My cat poops everywhere

by Anonymous

My boyfriend and I have an 11 year old neutered Siamese male cat named Buki. My boyfriend has had him since he was a kitten, and I've been living there for four years now.

There have been many changes in Buki's life. From my boyfriend's parents divorcing and his mom moving out, to the other Siamese cat that was his buddy passing away, to my boyfriend's father passing away.

But Buki has never lived in a different house. This all happened in a short time frame six years ago. That's when he started pooping everywhere.

I have no doubt that he probably has some separation anxiety because someone was always home with him. My boyfriend and I work full time, and we have other animals in the house.

We have six guinea pigs and a free roam rabbit, who he seems to enjoy cuddling with. We also leave the TV on so it's not so quiet while we are gone.

I have tried everything. But here's some back story:

Six years ago, after everything happened, my boyfriend came home from work to find poop on the carpet. He thought nothing of it, just that maybe the litter box needed to be cleaned.

Then it started to become a daily occurrence. To the point where he completely destroyed the carpet on the main floor and we needed to rip it up and put down hardwood flooring in the living room and dining room.

His two litter boxes were on the second floor in the main bathroom. He constantly pooped on the tile in there too.

When I moved in four years ago, it became very overwhelming for me to deal with this every day. So I did away with the two smaller litter boxes, and got one very big one, thinking maybe that was the issue. No luck, still pooping where ever he pleases.

So I moved it to the 3rd floor, which is where it used to be when he was a kitten. No luck, he pooped all over the linoleum floor and on the carpeted stairs.

Fine, maybe we are feeding him too much. He gets upset if he can see the bottom of his food dish, even when there is still food in it.

So we took another bowl, filled it with cat food, wrapped it in plastic wrap and set it by his food dish. No luck again.

Then we tried a feeding schedule. A little bit of food in the morning, and a little bit when we get home from work. Nope, he constantly wants a full food bowl even if he doesn't eat it all at once or he will not stop carrying on.

So off to the vet we go. They asked us to bring a stool sample when we made the appointment, so we did. Get to the vet, and they do everything. Full exam was perfect, no enlarged organs, no pain or discomfort from the cat as the vet was checking him out, healthy teeth, not dehydrated, not over/under weight etc.

They did a blood sample, which turned out fine too, and the stool sample showed no parasites or underlying issues. He is perfectly healthy.

I explain everything to the vet, and he said add a second litter box, and if that doesn't work, we might need to try some anti-anxiety meds.

So I got the second litter box, another big one, and put it on the main floor, in a more secluded room in the house because we are still in the process of putting the hardwood floor in, and he keeps pooping on the material. No luck again.

He's not missing the box, or anything, he goes to the other corner of the room to poop. And if I move it there, he goes and poops where the box was before that.

Also, it's not a poop here or there. It's every day, multiple times a day, in multiple different spots, on different floors of the house.

It's exhausting and frustrating to deal with and clean up after everyday. And we have never caught him in the act of it.

It got to the point where we couldn't have a litter box on the main floor anymore because he was pooping on the brand new hardwood and it would get in between the cracks.

Next attempt was to try and adopt a cat, an older one since we felt he might not be able to handle a kitten. Our application was denied for a cat that was around his age and the same breed, because Buki does not have a long enough history at the vet.

He didn't go for a number of years because he is strictly an indoor cat. We decided not to keep searching, feeling as though this was going to be a repeated problem.

So now, he has a litter box on the second floor in a room that's right next our bedroom, and it also leads to the third floor, where his second litter box is.

He has destroyed the carpet faster than I can shampoo it because he has loose poops, which the vet didn't seem concerned about. I've tried different litter, even Cat Attract, which didn't work. We even got a cover for the litter box in case he was shy.

He is also pooping on the main floor again, in our fire place room. The hardwood floor there is old and needs to be replaced, so while I'm not too concerned about the damage to it, he is pooping on the concrete tile for the fire place, which is SO HARD to clean.

I am at my wit's end. I am very nervous when people come over because I think the house might smell, even if we can't smell it.

I do not like people going up to the second floor to see our guinea pigs and bunny, because the room where he has destroyed the carpet is up there and you need to walk by it to get to our room.

I don't know what else to do. I am hesitant on getting him meds, because he has such a great personality and he's so loving, and I don't want to change any of that. Giving him away is NOT an option, and never will be because we believe that once a pet has been brought into the house, you don't just get rid of it.

I will admit at times that it is very hard for me to want him around after I've spent hours cleaning up poop.

I also feel that I am the only one that sees it as an issue. My boyfriend has accepted that that's just how he is a long time ago, and rarely gets frustrated by it anymore.

When his mom comes to visit for a few months, she cleans up after him and also doesn't seem concerned by the destructive behavior.

He is coddled and spoiled, which is perfectly fine, but I would really like this issue resolved. I do not want to have to be worrying about this when we decide we are ready to have kids.

Any insight to this would be GREATLY appreciated.

My thoughts: I'm sorry to hear that Buki is having so much trouble, but I'm glad to hear that both of you are willing to keep him.

Thank you for the thorough information. Six years is a long time and I have to say, this seems like a tough one. Buki sounds like a serious candidate for the My Cat from Hell TV show.

While it's not my first choice, you do have what I would call an extreme case here, and you might want to consider the meds if nothing else seems to work.

Some of our readers have had success with various behavioral issues, including litter box avoidance, when putting their cats on fluoxetine (Prozac). Some of them only needed to be on it temporarily.

You could also try working with an animal behaviorist. You might even find a vet that specializes in behavior. Perhaps your current vet could make a recommendation.

One thing I'd try is my old stand-by, Feliway pheromone spray. I'd combine the use of a Feliway diffuser and spray with temporary confinement to single room.

This is known as confinement or isolation retraining, and is another old stand-by.

Confining your cat to a single room allows you to control things better, eliminate potential outside influences, and monitor your cat's progress. It also helps with the clean up if there is any. Isolation retraining can work as a kind of reset.

Other thoughts...

Pooping near the box can be an indication that a cat doesn't like the condition of the box in some way (location, litter, etc.). From your description, however, that doesn't seem to be what's happening, but there have been so many changes I still would not rule it out.

That can also be an indication of an (undiagnosed) illness.

Ideally, you want to have a litter box on each level of the house, in an ideal spot (not too far off the beaten path, but not in a bathroom or busy area either).

I hope that helps and please let us know how it goes.
-Kurt