Can anyone help me understand/fix this behaviour, please?!

[purplemeggie]

My beloved 14-ish year old rescue cat has recently taken to pooing and peeing on ds' bed. DS is 7 and he and the cat adore each other - I can't believe it is a protest against ds, because the cat seeks out his company and "bumps" him and chirrups. We also have a large dog, who joined the household 2 years ago, and although the cat is totally in control (dog is terrified of him) and the cat has got a lot braver about the dog recently, the cat is not a fan. It seems to happen when one of us works from home, so the dog is not shut in "his" room.

It hasn't happened for a while - we are normally pretty diligent at shutting the bedroom door and we have a feliway plug-in job in there (this may have run out...need to check). But today, in spite of the dog being out for about three hours, the cat got into ds' room and pooed on the bed.

Does anybody have any suggestions? (other than being better at shutting the door, and having a waterproof mattress cover)

Thank you

Almost the first sign I had that Seniorboy had arthritis was when he started pooing in a couple of odd places - I don't think it was at all deliberate just that he'd tried to use his tray, couldn't, so decided to go to bed, relaxed and ....... Whoops.

Do any of the symptoms here ring any bells with you? He's of an age.

Oh, that's interesting. It didn't occur to me that it could be a sign of something being wrong with him - I assumed he was expressing displeasure about something.

That's a long list of symptoms, and I'm going to keep an eye on him to see if he's exhibiting any of them, but nothing rings a bell at the moment - except for over-grooming - he's become a bit of a fur-puller, too. But he's definitely not stopped climbing/jumping....I caught him climbing the loft ladder for a bit of a nosey the other day! He certainly doesn't behave like a senior mog...I have to remind myself from time to time.

Thanks Cozie, I'll keep an eye on him.

I've come to the conclusion that the poor chap just needs a little more time to do his business these days, and he doesn't necessarily get the peace and quiet outside - there are LOTS of cats around here. He's always been an outside cat and we've never used a litter tray except for housemoves/if he was unwell etc., but I put out a tray last night and he rushed over and used it straight away. But he took ages over just a wee, so I'm wondering if he keeps being interrupted/chased away and hasn't been able to empty his bladder properly.

The vet spotted the beginnings of kidney problems just recently - will be interesting to see if this helps with that.

Goodness, I clean forgot to check that he had a tray - I've had so many boys who've used one inside (whether housecats or not) that I just assumed he would have. That'll larn me.

Yes - good idea. They sometimes feel a little vulnerable if they're peeing or pooing and if he's no longer cock of the walk outside (and with the bad weather coming on) that could be a fine thing for him.

Best of luck anyway.