made matters worse. He would come out of the room more stressed and upset.