Cat leaving poo smears and tiny bits of poo all over house

[gamerwidow]

10 yo cat started to leaving little poo marks or raisin sized lumps of poo all over house.
He has also been very flatulent and smelly.
Any advice, do we need a trip to the vets? We've tried worming treatment with no effect.
It's been going on for about a month now and I'm sick of having to clean up poo and I'm worried he might be really poorly.

[cozietoesie]

I'd vet him, I think.

Seniorboy used to do this although he was a fair bit older than your boy and in his case, it was mainly because he couldn't hold the high pooing squat for long enough to get out a decent poo due to arthritis - it was just too much strain for him so all that popped out was a small piece. (And then his poo became dried inside him from being held so long ....and so on ....and so on: a vicious circle.) He's on a mild laxative/bulker and some NSAIDs now and is pretty OK. For his age.

That doesn't mean that's what's wrong with your boy, of course, especially because he's only 10 but I'd vet him nonetheless. How many trays does he have and how is his health otherwise? Is he eating/drinking/peeing and jumping fine ? And how is his weight and general behaviour?

[gamerwidow]

he doesn't have a litter tray and his health seems otherwise ok. He can still jump over our 6ft fence with no problems but he is fat despite only being fed small portions of lowcal cat food.
will make a vets appointment to be on the safe side.

[cozietoesie]

I'd get him a litter tray right away - he might be being caught short if he's not 100% (or lazy) and, in any case, they're useful things to have around.

Is he a thief of food or perhaps a Six Dinner Sid who is making eyes at the neighbours for bits of ham? What weight is he?

[cozietoesie]

PS - if he's really overweight, most/part of the smearing might be an attempt to clean himself if he can no longer do a fiddle to reach his bum. It sounds as if his size is much of his problem.

[gamerwidow]

he might steal food it would explain why he isn't getting any smaller. cleaning not a problem i have the pleasure of watching him do so now

[cozietoesie]

He wouldn't necessarily have a problem all the time - some days he might be easier than others. It's just that I've seen them do that.

There is one other possibility but it's a bit of a long shot - does anyone in the house (or the cat) have long hair? Or do you have a dog in the house or nearby with longish hair?

[cozietoesie]

Sorry - the laptop started protesting about its low charge so I had to post that and run.

This may be a TMI post so don't read if you're eating supper.

There's a thing where cats can ingest longish (particularly) human hairs which don't then remain in the belly but travel on down. (I don't know whether this applies to long haired cats or whether it's something to do with the properties of non-cat hair.) If it goes down in just the right (or wrong!) way, it can lie in the same line as the stool portions and be incorporated so that all or part of what might be a series of smaller stools become connected - like a train.

If the cat then poos, what comes out may hang outside and not drop because it's still connected by this hair to the poo inside which has yet to come down. The cat will then go off, sometimes knowing that it's still attached and try to dislodge it by bum scraping or dashing. Either of which could lead to the results you found.

Just a thought because that's something I have myself seen.