Current Events > Can any cat experts help?

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My cat doesn't seem to want to use the litter box to poop. She uses it to pee and even when it's perfectly clean she'll still poop elsewhere.

Any idea what could be causing this behavior?

Irregular litter activity usually means something is wrong and you should be asking a vet about it.

Is your cat otherwise urinating and defecating normally though? Aside from pooping outside the box I mean.

Could also be stress. Any sudden changes lately, or otherwise any occurrences that could possibly stress a cat out?

I kind of am. I work with cats.

What is her fecal score? (Just Google the chart) Is this a new behavior for her and if so when did it start and did anything precede it of note? How old and how is her appetite, energy levels.

1. Add an extra litter box and see if that fixes it
2. If not, change to unscented, unclumping litter

also, is your cat pooping in a place you would see or a "hidden" place?

if they are pooping in a hidden spot or where you would see it?

Our cat has been doing that basically as long as we've had him. Took him to like 3 different vets and no one found anything physically wrong with him. Cleaning the box more didn't help, setting up more boxes didn't help. We just chalked it up to him being too lazy and not having any disincentive to poop elsewhere. He is a very anxious cat which I think contributes to it.

has she pooped in the box in the past, and is this (pooping outside of the box) a new behavior?

did you move the box recently? cats don't like change, so if you move the box to a different room or something, she might not associate that "space" with being safe to poop in.

also, how high are the walls of the box? when she feels the need to poop, it might be too high of a climb and cause discomfort if she's an older cat.

I think she's constipated according to that chart she's had to have an enema in the past. It started a few weeks ago, she'll use it one day and not the next time.

She tends to poop where it's easy to be seen

Crimsoness posted...

I think she's constipated according to that chart she's had to have an enema in the past. It started a few weeks ago, she'll use it one day and not the next time.

try changing her diet to include more wet food as well as get grain-free dry foods.

I'd personally avoid dry food/kibble altogether, but wet food is a lot more expensive so it might not be affordable for everyone.

Not sure. Maybe talk to the vet?

Cocytus posted...

Not sure. Maybe talk to the vet?

She has an appt on the 6th I'll ask them about it then

I didn't read this properly and was sitting here like "Ok, I know way less about cars than I thought...." until I DID read properly.

That is all I have.

how long have you had this cat?
how recently/often have you changed its diet?
is it the only cat in the home?
how many litter pans do you have?
have you tried different litters? (clay, clumping, non-clumping, pine shavings, pine pellets, etc.)

Crimsoness posted...

She has an appt on the 6th I'll ask them about it then

Hopefully that helps.

Outside of that, my only other question would have been where is it that she is poopong, which you answered (in sight). If you could figure out where shes doing it and why she possibly likes doing it there vs a box, that could give some clues.

But maybe it is all constipation/health related. So see what vet says first

One of my cats sometimes poops outside of the litter box. He hasn't done it in a while, but I never could figure out why he sometimes does it. He started doing it in 2021, I think, when he wasn't even a full year old yet. I thought it might be because the litter box was full, but he would do it even after I cleaned the box out (I have 2 litter boxes but he only pooped outside of one of them). He's an energetic and healthy boy.

My first cat would also poop and pee outside the litter box, but she was diabetic and stressed. I think she started to do it in 2002, long before she had diabetes, but I think that was from stress.