Cat just started going to the bathroom all over

[branny]

I have an 8 month old female cat that I got about 4 months ago along with her sister from the same litter.  They were abandoned when they were just babies.  They are inside and sometimes outside cats and they have never had any accidents in the house.  They are up to date on their shots and fixed.  About 2 weeks ago one of the cats started going to the bathroom all over the house.  I took her to the vet, they ran tests and she was perfectly healthy.  The vet decided that she needed to be put on anti-anxiety meds.  The medication has not helped any, it has made her stool very runny and orange but she still goes to the bathroom in the house.  I haven't changed the brand of cat litter or food, and there are no new people or pets in the house. I also heard that you can put them in a small room with just the litter box, I tried that but she just goes to the bathroom right beside it. I have had to put them both outside, but they love to be inside.  Anything I can do?

[zodiacqueen]

Is your cat acting normal besides going to the bathroom outside the litter box?  Eating and drinking habits, and playing?  If she is acting fine other than her potty issues, then this is probably a behavior issue.  Maybe you can get another litter box, if you only have one.  Cats can be very picky and are rather prissy because they like to stay clean.  Another thing, if the litter box gets too dirty, many cats will go outside the litter box.  I'm pretty sure this is the problem, because the cat is pooping AND peeing outside the litter box.  If you had said that she was doing one OR the other, I'd think there was some health issue going on.

Try this, and see if it works!

[Circe123]

Have you tried changing the litter type you use? She may have developed an aversion. Also, litter boxes must be changed as soon as soiled, cleanliness is critical in cases like this. Your number of household litterboxes should ideally be the # of household cats + 1, so you should have 3. All these should be well away from food and drink areas. She may have developed an anxiety due to issues unseen - (new cat / animal in neighborhood etc). You could try using a Feliway diffuser, place it somewhere near her most-used litter tray. This is preferable to amitriptyline, which you may as well stop if it is not changing anything.

As it seems to be getting worse,  and her anal area is red, this would tent to indicate there is a physical issue and could be parasitic, bacterial or viral. Was she vaccinated? It may be difficult to get to the root cause, but I would take her back to the vet at this stage for other tests / treatments. Good luck with kitty.

[branny]

The cat is both defecating and urinating on the floor.  Im not sure but  on the invoice of her last vet visit it does not say anything about checking anal glands, but it says a Intestinal Parasite Fecal Exam was performed.  The medication that was prescribed was amitriptyline, I was not given any Drontal Plus.  I have not heard anything about FLUTD,FUS.

After researching about this a little more today I have gotten a little more worried that mabey it is something more than just a behavioral issue.  The cats stool is very runny and has increasing gotten worse, and around her anal area lately has been very red, but I have not seen any blood.

Thanks for all the help!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Are you talking about inappropriate urination, defecation, or both?  If it is defecation, did your vet check your cats anal glands?  Was their stool checked for parasites and were they given Drontal Plus whether parasites were found or not?  I would have given Drontal Plus just in case since tape worm eggs are very difficult to find in fecal analysis.

Please give a bit more information so that we may help you better.

[jlgros2]

Have you or the vet suggested Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD, FUS)? Just a suggestion.