# Pooping Outside the Litter Box



## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi! I just joined and I'm glad to have found such a great cat forum. :-D

I know this topic has been discussed many a times here and I've read all the posts pertaining to kitties pooping outside the litter box. But it doesn't answer my question. That's why I'm writing. Hopefully, somebody here will be able to help me solve this problem. 

To start with, I have 3 cats-ages 14 (and he's a diabetic), a 6 year old male and a one year old female. All cats have been spayed/nuetered. I have 3 cat boxes and use the clumping litter. Nothing has changed. Well, not really. Now cat who is pooping outside the cat box is the 14 year old. Ever since I first got him, he's taken a liking to pooping outside the cat box ever now and then. Nothing major. But for the past month and half, he's been pooping on the floor next to his cat box every night. It's not alot of poop, either. I've noticed a change in his behavior as well during this time, too. He's been unsocialable. He comes out to eat, use the litter box or when he is called to get his insulin shot and then goes back to sleeping where ever it is he can not be easily found. Only if we beg him to come and sit with us will he do so. He's also been a worry cat his whole life. He seems to stress easily. Bubby has grown up with my son and lately, my son has not been home as much like he used to be (he's now 19 years old). Could this be a problem? 

I've tried cleaning up the poop scent with oder cleaners, enzyme cleaners, putting foil on the spot where he pooped (only to have him poop elsewhere) in the room, and I've used poster boards to cover the spots (only to have pee on the poster boards). Just last week, I moved the catboxes to where he was pooping at and now he is going next to the one cat box. I am currently using Feliway-the spray and the plug in. 

I dunno what else to do. I've tried giving him extra attention, as well and that doesn't seem to work, either. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanx in advance!


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi Nancy!

Thanx for your reply. I'm glad to know that I have not been the only one with this situation. Yes, research, research, research. That's the only way to go cuz I love my four legged child that much and I don't like to see him acting this way. 

Now since I've first wrote this post, I decided to have a talk with my son about Bubby last night. I explained to him that I thought that maybe Bubby has been missing him an awful lot and that he needs to spend aliltte extra time with Bubby. So he did-brushed his hair (err..umm...I mean fur), played with him and when he came back home, called for Bubby to come and hang out with him on his bed. 

I called and scheduled an appointment for Bubby today to see his vet as well and the vet suggested that I bring in a stool sample that he leaves on the floor. Guess what? He didn't poop on the floor last night! So I'm thinking that Bubby's problem with pooping outside the litter box has to deal with him not seeing my son as much and spending any time together. He's still goin to the vet this afternoon cuz I think he's lost some weight and I'd like to his blood level checked since he is a diabetic cat. 

I will keep you all posted...........

Thank you again for your advice and reply! I think this is a great place! Here is a piccy of my Bubby:










Cindy


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

He's gorgeous.
I also have a diabetic cat and honestly her pooping outside of the litterbox was one of the reasons she ended up being diagnosed as diabetic!
She started pooping outside of the litterbox and she was getting litter clumped to her feet. That is actually the reason I took her to the vet-she was gross!
Well, as it turned out she was diabetic and the clumping litter was from the amount of urine she was producing and it was sticky. So when she went, the urine would end up being so much that it would spread to where her feet were and stick.
The pooping outside of the litterbox was actually caused because she had a touch of neuropathy and her hind legs were weak and it was hard for her to get in and out of the litterbox. Once I got her diabetes better controlled the litterbox problems stopped.
So, my first question is how well is his diabetes controlled?

Jennifer


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi! Okay so I took Bubby to the vet this afternoon and his doctor said he would like to have Bubby come back in a few weeks and stay all day at the vets so he can check his glucose level because he has lost 2 pounds. But, the vet also said that Bubby looks to be in good shape otherwise. Right now, he takes 1 unit of insulin twice a day. He was on 3 units twice a day up until last year and he was diagnosed as a diabetic three years ago. Last year, he went into a diabetic shock which was very scary for me! Luckily, we had some corn syrup which we adminstered to him. I'm certain he went into his diabetic shock due to the move and that's when his doctor lowered his insulin dosage. 

His vet also thought that perhaps Bubby's problem was behavioral related as well. And he suggested that I might invest in buying one of those Litter Maids since Bubby is so picky about his litter boxes. But I do keep all three of those cat boxes extremely clean. Anybody here used Litter Maid? If so, any opinions?

Yes, Bubby too have gotton clumping litter stuck on his feet. It is gross and I find myself taking a baby wipe to wash his feet. 

My son is gone for the evening. So we will hafta wait and see how it goes tomorrow morning. He did play with Bubby for a few minutes before he left and told him that he would not be coming back home tonight. 

Aww........thank you for compilment on my Bubby. I will post pictures of my other children in another thread. 

Thank again for all your helpful advice! I really like this place and so glad I found it. I'm just soory it took me so long to get here!

Cindy


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hey Nancy!  

Well, when I woke up this morning, guess what? No poop on the floor! And I've noticed a change in Bubby's behavior as well. He jumped on my lap last night to hang out with me and he slept with me. I really do believe that Bubby was very upet over my son not being home and spending time with him. 

Ahhh........that's what I thought about the Litter Maid. Your story is one of many that I've heard about those litter boxes. I don't think I will waste my money on it. Thanx for confirming what I already knew. :wink: 

Thanx again!
Cindy


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Nancy,

I've been to your link about oder control. Very imformative stuff! I'm gonna pass your link onto my friend, Karen-one her mom's cats is doing the same exact thing just like your Scout was doing. She said the George has been urinating on the floor vents for the past 2 months now and can't get her to stop! So hopefully, your solution will work for her, too.  

Like I said in another post..........this place is a wealth of information! 

Take care,
Cindy


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

I'm sorry to bring up this topic again............(just when I thought I had it under control). 

It seems Bubby has gone into a relapse-yesterday morning, this morning and afternoon). My son has not been home in two days and I know that Bubby misses him. But what's gonna happen when he eventually moves out? 8O I can tell that he's not a happy kitty by the way he is behaving and acting. On Saturday, he was sooo happy. How much do these animal behavoralist cost? 

Also, speaking of poop.......I read somewhere here I think about not leaving a bowl of dry food out for kitty to eat all day? :?: I guess that would be true cuz that's how Bubby got over weight to begin with and how come he developed diabetes. If I were to speak with his vet, would it best to feed the kids (all three of them) at certain times of the day? Kinda like being on a schedule?? Would that help? Meaning in like less poop?

I've sprayed the carpet with feliway, I've cleaned the carpet with enzyme cleaner, I've steamed cleaned the carpet..........the only other thing I can do is to rip out the carpet from the laundry room. He always seems to find a place on the carpet where I missed spraying at. :x I dunno what else to do.  

Thanx for reading this.......

Cindy


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

Well, you also need to keep in mind that he is diabetic (did you get the blood results back yet?)
I feed Korbel twice a day, at the same time she gets her shot. I didn't use to though. I've learned to hometest her so I can keep an eye on her blood sugar levels. If you have no way to know what his bloodsugar is, I'd be a little worried about him hypoing. At least with the food out, there is the possibility that he will eat if he needs to.
Although, I'm at work all day so if Korbel does hypo, I won't be there to help, that's why I used to free fed.

Jennifer


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi Jennifer!

Well, Bubby hasn't had his blood tests done yet. His vet wanted me to make another appointment for Bubby in a few weeks so that he can administer Bubby's insulin check his glucose levels while he is there all day. Right now, Bubby is on 1 unit of insulin and the vet thinks that maybe Bubby's body is getting immune to the insulin. I dunno. :?: 

So as I write this, the dry food bowl is empty. He's already had his shot for the evening and he's eaten. In about an hour, they will eat a teaspoon or so of wet food. How I came to the wet food was I told Bubby that if was a good boy and didn't poop on the floor, I'd give him some wet food when I got home from work. That was 2 years ago. Now it's become a habit. He knows when it's exactly 9:30PM. I know for a fact that Bubby eats all the time-so now I don't know if I should fill the dry food bowl or not. And lately, he has been drinking an awful lot of water as well. So I think I'm gonna call and schedule an appointment for Bubby sometime next week. In the meantime..........I wish my son would just stay home so Bubby wouldn't be upset.

*sighs*


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Bubby has an appointment scheduled for next Wednesday morning. So yes, hopefully the vet will be able to let me know how I can help Bubby. *crosses fingers* 

I've also wondered if maybe perhaps he is missing Rockey too. :?: The reason why I wonder is because at night, he will sometimes lay down in the hallway above where Rockey's picture is and he's never done this before. Rockey has been gone for almost a year now.  

No way about my son. He's not responsible and plus he leads a very unstructured life. Bubby would never get his insulin shot. Sorry to say that about my son. 

In the meatime, I think we are gonna pull up the carpeting in the laundry room and I will buy a cheap rug to lay down on the floor in there so if he poops on it, it's not big deal cuz I can wash it.


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Okay Nancy I sure will.  

On another note, we noticed that there was crystals inside Bubby's insulin vile even though it's not that old. So maybe it got contaminated? We bought a new vile tonight so we shall see how that helps Bubby.


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Okay, so here is the update about my Bubby. I took him to the vet this morning and they did 5 blood glucose tests on him. Turns out he needs to be on 2 units of insulin twice a day instead of just one unit twice a day. And............I went back to the very beginning of this forum and read all the messages pertaining to pooping on the floor. After we had pulled up the carpeting in the laundry room and put down washable throw rugs instead, we were still waking up with poop on the floor. :x But after reading all posts about poop on the floor, I decided to try one last thing to see if it might do the trick. Somebody here had suggested to buy a hoodless cat box and some Simple Solution. So I cleaned the concrete floor with the Simple Solution and set up the new cat box (now I have 4 boxes-3 hooded and one open for three cats). As of this post, no more poop on the floor! :lol: I think that was the problem-another cat box with no hood. 

Yay! So glad I found this forum!


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi Nancy!

I need to make a correction about the cleaning product I used-it wasn't Simple Solution, but rather *Nature's Miracle*. I dunno how I managed to get those two confused. 8O 

Yes, tis true about listening to what your cat is trying to tell you. I wholeheartedly believe in that! But gosh darn it, it would be so much easier if they could "talk" to us. Hehehe!!

You bet........I'll keep posting here!  Cat's rule!

Thanx Nancy for all your replies and helpful insights/advice! Much appreciated! 

Cindy


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

Glad you seem to have this figured out!
Just out of curiosity, what type of insulin is Buddy on? I only ask because Korbel is on Humulin L, and Eli Lily is discontinuing it. My vet wants to start her on PZI when I run out of my current bottle. I'm just curious to find people who use PZI to see how they like it.

Jennifer


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi Jennifer!

Well Bubby is taking Humulin U. I've never heard of the PZI brand. I wonder what the difference is between the Humulin U and the Humulin L?


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

cindycinnamon said:


> Hi Jennifer!
> 
> Well Bubby is taking Humulin U. I've never heard of the PZI brand. I wonder what the difference is between the Humulin U and the Humulin L?


Bad news for you too then, U is one of the insulins they are discontinuing, that was my first thought, just switch to U. You might want to talk to your vet about this.
Eli Lily just announced this last week.

http://newsroom.lilly.com/ReleaseDetail ... eID=168048


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## cindycinnamon (Jun 14, 2005)

Thanx Jennifer for the FYI about Humulin U. I will talk to Bubby's vet about this.


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