Cat off her food, pooing outside of litter tray - why?

[elportodelgato]

We got our cat from a rescue in Jan, she had been found as a stray

What's new since it started, eg new person around, different litter, neighbouring pets?

Ahem, let me start again!

She's just over a year old, had all her jabs etc and has been perfectly healthy. She's on dry food and has been eating pretty well until earlier this week when I noticed she wasn't finishing her bowl. On Sun night / Mon morning she did a poo on the stairs which she's never done before, she has been great at using her tray. She also seems to be sleeping more, eg: not coming to wake us up in the morning.

Don't know if it's relevant but she is very wary of going outdoors, we have tried to encourage her but she won't go very far. I don't know if something may have happened or if she's eaten something strange outside?

Any advice? We are new to this cat-owning thing and I am getting a bit worried

Thanks Mrsbert, nothing new - no new people, no change in food or in the type of litter. We don't have a cat flap so if someone is in (most days) we let her out of the back door. On the days we are all out, I have been leaving a ground floor window slightly open for her which she has been using with no trouble. Last week there was a strange catty smell in our living room, I couldn't locate the source and it went away so I thought nothing more of it, but now I am wondering if another cat came in via the window and has sprayed inside. Might that be possible?

Was it definitely a poo and not a hairball?

It's possible that another cat came in, but if you'd had spray in your living room you'd really have known.

Eating-wise - so she is eating, just not as much? And sleeping through in the mornings? But she still gets up and is active?

If it's a sole rogue poo and just eating less/sleeping more but relatively happy otherwise, then it could just be that she's feeling more settled with you, and/or going through a mysterious cat phase. They do do odd behavioural shifts - often food related. I find with rescues they will be quite greedy to begin with and then once they realise the food is all theirs and there all the time they will self-regulate a bit more, so the food thing could be to do with htat.

I'd keep an eye on her. If she goes off her food completely, or you have more toilet accidents then it's a sign that something's up, but at present if it was me I wouldn't be too worried.

We have two rescues. All went well until winter set in and we realised other cats were coming in when we were out. This caused all kinds of ructions especially for the more sensitive soul of the two.

We got a microchip catflap and all has been well since that was sorted.

Either theirs something wrong with her health or she's very stressed about another cat. Toiletting elsewhere is a classic sign. A quick vet check to rule out any health issues wouldn't go amiss. And maybe a feliway plugin to calm her down indoors.

There's, not theirs!

Thanks so much for the advice! This morning she has had a nibble of her breakfast and has been out in the garden. She seems perfectly happy in herself, purring and coming to be stroked, and no more litter tray accidents so I think I'll just keep an eye and take her to vet if she doesn't regain her appetite.