My cat is about 17 years old, and she poops EVERYWHERE!? help???

Question

as i said, she's 17 years old, and she's about normal weight, and we ahve our computers, some storage, videogames, and catboxes in our basement, basically me my brother, sometimes my sisters, and older brother are down there

she only pees in the cat boxes, but she'll poop in hidden places, and it's beginning to become a health hazard

i figured since she'sld it might jsut be because she's so old she can't hold it in long enough, but if there's a way to get her to stop or somethihg to help ehr be able to keep it in until she gets to the litter box??

she USED to be an outside cat, for about 10 of the 17 years of her life i believe

she also still has claws

Answer 1

Old age probably is a contributing factor, but it sounds more like the problem I had with my cat, more than once.

First, though, Is the litter box kept clean and dry?

This is essential, especially for older cats, who get more and more finicky about their abodes.

Second, Did you change the type/brand of litter?
Sometimes they dislike the feel/texture of a new type, or dislike the smell.

He was a bit younger the first time, but it continued off and on over several years, and what I found was that he wanted more attention, and he was fussy as to who he wanted to give him the attention. Sometimes that was OK, but other times it was not possible, due to family and work demands.

In order to cure the problem I had to lock him in with his litter box until he re-established using it. Each time this happened he was picked up and carried to the litter box and then put down on it. This took a couple of days, and he was NOT happy during that time.

A few days after he got back he started his pooping, and immediately was taken to his litter-box and then lock-up.

By the third time he understood that he would get attention, but it was not exactly what he wanted, and it was brief and negative.

Each time, after he got back to using the box regularly, the house returned to normal, and he began sleeping on the floor beside my bed again, after coming up to me and telling me it was bedtime. ( exactly 11PM, every day).

.Be firm with her, but be patient, too. Older cats cannot do everything they used to do to occupy themselves, so sometimes they feel lonely and need more attention.

Answer 2

17 years is very old for a house cat hon. When my old cat died she was 19 years old and could no longer get to a box in time. As she aged pooping hurt her and she started to hide when she needed to go because she was in pain. Might be why your cat is finding hiding spots to go in the basement. You need to clean the areas your cat is pooping in with a pet spot remover, one that breaks down the proteins so your cat can no longer smell it. Other household cleaners may not work to get all the smell up, or may have ammonia in them that will only make a cat more attracted to the spot, otherwise she will be going in the same places over and over. Your old cat may need to be confined to a smaller area of the house so she is never far from a box from now on, and maybe keep her out of the basement all together. Give her extra love too, it could hurt :)

Go to the Vet as it could be a serious health issue at the root of your cat's problems. Your vet will be able to tell you if there is anything medically wrong or not causing her incontinence. My old girl had intestinal cancer, and we put her to sleep when she started to be in real pain. Only your vet can tell you what if anything is wrong with your cat and help make any decisions about her quality of life.

Answer 3

well most people have answered with the old which he is.. You need to bring him to the vet get him checked over make sure its nothing more serious. but you won't retrain him because of his age so if you have no issues cleaning up his poop not a nice job i know but certainly not a reason to put him to sleep either. Maybe you could try and put some paper down i know he isnt' a kitten but at least it would be easier to clean because i know it's a bad habit to train him to newspaper but its better than the floor.

Answer 4

She's old. You are just going to have to deal with it if you can't put her down. In the mean time you may want to try:

The vet told my friend that to get a cat to stop pooping in a particular place

1) keep litterbox clean...empty 3x day. Cats are a very clean animal and do not like dirty litter boxes. They also prefer privacy!
2) put a strong scented something where you see her going. she will just find another annoying place to go.

Answer 5

its probably not actually a "health hazzard".. not unless you are eating off the floor or anything...

could be age related - or is very common in declawed cats - use non-scented clumping litter and provide an extra litter box in a hidden spot she might prefer...

but she is a very old cat.. 17 is pretty good - you folks must have done something right.. love her and when the time comes that you simply cannot take it anymore - euthanize her humanely... (I recently had to do this with my kitty for the same reason and it was very hard)

Answer 6

my cat done that too, it take 3 weeks for a cat to start a "habbit" so it will take 3 or so weeks to breake it. but you need to put her in a cage large enoughf to fit a litter box and shell have no choice but to go in the litter box
in about 2 1/2 weeks let her out and watch her closly to see if she dose it agian if she dose she needs to back in the cage
this may sound mean but it most likely work
the cage needs to be in a room where the family is give her the same food/love/attention that you would normaly

Answer 7

I went thru the same thing with elderly cat(s),.. the last was a 23 yr. old Siamese I had.
He crapped everywhere on floor, but used litter box for pee.
It was a tiresome mess to watch where you stepped and have
poo staining the lino floors.

I do believe he had a form of dementia.that was the reason anyways for him,... or it could be that the bowels couldn't be controlled, but his urinary system was still okay.

You could take to vet to rule out any other unforeseen reason, like intestinal parasite, etc., etc., but at 17 yrs. old, a vet is somewhat limited to do anything invasive should it required surgery.

Good luck.

Answer 8

it is probably because of her age but i would take her to the veternarian to see if they can figure out what is wrong with her. maybe they will give her some kind of medicine and that might help. my dog had a problem similar to that and the vet said there was nothing they could do to help and it was just because he was soooo old. maybe its just time for her to go u kno where because as she ages more problems might occur.

Answer 9

This is the beuty of having a pet! Now get off the computer and pick up some cat poop.

Answer 10

I would suggest taking her to the vet and getting her checked. When my dog (I know, you have a cat) got older we kept coming home to his mistakes. It turned out he had a tumor that was pressing on his bladder so he could not hold his business, mainly his #2.