Why is my older cat pooping in the tub instead of his litter box?

Question

In the past few days Dexter has pooped in the tub. He pees in his litter box regularly and also pooped in it. I though it wasn't clean enough so I've been extremely thorough with cleaning it. I use recycled paper litter and he seems to fine with it. Poops are normal and he's eating well and seems great. No new occurrences or meds. I live alone so the house is clean, quiet and stress free. No other pets either. He's been playing in the tub at night as well whereas before he would not enter it. Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 11 years and 11 months old | 9 lbs

Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH · Accepted Answer

Dexter is adorable! Thanks for including a picture and giving such a thorough history. Unfortunately, it is very common for older cats to have changes in their bathroom habits. The first thing I would recommend would be to have your vet examine Dexter and check a fecal sample on him to make sure that there isn't a medical cause for him to be defecating outside the box. Older cats commonly have arthritis along their back which may interfere with their comfort getting into the litter box or squatting to defecate. If Dexter has ever had pain associated with squatting to defecate, he may associate it with the litter box and may avoid the litter box for defecation. So, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Dexter to see if they find any signs of arthritis that may benefit from medication or other treatment. If your vet can't find a medical reason, then the next step is to look at litter box issues. Even if a cat has been tolerant of a slightly dirty litter box previously, sometimes this changes as they get older. That may mean that if there is ANY urine or stool in a box, then they won't use it. Why this sometimes involves only stool and not urine, we can't always tell. But the first step in any inappropriate elimination case is to make sure that there are the "correct" number of litter boxes in the house which is the number of cats plus one, so that would be 2 boxes in your house. Those boxes must be cleaned at least once daily. Some people use an automatic cleaning litter box for one of their boxes to make sure that there is always a clean box. Cats tend to dislike covered or lined litter boxes, so I would eliminate those if they are as issue. This handout deals mostly with inappropriate urination, but has some good suggestions for litter box issues. veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=633 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Why is my older cat pooping in the tub instead of his litter box?

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