Guest expert Q&A: cat pooping on bed

Special thanks to guest expert Christine (formerly of The Rabbit Lived) for being guest veterinarian for this post. Unlike me, Christine actually is an expert.

Kamilah writes:

"Do you have any ideas how to deal with a cat who's lost its mind?  Our cat adjusted very well to the baby when she arrived, but began acting up when she started walking 3 months ago.  He now routinely craps outside of the litter box, and today did it ON MY BED...

 

WHILE I WAS PETTING HIM!

 

We've taken him to the vet, and there doesn't appear to be a medical reason for this behaviour, so I'm hoping feverishly that you and/or your readers can offer some advice that works."

       

Christine answers:

First, sympathies on the situation.  Any behavior problem is a pain, but housebreaking issues are horrible, because you really need it to stop! now!

Always, always, get the pet checked out (as you have) first and as soon as possible.  Something that starts out as a medical problem can end up becoming a bad habit if you wait too long.  Since you have ruled out a medical cause, I have a few more thoughts.

How old is the cat, and is he having difficulty either getting to or into his box?  Does he have to jump a baby gate?  When he goes, is he positioning properly?  Sometimes cats will avoid the box because arthirits or a metabolic disease makes it uncomfortable for them to get into the box.

Also, think really long and hard about what may have changed in the cat's environment when this started.  Did you change the box?  Move the box?  Start using a different litter?  Did he get frightened while in his box (say, by a friendly toddler)?  Get a dog?  Get another cat?   How often are you cleaning the box?  Has that changed?

Where is the cat doing the deed?  Is it always in the same place (I once had a patient that would poop only on the husband's clothes...the cat and the husband despised each other) or is it dependent upon where the cat is when the need arises?

Treating the problem is going to depend a lot of whether or not you can track down an inciting cause.  If the cat has some arthritis, try a lower box or make the route to the box uninhibited (some people will use a tension gate that they can attach several inches above the floor - baby can't get through but cat can squeeze under).  Let me be really clear that you should never, never medicate your cat without talking to your vet...even if you think the underlying problem is pain, cats don't tolerate a lot of OTC drugs well, and I've had several patients land in the hospital or worse because of ibuprofen or tylenol that the owner gave.  If you had tried a new kind of litter, change back.  If you can't get to cleaning the box as fastidiously as Cat would like, try a self-cleaning box.  If the box is covered, try it uncovered for a while.

I always recommend Feliway, which is a diffuser of cat pheromones.  It doesn't always work, but if the cat is feeling some stress it can help make him a little more zen.  You can get it online or from your vet. You can also try dropping some Rescue Remedy in Cat's water bowl or mixing it with water and spritzing it about the house.  Make sure to use a good odor neutralizer when cleaning the accidents, because you don't want him being drawn back to the location by the odor.

If you can't find a cause, or nothing you've tried seems to be working, I'm a big proponent of drugs.  For the cat, I mean.  I spent years fighting the use of behavior modifying drugs in animals, until I adopted a dog that developed severe separation anxiety.  Sometimes the animals need a little help with their brain chemistry so that they can respond to behavior modification better.  If your vet dislikes behavior problems (and most do) ask for a referral.  You may have a behaviorist in the area or you can do a phone consult.  A behaviorist is a fully qualified vet with extra training and board certification in behavior problems.  This is not a trainer.  This is someone who can get you the drugs.  Or get the cat the drugs.

I know the inclination is to always blame the stress of the baby for this, but my first thought reading this (understanding that I don't have a lot of details) is that Cat is uncomfortable in the box or is having a hard time getting to it. Elimination problems in cats can be tremendously frustrating and are one of the most frequent reasons why a cat will be relinquished or euthanized.  It's unlikely you're going to change one thing and the problem will be magically gone, but with patience and some creativity, I've had a lot of success working with owners on this.  Keep the faith.

And send me an email if you have more questions.

Comments

[Kamilah]

Christine, thank you for the response. Miko (the cat) is 3 years old. He has access to three boxes, including one that is actually the lid of a large rubbermaid box, so only about 3-4 inches deep, and he is positioning properly. While the random poopings did begin with a bout of diarrea, he returned to his original box as well as using the two new ones we introduced. His boxes are in total privacy in the basement, so there are no gates and no surprise visits from the babe, and they are cleaned daily. The forbidden poops are deposited all over the place, with no apparent pattern. There has been no change in litter or food.

I have returned to full-time work, so he has the house to himself again (although he is still confined to the basement when we're out or sleeping). I'll give him a few weeks to see if the quiet time settles his nerves. If not we'll ask about the drugs.

Thanks again for your time.

[Kris]

A great online resource for behavior problems in cats and dogs is http://www.ddfl.org/tips.htm

[hedra]

I'll add my testimonial on the Feliway. It is worth a good try - My suggestion is to try it while you wait for things to settle down, rather than waiting without supporting the cat's transition back to normal (nothing like a little mood boost to help things along!). It can't hurt, and may help a great deal. So much can upset cats, it seems - especially changes in schedule/routines (meal time, even schedules with our kids). And I don't know about cats, but I do know that children can end up with a great deal of ongoing distress after even one negative pooping experience. Ongoing pooping stress may just make it cycle, and the Feliway can help drop the stress level. (Not sure if some high-grade Alaskan Catnip might not help, too, LOL!)

We managed to introduce a challenging-but-toddler-friendly 'volunteer cat' (likely dumped because of a spraying problem) to our other two cats, AND stopped the spraying (despite not being 'top cat' as he seemed to expect), with the help of the Feliway.

[Christine]

Kamilah -

Did you find a cause for the diarrhea or treat it or did it resolve on its own? I'm betting that he was uncomfortable with some colitis or something and now is assocating that pain with the boxes (it sounds like he's well set up for elimination purposes in your house). I believe cats can still have the pain of colitis while only having intermittant diarrhea...dig deeper medically, because I think that's where the problem is going to lie.

[Shara]

I second the suggestion of checking for medical issues as a root cause - the sudden onset points towards that. We have 2 young cats that adjusted beautifully to our home when we adopted them a year ago. One suddenly developed urinary problems, culminating in a blockage and hospitalization. We went through 2 months of UTI treatment, urinary inflammation, and a really traumatized kitty who was acting out.

This is what we did to curb the behavioral part of it:
>> Added a litterbox in the living room where a lot of accidents were happening. He wasn't always able to make it to the box, so we brought the box to him. (I'm not sure how this might work with your baby, but may help temporarily?)
>> Took the covers off of the litter boxes temporarily (they're back on 2 months later with no issues)
>> Clean the litter religiously every night. EVERY NIGHT. And we began using plastic litter box liner bags to keep the boxes generally cleaner.
>> For his urinary problems, the cat was on several weeks of antibiotic and probiotics. He was also on an anti-spasmodic for a few days after being in the hospital with a catheter. Going back and forth to the vet and receiving meds several times a day was really upsetting the cat.
>> We also used Feliway as part of our efforts – in the cat carrier, near the litter boxes, in his usual sleeping spots, and wherever he was having accidents.

Our vet was concerned that the accidents resulting from the medical condition would end up becoming habit. She helped us get the jump on the behavioral problem by giving him an antidepressant for 30 days. I'm against medication generally, but we wanted to do everything possible to curb the behavioral problem once the medical one was fixed. The cat took 1/2 a pill of Amitriptyline for 30 days (and oh boy, he hated that pill! It must smell/taste bad). I hated having a drugged cat (he was overly sleepy and lethargic), but the end result was he was far less stressed out about the medications, hospitalization, etc. and the "accidents" stopped when his medical condition was healed. I think he may have been on the anti-dep for a total of 6 weeks and it was definitely the right choice for our situation.

This website was helpful: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/Housesoiling.html

And so was this one:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/the_pet_web_library.html

Good luck!

[erika]

Feliway worked well for our cats, but I would warn that when my sister visited with her male dog - he kept spraying on the Feliway diffuser. Might want to remove it if you have male dogs visiting.

[Linda]

Christine, I miss you. Are you ever going to blog again? Your site is PP now, isn't it? Are you blogging but not giving me the password?!

I have a fat, obnoxious orange cat who has been peeing on my kids' soft toys (stuffed animals, dolls). I stopped leaving them on the floor when we weren't home and so far so good (3 months later). But it's a pain. Sorry for the trouble, Kamilah.

[Christine]

Considering the way I've seen poor Roland dressed, Linda, I have a hard time blaming him. Honestly, your kids are cute and all, but I live for the pictures of the things they put on him.

I'm not blogging again. I'm trying to get my arcives off and have been lazy about it and I started to get some emails from people that were a wee...creepy...so I password protected it for now. You're not missing out. I don't even remember the password.

[Christine]

P.S. That would be archives.

I'll shut up now.

[Melanie au]

Definitly consider a medical cause, but if you have eliminated that, I would go back to the idea that your cat is feeling a little insecure and is trying to mark its territory.

We went through a pooing and weeing thing with one of my cats for about 4 months until we twigged how to handle it. I'm thinking that your puss could be similarly protesting - not about the baby - but about the change the baby is making in his life, particularly now she is walking.

We managed to get our cat, Lexi, to stop with a deliberate strategy of reassuring her and cuddling her as much as we could - even when we felt like strangling her after yet another wet doona. When Lexi 'had a relapse' we would simply ignore it, wash the doona (again). And later, far from the scene of the crime, cuddle her again. It took about a week, but she finally stopped the "protest poos', etc.

Hope this helps.

[Kamilah]

Christine - to answer your question, his original bout of diarrea resolved itself with our intervention, and the vet cleared him for any urinary issues. I'll ask her about colitis and get him the Feliway product this weekend. After only three days back at work I do notice a change in him. He's participating more in family time and we're making an extra effort to cuddle him. Hopefully the end of this madness is near.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

[Rosemary Grace]

I can attest to feliway making a difference, one of my cats started peeing all around the periphery of the living room, while also beating up our other cat (her brother) a great deal. There was a stray coming up to our windows and sniffing at both our house cats, probably made them feel a bit threatened.

I got the feliway diffuser and we started being even more gentle and reasuring with our beasties, and they both calmed down visibly in the first day. That was four weeks ago, and we have had only one unfortunate relapse involving our mattress and my husband's pyjamas, so they are now shut out of the bedroom when we are not in there with them to supervise.

[stephanie]

I looked up this blog because of our male cat having a similar problem. He had been quite sick due to a urinary blockage/kidney stone. He peed on our our bed constantly during that time but is back to his normal self now. Except for one thing: in the past two weeks we found poop on our bed and our 18 month old sons bed. We assume it is the male cat that was sick - we got a female as well. We will give Feliway a try and hopefully it will put an end to this before it gets worse. Thank you for all the info on this site!

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[Eric]

In my home, I have 7 cats one of which is pooping everywhere. He is a rescued cat that was thrown away to die when he was a kitten.
We have had him almost 1 year and he has always had to sleep outside because of his pooping problem. Now that he is older, he is able to jump through the window in order to poop everywhere he possibly can. It also seems that he has diarrhea which make it even worse. He has been treated for that, but it persists and so do his indiscriminate poopings. He is not under any stress what so ever. He gets on fine with the other cats and dogs. We live in the tropics, so closing the house down is not possible. He will always find a way in. All the other cats always relieve themselve in the outdoors...I wish he could do the same. My wife is beside herself and we need a solution...QUICK..Can anyone out there help me?

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[Michele]

We have a cat that has begun pooping in our bedroom. We are unable to touch him and he has lived with us for 7 years. Our cat that he attached himself to has recently died, and as we have thought back his problem began once his best friend became ill, and has increased now that he is gone. We feel it is stress making him do this, and how long do you think it will continue or will it ever stop? Any suggestions?

[Victoria]

I recently moved to a new house with my six year old son with ADHD and Asperger's and 4 cats. I had been letting the cats outside during the day and in at night and all was well. Then my son's ADHD medication ran out and his behavior got really bad. So the cats started pooping in his room. I understand the cause and can handle it. The problem is, the lady next door thinks she's the queen of our block and told me not to let my cats out because they pooped in her flower bed. So they've been inside now for 5 days and they have been fighting with each other and now they are pooping all over the house! I don't want problems with my new neighbor, but I can't handle all this poop either! Help!

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[Norman]

Thank you I think I got the answer to my cat starting to poop onthe hall floor,not in the tray.
I have been using a different air spray!!!!!
I clean out the tray spray the tray and spray with an air freshener,no problems until I changed the brand of air fresher.
Could I be right?

[Mary kleinsmith]

My cat poops any where he feels like it up stairs or downstairs. He will pee in the litter box only, I always have clean litter for her,give her attention, nothing has changed she is getting older but is in good health. This happens during the night or day.
And it has been going on for coupl of years and I don't know what to do? She is around me and my husband when we are home and we show her love.
Please help. She does not urinate anywhere on the floor just poops.
Thank you

[carrie]

in the last 2 days my cat has pooped twice on my bed and peed once on my bed. after i get home from work she is one yr old. and has had her shots and fixed. my 15yr old daughter is here at home when im working and the cat is not alone. iam wondering why she only does this when i get home not during the day!