My cat poops on clothes , rugs,etc..

by Kathy
(Indiana)

My 12 year old cat has been pooping on any type of clothing, rug, comforter, sheets and sometimes just on the floor. He will find the one item on the floor and poop right on it.

It does not matter if the item(s)are in the bathroom, laundry room, bedroom floors, kitchen rug! And Yes, he uses his litter box frequently - multiple times daily and well as the floor/item(s) multiple times daily.

This cat never did this in the past until about a year ago with infrequent episodes to now an everyday occurrence.

I've read many articles and nothing has helped - nothing with quite this same issue. No new animals we have only the one cat (very spoiled and loved) and one dog (whom we have had for years, he's about 5 - so no puppy).

The dog does not get into his litter box (We are very thankful for this). We only changed his brand of litter to see if he would use only it and not my belongings - did not work - he does like his newest litter (pellets)

Here is an overview:

-no changes in food, house, playmates, or number of people in house.

-litter box is big enough, cleaned well, very accessible, no one to bother him while using box.

-usually does make his messes when we are not home or in a different room. He has been caught causing a mess after just using the litter box, or even with nothing in his box (literally no rhyme or reason - that we can find).

Please help - our clothes and washing machine are being destroyed.

klm

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My Thoughts:

Wow, thanks for the detail! He's very handsome! And a big cat too.

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with him. From all the information you give (and it's a lot of stuff -- thank you), it sounds like it's either physical (impacted anal glands perhaps, or constipation), or an emotional issue.

If it were just on soft items, I'd say he has developed a preference for texture. If he only poops on clothes and soft (carpeted?) floor, for example, he may be partial to soft textured items. If the floor is also wood, linoleum, or tile, however, then he wouldn't be considered texture-bound.

Also, he's both using the litter box and pooping elsewhere. So either he's got intermittent physical issues, or it's an emotional one. If he's going in multiple locations, however, then he's not location-bound.

Soooo, it's a bit puzzling. I'm wondering what isolation retraining would do for him. In extreme cases, that's sometimes all you can do (after the physical causes are ruled out).

I'm also wondering if there isn't some underlying physical cause. If he's pooping several times a day, both in and out of the box, it may very well be physical.

These problems are sometimes hard to track down, and your vet has to be persistent in finding the root cause. If your cat has an actual physical bowel issue, then not much will work until that is taken care of.

In response to another problem, I mentioned an article on how difficult treating constipation can be.

I would highly recommend that you cover the options from the physical side of things with your vet, and then go from there. Some people have told me that their vet is no help in these cases. As hard as it might be, you have to try a new vet if that's the case.

Good luck with him and let us know how he's doing,
-Kurt