Cat started pooing on lawn

[rockybalboa]

One of our cats is 13 this year and has arthritis in his back legs. His knee joints are now totally shot and he has been started on Metacam this week which he will need for life. He is still mobile if not a bit unsteady if he's been sitting/lying for a while and obv not as spry as he used to be. This week he has started pooing either on the lawn or on the strip of large pebbles which edges the lawn. Our lawn is fake grass so it's a bit of a pain to clean cat poo off. He's lived in this house his entire life and we've had fake lawn for 4 years. The only possible cat toilet is our flowerbed which has been a chicken run for the past 18 months. So he's been pooing elsewhere his entire life and something has changed. He spends a lot of time in the neighbours gardens (so that's probably where he poos) and is still going over there as normal although obv less in this cold/wet weather. No fences to jump over or any other complicated access to the other gardens which his painful legs might limit. Only other factor is the new alpha male cat on the block but we've been dealing with him for a few months and the lawn pooing is new. Husband assured me he mentioned lawn pooing at vet visit on Thurs but says she was more concerned about treating his pain and didn't say anything about the pooing. Any ideas what we can do? We could get a covered litter tray outside (no room inside) but I think our other two lazy cats would use it. And prob every other cat in the area. Any advice please?

[cozietoesie]

Can you not fit a litter tray in anywhere inside? Because that's probably the answer for an older and athritic cat. (Along with a good heated place to sleep.)

[Fluffycloudland77]

I'm sure Lone has said in the past pooing on the lawns normal in arthritic cats.

I'd get a tray, we wouldn't fancy a trip into the cold to use the loo & arthritic pain is awful.

[rockybalboa]

He sleeps on the radiators bless him. And on my legs! I hadn't thought of a heated cat bed, shall look into whether such things exist. I don't think it's being outside he objects to though. He does his poo and then goes to sit on the seat in the garden looking around, doesn't come straight back in. We don't have a utility room or anything so litter tray would need to go in the kitchen. Or I guess it could go in the bathroom but then he'd have to go upstairs to use which is even worse.

[cozietoesie]

I'd try to think hard about a place if I were you. One of the troubles with arthritis and being older is that as well as the increased difficulty with pooing, they can become sensitive about their vulnerability with the time they're taking so can aim to do a quick 'poo and run'. (And the lawn may be an easy place to do that.) I'd hazard a guess that if you got him a heated place and an inside tray, he'd become pretty much of a home boy except on the sunniest of days.

[rockybalboa]

Thanks. Will go get covered tray tomorrow and see if that helps. I doubt he'll stay in though, he spends a lot of time with one of our neighbours drinking milk and being cuddled so I doubt he'll want to give that up!

[rockybalboa]

I don't understand why the bloody vet didn't say anything of this to DH. You'd have thought she'd have suggested anything she could to make his life easier. Thank heavens for MN!!

[cozietoesie]

Best of luck with him. You might have to leave the cover off the tray until he remembers what it's for so be flexible for a day or two.

[gobbin]

Our litter tray is in the kitchen under the breakfast bar. It's not a problem.

[rockybalboa]

It is a problem if you don't have the floor space for it! No breakfast bar here, more's the pity...

[Meid]

Just out of interest, my cat (who is only 3 and not arthritic) has started pooing on the lawn. This is directly after being attacked by the neighbour's cat who is trying to spend more and more time in our garden. So it could be connected to the new cat you mention.
Best of luck. My previous cat was on Metacam and it made a huge difference to her.

[MyICDiscalledsparky]

We have half an acre of garden, lots and lots of flower beds and the cat still poos in the middle of the huge lawn. No idea what we can do about it so just send the kids (aged 21!) armed with rubber gloves to clean it up every week or so and before we have visitors with young children I do an extra poo sweep.

[LynetteScavo]

My 16yo blind cat has just started pooing on the lawn.

Not a problem now, but heavens knows what will happen when we actually want to use the garden when the weather warms up.

I so don't want to get a litter tray, even a covered one. Maybe a covered one outside the back door...

[Sleepyhoglet]

Erm, get litter trays. ?ou might not like it but you chose to have a cat. It might be annoying when cats poo on YOUR lawn, but it makes me fume when cats that are nothing to do with me start attacking mine.