Inappropriate Elimination

[Pappa]

My old cat has started crapping all over the house. Not often, but often enough to be a hassle. I suspect he's got dementia and doesn't realise what he's doing.

Stop blaming the poor old cat Pappa we all know its you .

[devogue]

Yeah honey, I'm hooked. Anything having to do with pussy.

I'll be honest with you. We don't have a cat because my oldest boy is allergic. The one we had we had to give to my sister. But he was a joy - is - I still visit him though he's getting old. He never had an accident.

We did have a cat when I was a boy and it had accidents, both shit and piss, in hidden places in my mom's bedroom, particularly under the bed. This will seem unbelievable but it's true. This must have went on for years, at least 4, undetected until one day my mom decided to rearrange the furniture. I saw incredible piles of cat shit, much of it largely decayed or seemingly mummified, and piss stains everywhere under every crevice where furniture had been. Yes, it's true, my mom wasn't much of a housekeeper.

How did we not notice the horrible smell? To this day i can't figure that out. Maybe it was a reaction with the carpet and/or maybe we got used to it. I do recall telling my mom some of my friends told me our house smelled funny. She told me my father (they were divorced and not friendly) built the house wrong and it was full of mold.

My mom eventually ran that cat over in a car accident, pinning its head to the side of our garage - knocking the support bricks out. My mom was also a shitty driver.

That bit of prose pretty much confirms it.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Stephen King to the forum...

[Geoff]

Yeah honey, I'm hooked. Anything having to do with pussy.

I'll be honest with you. We don't have a cat because my oldest boy is allergic. The one we had we had to give to my sister. But he was a joy - is - I still visit him though he's getting old. He never had an accident.

We did have a cat when I was a boy and it had accidents, both shit and piss, in hidden places in my mom's bedroom, particularly under the bed. This will seem unbelievable but it's true. This must have went on for years, at least 4, undetected until one day my mom decided to rearrange the furniture. I saw incredible piles of cat shit, much of it largely decayed or seemingly mummified, and piss stains everywhere under every crevice where furniture had been. Yes, it's true, my mom wasn't much of a housekeeper.

How did we not notice the horrible smell? To this day i can't figure that out. Maybe it was a reaction with the carpet and/or maybe we got used to it. I do recall telling my mom some of my friends told me our house smelled funny. She told me my father (they were divorced and not friendly) built the house wrong and it was full of mold.

My mom eventually ran that cat over in a car accident, pinning its head to the side of our garage - knocking the support bricks out. My mom was also a shitty driver.

That bit of prose pretty much confirms it.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Stephen King to the forum...

I see him more as Edgar Allen Poe. More atmospheric...

Upon its head, with red extended mouth and solitary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb!

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

My old cat has started crapping all over the house. Not often, but often enough to be a hassle. I suspect he's got dementia and doesn't realise what he's doing.

Tell us more... you can be an example case!

I should say that there are some cats that can't be made perfect litterbox users... and the old cat thing is the most common.... but who knows? I just might have some ideas on how to get that kitty in the box more...
Tell us all about it and your cat. I'll be back tonight with the next part of my lesson and I'll see if I can tie your case into it!

I should say that defecation outside of the box is usually preferable to urination...

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

Yeah honey, I'm hooked. Anything having to do with pussy.

I'll be honest with you. We don't have a cat because my oldest boy is allergic. The one we had we had to give to my sister. But he was a joy - is - I still visit him though he's getting old. He never had an accident.

We did have a cat when I was a boy and it had accidents, both shit and piss, in hidden places in my mom's bedroom, particularly under the bed. This will seem unbelievable but it's true. This must have went on for years, at least 4, undetected until one day my mom decided to rearrange the furniture. I saw incredible piles of cat shit, much of it largely decayed or seemingly mummified, and piss stains everywhere under every crevice where furniture had been. Yes, it's true, my mom wasn't much of a housekeeper.

How did we not notice the horrible smell? To this day i can't figure that out. Maybe it was a reaction with the carpet and/or maybe we got used to it. I do recall telling my mom some of my friends told me our house smelled funny. She told me my father (they were divorced and not friendly) built the house wrong and it was full of mold.

My mom eventually ran that cat over in a car accident, pinning its head to the side of our garage - knocking the support bricks out. My mom was also a shitty driver.

Wow, that's really sad, Feddy. What a pair of images in my head that you've painted!

[FedUpWithFaith]

Don't be sad. I'm not. Somehow I remember the entire twisted mess that was my childhood with great amusement, even a perverse fondness, though I wouldn't wish it on anybody else.

[Pappa]

I should say that defecation outside of the box is usually preferable to urination...

he does occassionally urinate outside the tray, but not often. He was perfectly litter trained. He's old now 16-ish, has a failing heart and kidneys for which he's on medication which keeps him well, he has cat aids which causes occasional short term illnesses like flu and diarrhoea, which as yet, he always recovers well from. We recently discovered he has a liver tumor, which the vet isn't going to treat and is likely responsible for him gradually loosing weight (he's 2.9Kg now). Other than that, he's a very happy and healthy cat... but he poos in random places round the house, usually somewhere out of the way and quiet, where you smell it before you see it.

Here he is...

[FedUpWithFaith]

Wow, that's really sad, Feddy. What a pair of images in my head that you've painted!

Oh, i forgot to tell you the worst part. My mother didn't actually kill the cat with the car at first - she left it there suffering for hours before it died. I later learned (I was in college at the time) from my sister that she eventually found out from my mother that she froze in an absolute panic, afraid to tell my sister (it was her cat), too squeamish to touch the poor animal, and too embarrassed to call anybody for help lest they see that she'd actually destroyed part of our house and crushed a cat due to her carelessness and incompetence. Apparently, she just kept going back and forth for hours to see if the cat was still alive. When my sister got home from school she found my mom gone but saw the dead cat and damaged garage. She couldn't face my sister. It took my sister days to get my mom to admit what really happened and she begged her not to tell me. I didn't find this all out until about a year later. I just heard that the cat "died".

Let's just say this, in a addition to being a poor housekeeper and driver, she doesn't handle certain emergencies well.

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

I should say that defecation outside of the box is usually preferable to urination...

he does occassionally urinate outside the tray, but not often. He was perfectly litter trained. He's old now 16-ish, has a failing heart and kidneys for which he's on medication which keeps him well, he has cat aids which causes occasional short term illnesses like flu and diarrhoea, which as yet, he always recovers well from. We recently discovered he has a liver tumor, which the vet isn't going to treat and is likely responsible for him gradually loosing weight (he's 2.9Kg now). Other than that, he's a very happy and healthy cat... but he poos in random places round the house, usually somewhere out of the way and quiet, where you smell it before you see it.

Here he is...

Great, Pappa! I will come to this in a bit. (Glad to hear your FIV+ cat has lived so long and in rather good health for so many years!).

This could very well be due to 'Message 2', which I will explain after the first...

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

Of the four main causes of housesoiling (or messages), I tend to see them divided into two main classes: those of medical origin and those of strictly behavioral origin.

The first two messages are of the 'medical origin' camp.

MESSAGE 1: I am intact and displaying it.

All feline species use both urine and feces as a form of communication between individuals. This is especially important for them, as members of the felid family (apart from the lions) are not social animals and, consequently, live primarily as isolated individuals (although feral cats have come to display some colony formation). Urine (and feces, too) is one among many ways these independent felines communicate with other members of their species, especially in an attempt to locate or attract mates. Many domestic cats will fail to use the litterbox if they are intact, and especially if they are in heat or in proximity to other intact/fertile cats. Typically the advertising behavior exhibits itself as spray marking (upright delivery), rather than soiling, and only rarely as defecation (I actually have not seen that yet). While the message in the dribble or puddle is generally intended for another cat, there is something we humans should take away from it:

Alter your freaking pet---unless, of course, you like scent marking, true soiling, caterwauling, cat fights, strays coming around, roaming/lost pets and unplanned litters.

Spaying or neutering a cat is beneficial in so many ways; it is linked to increased lifespan usually on account of the following: dramatically reduced risk of getting lost, getting beat up in a fight, or catching a nasty disease, and reduced incidence of certain cancers. The minimal investment of a neuter or spay, especially if done at a low-cost clinic, can pay dividends by saving you from vet bills for common ailments of free-roaming unaltered cats: abscesses and complications of FIV, among others.

We don't get too many cats surrendered where I work that simply need altering to resolve their house-soiling issue--perhaps about 5% of the housesoilers we get (my estimate). That is fortunate, since it's usually simple to resolve; I'd hate to see a cat abandoned for house-soiling when it was ultimately due to sheer ignorance or laziness on the owner's part. On the flip side, if we had more cases like these, my job of evaluating house-soiling cats would be much easier.

In most cases, the behavior ends with the spay or neuter. Success, though, is more likely to be achieved if the altering occurs at a young age. If a cat reaches full maturity (above about 3 years of age), it can be much harder to resolve the behavior. Even though the marking was physiologically rooted, what was once primarily hormone-driven can, over time, become an ingrained habit. We'll see this pattern again in 'Message 2'. Medically-induced housesoiling can eventually lead to strictly behavioral forms of house-soiling if the underlying medical issue is not resolved in a timely fashion.

On a last note, there is a myth that only males can spray. Not true! females can, too. I've known just as many females that do, although I tend to find it occurring more often than not on account of a different reason (which we will get to later (--see MESSAGE 4).

So, folks, if you have an unaltered cat, get it fixed now!!!

[CP]

We have a really polite cat. She has never had a litterbox and goes outside. Once or twice we've locked her inside the house by accident -- she avoids the carpets and main walking areas to defecate in the shower. Then apologetically shows people what she's done when they get home.

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

What a good girl! Most cats truly are angels and all cats want to be. Sadly, many people mistake their cat's pooping and peeing problems as somehow motivated by anger or revenge when, in all honesty, there is nothing further from the truth.

As she gets older, it might be kind to provide your kitty with a litterbox for convenience sake... but I'm glad she's such a polite girl. I have one cat that was born outside and lived outdoors for the first six months of her life. Three and a half years later she still whines at the door to be let out to do her #2.

[Cwazy Cat Lady]

I used to trap and foster Feral cats for the CPL ,it was crazy ,if you sat quietly in the house at night eyes used to
appear from every hiding place .My arms had more scratches than an EMO kid.

That's wrong...

[CP]

What a good girl! Most cats truly are angels and all cats want to be. Sadly, many people mistake their cat's pooping and peeing problems as somehow motivated by anger or revenge when, in all honesty, there is nothing further from the truth.

As she gets older, it might be kind to provide your kitty with a litterbox for convenience sake... but I'm glad she's such a polite girl. I have one cat that was born outside and lived outdoors for the first six months of her life. Three and a half years later she still whines at the door to be let out to do her #2.

Our cat's getting on, but going strong. She goes next door to beat up the neighbour's Great Dane and then comes and whinges to us that he bit her face.

[Pappa]

I had a female cat (spayed) that now lives with my dad. She sprays over plastic bags if they're left on the floor, and rucksacks made of synthetic fibres too, but never sprays anywhere else.

That's weird, yes?