Cat defecating on couch and chair

by MaryDeb
(Clinton, IA, USA)

His name is Simon. He is 13 years old and has never had a problem with the litter box until about 3 weeks ago.

He has gone to the vet and they say he has a small infection. It was my choice for them to give him a shot since doing the blood work ($95) to see if there is a problem.

They said he has a slight infection and this antibiotic shot should help ($58). I stopped at the vet's office yesterday and said Simon was still going on the furniture.

Now they tell me that I should give Simon a teaspoon of plain yogurt on his foot twice a day. Did you know this is helpful since if he has a problem it is just like a human person using Activia (yogurt) to clean out their bowel movements?

If this doesn't work I should bring Simon in and have more tests done. This means $$ to say the blood test previously did not check the problem.

My husband and I have just started to keep the basement door closed since we just furnished with new furniture and pool table. Tonight after reading some of the articles about other cat's problems, we are leaving the basement door open to see if this may be a problem for Simon.

Is there any other ideas of what can be done to help Simon. We do have 1 litter box in the basement and 2 litter boxes upstairs?

My thoughts:

I'm sorry to hear that Simon is having trouble. If he's used to using the litter box in the basement, it's best to allow him access to it.

Did you begin closing that door prior to the problem starting? If so, I think that could be contributory, or it could be a coincidence.

As for yogurt, many cats love yogurt as a treat, so it's not uncommon for cats to have it.

Antibiotics kill off the natural bacteria in the intestinal tract, which can cause bowel problems (so the cure for his infection may make for some problems). You can buy probiotic supplements to help him, but if the vet says yogurt is enough, I'd try that and see what happens.

If his infection started the problem (and assuming it's gone), the problem may still continue due to behavioral reasons. It may require isolating him in a room to get him back on track.

Assuming there are no other medical causes for this, and the yogurt gets his digestion back on track, isolation retraining will likely set him right. If you have questions about that, let me know.

I hope that helps and please let us know how he makes out.
-Kurt