# elderly cat started to poo inside



## itsamyprobably (Jan 1, 2015)

My female cat is nearly 17, I have had her since the age of 2, she is an outdoor cat, but also has a litter tray because I am out of the house and work during week days! 
She has always used her litter tray with no problems. however she has pooped behind the living room door 3 times in the past few weeks, always in the same place (we have cleaned in and even cut away the carpet), there has been no changes in living arrangements, and her litter tray is only in the next room.

She has used her litter tray to poo and wee inbetween the incidents so there is no problems with the tray itself.

I'm not sure why she is taken to soiling indoors out of her litter tray, or how to solve the problem?! Please help


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Hi and welcome 

Given her age I would definitely pop her to the vets for a check up if she hasn't had one recently. Any change in behaviour could be down to a medical issue so worth ruling this out as a priority.

You might find this useful, it's a sticky at the top of the page:
http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-trai...peeing-pooing-house-house-soiling-thread.html


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## itsamyprobably (Jan 1, 2015)

thanks 

I will have a read of that now, we took her to the vets a few weeks ago and she had some blood tests and they all came back clear and the vet said she is very healthy for her age!


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

itsamyprobably said:


> thanks
> 
> I will have a read of that now, we took her to the vets a few weeks ago and she had some blood tests and they all came back clear and the vet said she is very healthy for her age!


That's good news. The sticky will help if it proves to be a behavioural issue. Might just require a change of litter, litter tray or location of it perhaps


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## VeeVee (Mar 24, 2014)

Our 16 year old cat passed away last March and has suspected lymphoma. He went outdoor all his life but then started to use the litter in the cellar. He became too weak to go down intothe cellar and also had constant diarrhea and would poop just outside the box and in different places in the flat. We had a couple of litter boxes and put down newspapers around them and kept things clean. We were upset initially but just concentrated our effort in keeping him comfortable and adapting to his needs. 

Your cat is healthy which is great but 18 is geriatric and toilet issues are most probably inevitable with age. But indeed check with the vet.


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## Jaf (Apr 17, 2014)

One of my cats, then 14, did the same thing. Even put a litter tray behind the sofa where she was soiling but she ignored it! Changing the litter to clumping type solved it.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Good advice already given.
Having had an elderly Girl myself a few years back we had a few toilet problems.
They can suffer with dementia and i think my girl had this.
If toilet problems continue then I would get some puppy pads and pop them down too.
While you are out you could keep her in one room where she has everything she needs and is warm.


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## Darkwolf23 (Mar 6, 2014)

Our cat who was 18 did that too, we quite often found that she'd gone to the toilet behind the TV, the vet said it was dementia.


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