Elderly incontinent cat

[niminypiminy]

We have a 15 year old cat who has entirely stopped going out to poo. We have a litter tray which is cleaned regularly but the cat poos three or four times a day on the doormat right next to the litter tray - really vile liquid poos. He sometimes does it in the tray too.

I'm at the end of my tether. The vet said last time we took him that there's nothing essentially wrong and offered us anti-inflammatories. I am having thoughts about having him put down because I can't bear the poo any more. And we are going on holiday tomorrow and the thought of someone else having to clean up the mess is unbearable...

It's not a long term solution, but using 'bad mats' (can't recall the proper name - they are really for putting under the sheet of a potty training toddler) under the litter tray or wherever the cat is toileting makes clearing up a lot easier. It was the only thing that kept me sane when my poor old girl became unable to use the tray properly.

Bed mats, not bad mats!

We can put thick layers of newspaper down. But the thought of coming back to find post covered in cat poo - as we did last time - yuck, yuck.

My 21 year old cat does this I put puppy training pads down in the spots she tends to go in. It's worked and I just think at her age it's not a problem I'm going to have for long and just clean it up.

Oh and get a basket thing to catch your post!

Personally I don't think you should have a cat put to sleep because it is elderly and has toilet problems You have a right to care for your poor old cat until it no longer has a good quality of life. I second the use of a bed mat, it will collect the poo and you just have to chuck it in the bin and replace. What were your plans for the cat when you are away?

'You have a duty' makes more sense, bran not woken up yet!

Gah! Brain! I'll give up now!

I know really that I have a duty to care for him - after all, he didn't ask to be my pet.

But am just so hacked off with cleaning up vile cat poo. He always does one while we're having dinner, too.

Someone's coming to feed them - we can't afford a cattery.

But the thought I might have six years of this still to go is really depressing!

It's probably not much fun for him either.

Please don't have him euthanised because you can't cope with the symptoms of him getting old.

I'm not actually going to do it, I hope that's clear.

But I feel heartily sick of this - it's been going on for over a year already and this morning I came down to two liquid poos, one on newspaper, one on doormat. And I just think, how can I ask someone else to do something so disgusting as clean up our cat's poo?

At the moment I feel like we will have to cancel our holiday because I can't ask someone to do this

I get you. We had this problem with our v elderly long haired cat. Her poo was always loose and she'd drag her hairy bum all through the house. Vet tried a couple of things but nothing worked. It was soul destroying cleaning it up 4 times a day with a toddler in tow.

In the end a change of food sorted it - Sheba steamed and tender, it's like having a different cat.

What does he eat? When Harry was on Felix his poos were vile - even he looked embarrassed! He's on a combination of James Wellbeloved dry and Natures Menu wet and it's fine.

Please don't contemplate having him put to sleep unless he is in untreatable discomfort or distress! Poor old puss You should nurse him through his days of elder age, even if you do consider him a nuisance.

Is the vet really ok with the permanently loose bowels? I know old cats get incontinent but wasn't aware that diarrhoea multiple times a day was normal? Can you seek a second opinion if you haven't already? I'd feel pretty crappy if I constantly had the shits so I can't imagine he's having a great time either. Maybe he needs a change of diet or testing for parasites?

In the mean time, yes, puppy mats on the floor and whoever is coming to feed them will just have to deal with it! Anyone looking after cats should be prepared to deal with poo, vomit and other possibly undead "gifts". Maybe cat sitter can take him to an alternative vet while you are away? I wouldn't be able to enjoy my holiday if one of my brood was unwell.

This isn't incontinence. It's not using the litter tray properly. I would try a second tray - may be a different type and perhaps lower or higher depending on the type you have at the moment. And yes, puppy training pads around the tray.

And if possible try to find out what is causing the running poo. I would certainly try a change of diet.

We put down black plastic bin liners laid flat under the litter tray and just careful when we pick the bin bag up.

For what its worth my 20 year old cat does actually get in the tray but her aim and positioning isn't great and she sometimes misses.

I 2nd/3rd the thing about the food. My dog when we got her as a pup from the rescue centre told us to keep her on dried food.
8oz of dried food would go in and 40lb of shit would come out. Was in despair till someone said to swap her onto wet food. Different dog overnight.

I would try a different tray. A vitamin B12 deficiency can cause runny poo in cats too, this can be fixed with a course of injections, a diet change could help.
If it's IBD anti inflammatories could help. Our cat has steroids.
Has your vet done blood tests?

I think a change of diet seems like a good idea. We're giving him Felix senior wet and Iams senior dry atm.

I think we're going to go for layers of newspaper - it's a recipe for disaster having slippery plastic or plastic-backed things on the doormat -especially as I need to have quite a lot of work meetings at home. I can't risk someone slipping as they come through the door.

Likewise we can't have a second litter tray, it's a trip hazard. And actually he can and does sometimes use the tray - it's more that mostly he doesn't.

*had

Huggies bed mats are brilliant. They much bigger than puppy pads and can be stuck down.

Ps find a nurse to cat sit, runny pop wouldn't phase them in the slightest.

Poo*

Good luck OP

My last elderly cat had a problem like this, really slimy, stinky poos that she didn't seem to be able to control. It turned out that pouches with jelly were the culprit. Once I changed to gravy pouches the problem vanished overnight.