Adult cat defacating in the house

[casarose]

Hi. I have a female cat who is nearly 14. She is fit and well apart from taking a daily tablet for an over-active thyroid. Ever since she returned from a week's stay at her usual cattery, she has been defacating in the house and always in the same spot. She has 24hr access to a cat flap so there is no reason at all why she should do this. I have spoken to the vet who suggested it is a behavioural problem or stress related. Does anyone have any idea why she might have started doing this and, more importantly, ways of stopping her? I don't want to get into a situation where I have to use a litter tray and equally, I don't want to make the area she does it in out of bounds as at least I know where she is doing it and it is realitvely easy to clean up (the downstairs loo!). Any suggestions or advice gratefully received. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[andy-hughes]

It's possible that something has happened to your cat while she was away that has upset her - there is no way of knowing, it may be something the cattery staff didn;t see, or recognise as a bad situation for her.

Her behaviour exhibits stress and territory issues - she feels as though she needs to mark her home turf, which obviously she would normally only do outside.

Make more fuss of her than usual, lots of physical contact and talking to her - especialy when she comes in from being outside. She needs reassurance that her home is a safe place, and once the memory fades away, so should the anti-social behaviour. Be patient, it will pass if you are gentle with her.

[weeal]

our cat started doing this around the same age, never did find out why but he kept doin it on my then husband's clothes lol, he started to get a complex about it

[casarose]

Hi Andy,

Thank you very much for your advice - what you say does make sense. I will try and show her more love and affection as you suggest and hopefully this will help to reassure her and make her feel safe again. Fingers (and paws!) crossed.

Could I just please ask for a further bit of advice? She is due back at the cattery for a 10 day visit at the beginning of March. Would you recommend taking her back to the same one or finding an alternative? Obviously something has upset her - she has stayed at this cattery several times in the past and nothing like this has happened before. I would welcome your comments. Many thanks

[honky-tonk]

Hiya casarose, my cat has over active thyroid also was messing in my downstairs loo (never messed in the house before i just put it down to him being poorly ) I now make sure the door is closed to the loo he stands there meowing at the door i just call him to the back door and off he goes outside. Maybe your cat has become a little idol due to being in the cattery as the litter tray is right there to be used and with the weather at the moment its a bit chilly outside.

[andy-hughes]

Tough call.

The problem is, the issue may have been with anouther cat - chances are he or she won't be there next time, or it could be an issue with a member of staff, who will be there.

On balance, I'd try somewhere else, and see how she goes.

Without knowing specifically what happened (impossible) it has to be best to minimise the chances of a repeat for her.

[casarose]

Hi Honky-Tonk.

Thanks for the advice. The loo door has been shut since yesterday and so far so good! I had never thought of stopping her from going in there, but you may have a good point. I am waiting to see what happens in the next phase of this thrilling experience! I will let you know if your theory works.