# Indoor ferals & inappropriate elimination



## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

As I've regrettably posted about a million time by now, we have problems with intermittent diarrhea at our house. (Still searching for a cause/cure, now on Vet #4. :roll. 99.9% of the time it's contained in the litter box, but a couple of times recently, there have been accidents in inappropriate places. These are ALWAYS diarrhea.

My husband is worried that it's becoming a deliberate behavior issue. I'm skeptical, because all of our cats are either former or not-so-former ferals. And we know that in at least one of the episodes, it was Hinata, our least socialized cat. She normally keeps herself fastidiously clean. Why would a feral cat make a deliberate mess where (as far as she's concerned) any predator could find it?

What we do know is that sometimes her brothers bully and corner her, and we're not always there to come to her rescue. I think that + diarrhea = the most likely explanation for why she doesn't always make it to the box, and that curing the diarrhea will cure the accidents. 

But what do you all think? Am I pinning too much hope on the feral cleanliness instinct? Those of you who have former ferals in the house, have you ever seen deliberately inappropriate elimination? Thanks for any help.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

If you have ruled out parasites, my guess would be stress. If it were more regular, I'd be more inclined to think there's a physical problem, such as coccidia. If the stress is severe, there's no doubt it can cause sudden diarrhea in animals. Good luck!


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Thanks Jeanie!  We've ruled out all the garden-variety parasites, but Yoshi is going in for a T. Foetus retest tomorrow. We learned that the vet mishandled the sample during the first test, possibly causing a false negative, so we are doing it again. <fingers crossed>

But apart from my cats, do you think my theory is valid, that healthy former ferals are unlikely to poop in inappropriate places on purpose? I know some cats do, it just seems unlikely that former ferals would, since they tend to be obsessed with not leaving their scent around.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I think your theory is valid. ALL the feral Ive kept for awhile whether with their kittens or to recover from other issues before being release have used their cat box. Not one has missed or gone in corners. Even the sickest ones manage to make it to the box.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I agree. They are used to a substance like soil.


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Thank you! That gives me some corroborating testimony I can use to calm my husband.


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## jboileau (Jul 2, 2008)

I have had and have ferals in the house in my care and never had this problem with them. For me it's a rescue which was not feral; Mr. Wilson was diagnosed when he was about 5 months old suffering from IBD.


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