Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 5/7/2011

Question
Hey!
Okay , So I have a male cat who is about a year and 3 months old. We purchased him from the humane society a year ago as of may 28th, 2011. When we purchased him he was fixed and everything. Around the 2 month mark that we had him, he too a poo on my little brothers bed. We figured it was an "accident" and cleaned it up and washed the sheets and everything ASAP. About 2 months ago, he started to pee and poo on my parents bed. We washed all the sheets again ASAP , but he continued so we are now keeping the door shut. Once my parents room was closed, he moved to my little brothers room. Therefore , we need to keep their door closed as well. He had never peed or pooped on my bed EVER, until today. He has peed and pooped on ALL of the beds now, and twice on the floor. Could this be a medical problem, ? He does use his litter box when the doors are closed, but when the doors are open, he goes to the washroom on the beds. I was just wondering if this would be anything that we should get checked out or if it is a behaviour issue. We have a female cat who is about 5 years old and they don't really get along. He chases her alot and we get mad at him for chasing her and scare him off so that he will stop. Could he be behaving this way because we get mad at him when he chases my other cat? My parents are NOT happy with his behaviour and want to get rid of him! I need help as i do not want to get rid of him at all !!
Thanks! (Any help is appreciated) !
-jennifer

Answer
Cats do this when something is either stressing them out, or they are having some sort of medical issue. This is the only way a cat can tell you something is wrong.

Could be any number of things- you are yelling at him for chasing the other cat, he hates the other cat, his litter box was moved, there is a hood on it or you changed the type of litter, noises, he has a urinary tract infection and it burns, he is being ignored, there is a new cat in the area that he sees outside, you got a dog, hamster, cat, etc etc.You are pretty spot on with your thinking about what this might be.

You need to go back in time and think about something that changed around the time this started. The yelling at him has to stop or his behavior will just get worse. Cats are like kids, some respond to discipline of this sort and some don't. If he is taking out his stress on the other cat and now you are yelling at him for that, he is now venting his stress about that on your families bedding.

Get some feliway, or get him to the vets and on some drug therapy that will help him adjust better and calm down. It doesn't have to be a forever thing- but it will help with his behavior modification while you and your family modify your behavior toward him.

Call your vet and schedule an appointment to have this taken care of.
Please let me know how he does.