Expert: Dear Tabbi - 5/20/2008

Question
We have an eight month old Siberian cat, who has been with us since he was three months. We have a puppy, too, (Toy poodle/Bischon) who we got at the same time from the same breeder.

From about two weeks after we got them, the cat developed runny stools. (This problem worked on extensively in conjunction with vet and keeping to a diet of cooked chicken and rice and Eukanuba dry food). We have never managed to overcome the stools problem. Now and again his stools are formed but mostly fairly loose.

Our BIG problem is that when he was a little kitten, one day when he was playing in the bath, because he had a bowel problem – when it was at its worst – he did his business right there, in the bath.

TO THIS DAY we have to keep the doors closed to the bath or he will still go there to defecate.

NOW he has also chosen to go in the laundry and bathroom basin (sink). Fortunately he’s never gone in the kitchen sink!

We use wood pellets in his litter tray. When he does use the tray, he is very fussy about covering up his wee, often retuning several times to scratch it over. He rarely bothers to cover his poo. At the moment he will choose to use the basin even if the litter tray is absolutely fresh and never been used.

The dog sleeps in the laundry together with the cat and her newspaper is positioned next to the litter tray.

What can we do? AND any suggestions on firming up the stools?  

Answer
Carole,

The common remedy for firming up stools is the addition of plain, canned pumpkin (not the pie mix) to add roughage to the diet. But your cat's problem sounds a little more complicated than that.

I am not a vet nor an expert on pedigreed cats BUT I am aware of the soft stool problem that is linked to the Bengal cats. I am thinking that Siberian cats may share the problem. I am including a link to a very good, informative article called THE SOFT STOOL MYSTERY DIARRHEA, SOFT STOOLS & IBD that you may find helpful in curing your kitty of her runny stools. Copy and paste, or type, the WHOLE link into your address bar: (this is the html version)

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:rpMl0otOkIgJ:www.nitewindes.com/hc_healthdia...

or here is the .pdf version:

http://www.nitewindes.com/hc_healthdiarrhea.pdf

As far as the improper elimination you sometimes have to be a detective to figure out the problem.

I personally would stop using wood pellets and use regular clumping cat litter or children's play sand (from Home Depot or other building supply store). A lot of cats do not like the pellet type of litter and try to avoid it using it which may be why he is going in the basins. Pellets do not satisfy their natural urge to dig and some don't care for the smell of it. Also try a bigger litterbox with deeper litter and put it in a private or secluded area. Some cats are modest and are not comfortable using a litterbox in the open, or possibly near the dog which could explain the heights to defecate.

If defecating in the litterbox causes him pain for any reason then he will go elsewhere because he would associate that pain the the litterbox.

I hope this information is helpful and you can solve your kitty's problems.

Tabbi