Cat has unhousetrained herself!

[MagpieCursedTea]

I don't want to drip feed so this might be long but I desperately need help with one of my cats!

I have two cats, both rescue. Cat1 is 10 years old, we got her first (she was 3 when we adopted her), Cat2 is 11 (she was 7 when we adopted her).

We've moved house 4 times since adopting cat1. Each time she has reacted by over grooming. We've taken her to the vet about it and it was agreed it was a stress reaction to moving. We tried a few different things (including plug ins, zylkene etc) but the only thing that helped was time to get used to get new territory.

This time she hasn't over groomed (we've been here 6 months) and we were really happy that she seemed so settled in our new house. It's much bigger than the old place and she seems to enjoy having lots of places to run around nap.

However, we don't have a proper garden. We have a decent sized yard but no grass so we've put a couple of litter trays out in the house for the girls. They do have a cat flap but neither are particularly outdoorsy and even in the previous house only went out to do their business or occasionally sunbathe on the patio.

Cat1 has never been great with litter trays, she doesn't bury her poo like cat2 does and requires the litter to be pretty much completely changed after each wee (which we obviously comply with!) however she has started pooing and weeing by the front door (the cat flap is in the back door). We've tried the following...
Putting the litter trays in various locations.
Spraying a 'deterrent' spray (advised by the pet shop) by the front door.
Putting food by the front door.

These obviously haven't helped and she also sometimes poos in other seemingly random parts of the house. There are quite a few other cats around here including one particularly bold tabby who I've seen go for both our cats but they seem to have seen her off and she doesn't come into the yard as often now.

We also have a 17 month old DS but he and the girls get on even better than we hoped for, so I don't think there's any stress there.

Anyone have any ideas of how we can solve the situation? Indon't think she's stressed as she's not over grooming but there's obviously something that isn't right. She's been perfectly house trained in the 7 years we've had her (including when kept indoors and using a tray), so what's changed and how can we help her?

Gosh, there are a lot of possibilities. I'm wondering, though, whether you've considered whether she might have some arthritis setting in? It's just that with my own boy, poo accidents were the first obvious sign - although there were others which I saw once I'd clocked the problem.

Here's some guidance on it. Do any of the symptoms ring a bell?

I hadn't thought of that. She's never been the most graceful cat but she seems to still be able to do as much jumping as she ever has. I will keep an eye out for other symptoms though. Thank you!

I think I would if I were you. And - as they're both middle aged girls now - there's nothing to stop you introducing some of the environmental assists mentioned in the guidance. They'd probably be welcome to them simply because they're both getting older and even if there turns out to be no athritis at all.

We have a couple already in place but will try to add more. Thank you!

You might find it interesting to read this old thread and in particular the posts by Lonecatwithkitten who is one of the vets who voluntarily post here from time to time. Lone was actually involved in clinical trials of the usual drug for arthritis and has given her view on the meds.

I think that if your girls were a few years older, I would definitely recommend checking out their arthritis status - but I guess that even at 10 and 11 they're no spring chickens and, in any case, they're getting older so it's no bad thing to be aware of the possibility.

Treatment has certainly made a huge difference to my own old boy. Although he might still have the odd poo accident (say once a month) and these days has to have some pain meds supplemental to the meloxicam you have to bear in mind that he's now most elderly - and the standard treatment certainly held the fort for him for a good few years.

Good luck with them anyway - and be sure to post again if the problem persists.