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Not sure if anyone can chime in with suggestions. Benny is 18 and goes to the vet every 8 weeks because of his age and other health issues. He randomly poops outside of the box, maybe every third day or so. Nothing has changed with the boxes (we have four in the house, same litter). All are scooped twice daily. He pees in the box regularly.
Things we've tried:
Having the vet check his colon/express anal glands
Adding different sizes/heights of litter boxes
Putting down puppy pee pads (won't use)
Adding miralax to his food (so his stools aren't hard/difficult to pass)
Adding water to his food
I am guessing he has sore joints and it's just harder for him to poop in the box. He takes gabapentin (low dose) for pain (again, prescribed by vet)
Blood work was done a few weeks ago and, for his age, is decent.
Thoughts? My husband is quite upset at this, but outside of blocking access to parts of the house, I don't have any answers.
Does he bury his pee? Maybe he feels it's too much too bury poop. Maybe line a litter box with newspaper put one of the wrongly placed poops in it. It's worth a try if you think arthritis is a problem. Who knows, I don't get them either sometimes.
If you want a larger litter box and don't want to spend a lot get a cement mixing pan at HD or Lowes. They are the same general shape and about 2 or 3 times as big as regular litter boxes. You can cut a small gap on one end to ease access and there is still plenty of room for them to do their business. I have one and the cats use it more than the smaller ones.
Our litter boxes are large--they are Sterilite containers with an entrance cut into them. We have one box in the basement, two on the main floor, and one on the second floor (near-ish where he sleeps most the day).
He uses the box to pee (does not cover pee or poop). I have tried adding low-sided cardboard trays (like for cases of cat food) but he won't use them. In fact, the other cats find them "fun" to play with.
He does not seem to have trouble getting into the box, and as you might guess, I watch him all of the time.
Of course, now that I posted this, he hasn't pooped anywhere in 5 days. LOL To me, this isn't a huge deal because of his age. He has a vet appointment in a few weeks and I'll bring it up (again) and have the vet check his bum area just in case. I want him to be as comfortable as possible at his age.
Our litter boxes are large--they are Sterilite containers with an entrance cut into them. We have one box in the basement, two on the main floor, and one on the second floor (near-ish where he sleeps most the day).
He uses the box to pee (does not cover pee or poop). I have tried adding low-sided cardboard trays (like for cases of cat food) but he won't use them. In fact, the other cats find them "fun" to play with.
He does not seem to have trouble getting into the box, and as you might guess, I watch him all of the time.
Of course, now that I posted this, he hasn't pooped anywhere in 5 days. LOL To me, this isn't a huge deal because of his age. He has a vet appointment in a few weeks and I'll bring it up (again) and have the vet check his bum area just in case. I want him to be as comfortable as possible at his age.
Five days? Are you sure? Doesn't sound good IMO. Is he eating normally?
Forgive me, but I'm not at my best. There's snow in my yard & it's Monday, so I've got 2 strikes against me today.
LOL, I re-read what I posted and I wasn't that clear about the pooping.
He is quite the private pooper, so I rarely see him go, but I did get to watch him poop in the box a few days ago. I didn't notice anything problematic.
I've been adding a smidge of Miralax in his morning canned food. Here's hoping it is keeping things in check.
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