Expert: Norman Auspitz - 10/5/2009

Question
So my cat is 11 and a half years old and i recently moved. I moved into a house with a dog and needless to say they did not get along the cat would go fine into the box but because he was cooped up in my room the whole time and didn't really venture the house cause of the dog i brought him back home to my parents where he was comfortable with. Now my cat is a Siamese cat. Needless to say im the one he looks at as his master. SO when i brought him back home things were fine but suddenly he started pooping everywhere but in the box. He would still urinate in the box but not poop. SO we brought him to the vet so see if there was anything wrong. Vet gave him the clean bill of health. What should i do?
yea i just brought my cat back with me today to my place where the dog is again hoping that him being with me will help. my mom is redoing all the rugs in the house and cant have him their if he keeps doing this. The vet even said since the cat looks at me as his master that he is pooping because im not their anymore. kinda stuck on this one cause i want him here but i dont want him to live in my room the whole time he is with me. id rather see him back at the house where he can just roam and not worry about the dog

Answer
Anthony,

At age 11, your cat is considered geriatric and is probably quite set in his ways.  When the cat and dog are together what happens between them?  It may be possible to get them to have an uneasy truce.  The other problem you have is that dogs sometimes look at cat poop as candy and will bother the cat when he is trying to do his business.

There are lost of reasons a cat may poop outside the box.  It could be your parents are using a different type or brand of litter, It could be that there was a pet there in the past that left its mark and the cat thought this was the place to poop (when given the choice, it is not unusual for a cat to pee in one litter pan and poop in another).

I am at a loss as to what to suggest, however, I am giving you a link to a series of excellent articles on feline litter pan problems that may have further suggestions:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html


Best regards... Norm.