I'm Glad OJ is Doing Better by: Kurt (Cat Lovers Only Admin)
@Mary,
Thanks for updating us. I'm glad to hear that OJ is doing better. I hope it continues.
-Kurt
Jun 06, 2009 Rating
Pooping outside the pan is now under control by: Mary
Our vet decided that since OJ had clean blood and fecal analysis, that he needed a steroid to correct this problem. He is 17 and couldn't quite get his poop in the pan plus it was runny.
This seems to have corrected it. It has only been a week, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.
May 17, 2009 Rating
Arthritis and Litter Box Problems by: Kurt (Cat Lovers Only Admin)
@Mary,
I don't have any experience with Prozac and cats, or the litter box problem due to arthritis. As a cat owner, however, if your vet is recommending drug therapy, then you have a few options.
Option 1. You could try the drug therapy that your vet recommends and see how effective it is. If that doesn't sit well with you, or you try it and find it's not effective, you can try...
Option 2. You could try Feliway which might help. Prozac is an antidepressant drug for humans. Feliway is not a drug, is specifically for cats, and has been known to calm cats, reduce aggressive behavior, and stop litter box problems as well.
If pain is the reason he's not using the box, though, I'm not sure how effective Feliway would be.
Option 3. You could try getting a second opinion, perhaps from a holistic vet who might recommend some other method. There's acupressure and acupuncture for cats, chiropractic for cats, and many non-drug therapies for various conditions.
If his problem is more with the diarrhea causing mishaps than anything else, keeping that in check may be your best option. See this page on diarrhea in cats.
I hope that helps. Please let us know how it goes with him.
-Kurt
May 17, 2009 Rating
My 17 yr. old cat's arthritus causes occasional poop outside pan by: Mary
He was pooping on the carpet much more than now, but our vet ran a lot of tests and x-rays to discover arthritis in a vertebrae near his tail. A cortisone shot has improved it greatly but not solved the problem completely.
The poop was really runny and stinky, so after a 10 day treatment of Aldon he has relatively normal stool.
He still poops on the carpet occasionally, which drives my husband, the clean freak, crazy. I told him we will just have to clean it up the rest of his life unless we can solve this problem. Thank heavens he pees in the pan all the time. The vet said Prozac might be needed to keep him from avoiding the pan when he poops.
is not a drug, is specifically for cats, and has been known to calm cats, reduce aggressive behavior, and stop litter box problems as well.