Cat shat on my bed

[blubberball]

We've had our cat since 2015, when we got her from Cats protection. She goes outside, and doesn't have a litter tray. This morning I woke up to her shitting on my bed, whilst I was in it. This is the first time this has happened. She's always very clean, save for the odd hairball.
I'm going to take her to the vet, as she seems pretty stressed out.
Any tips to help her chill? We are a pretty busy household admittedly, and she always wants to sit on me when I'm in the middle of something. This is very much on her terms that she sits on me, as she's not an affectionate cat. She's pretty wild really. Any one have any experience with this please? X

Get her a litter tray for a start.

Get her a litter tray! Do you really think it's acceptable to let her just poop outside? I'm guessing you don't bother to clean that up? Funny how people only care about a problem when it starts to inconvenience them - your cat has probably been shitting in peoples' gardens for 5 years but that's fine right as long as it's not on your stuff?

She usually goes in our garden. We have a huge garden, and she buries it in our garden. She doesn't wander far.

Was she possibly really desperate to go out? And realising she couldn't hold it decided to make sure you shared her discomfort?

She could be poorly, this sometimes happens if they have an underlying condition or was she trapped inside?

She wasn't trapped in, as her cat flap was open, and my bedroom window too. I'm going to make an appointment at the vets later, and really hope that it was a one off. I might get one of those feliway things for her. She rarely completely relaxes. She's pretty active, and isn't as chilled and lazy as other cats I've had. She always seems to be on alert. She's the only cat in the house.

definitely a great idea to take her to the vet, but I'd use a litter tray too, so she can either go inside or outside

What bizarre posts you have had OP.. looks like the cat haters are up early !

No. Litter trays are not needed to spare 'the neighbours' unless you are living in back to back terraced housing with postage stamp sized yards and no greenery for a cat to dig and bury their poo.

S as I had never heard of a litter tray for cats unless they were kittens until I joined MN..

Cat poo is no worse than fox shit, in fact far less smelly. Bird shit is also infinitely more annoying as the average cat doesn't shit over you car windscreen . Cats are not 'domesticated' to the same level that dogs are . You don't take them for a walk. They are wild animals that share our homes when they feel like it.

As for your question OP.. I would really try to give her some time. Just take a moment and give her some dedicated attention for a few minutes. It's so easy to push them away especially if you are WFH .. but this really does seem to stress them out.

My boy cat has just been through a similar episode . Although didn't poo on the bed.. he did get blood in his urine and started peeing tiny amounts around the house . The vet sorted him - but explained they are really prone to stress cystitis, triggered by just about anything they decide to get anxious about, so you may want to keep an eye on that.
Vet also recommended feliway the pheromone thing.. which I bought yesterday so can't say yet how successful it is.

Get her a litter tray!

Feliway is a good idea.
There might be a new cat in the area which is making her less able to go out.
Vet check for underlying illness too, clean cats rarely toilet inside without reason.

She needs a tray, she’s getting older and can’t he expected to go out in the winter to toilet.

I'd probably monitor her for the day and see how she is. It maybe a random one off - these things happen! If she's still out of sorts later I'd call the vet. Our cat pooed in the 2 year olds room, under the bed the other day! He'd been in a fight with another creature and had an injury on his head that was obviously upsetting him! I managed to squeeze out the lid and pull the manky skin off! 😬 Now healing nicely and he's much better.
Worth checking she's not hurt somewhere. Or she may have just eaten a dodgy mouse!
You don't need a litter tray, what a weird thing to say. Cats are quite capable of doing it outside and burying it.

The pooing on you won't have been deliberate if it's any consolation. For whatever reason, she was holding it in instead of going outside. Unfortunately when cats are holding it in, they sometimes step on something soft and instinct kicks in and they can't hold it anymore.

Your instinct to get to the vet is right. There could well be a medical reason that she's holding it in, if it's painful or something like that,

But getting a litter tray is sound advice as well, in case something is disturbing her outside.

@Trickyboy

Litter trays are recommended for all cats regardless of whether they have outdoor access - they should have a choice. They may be reluctant to toilet outside for many reasons: social conflict, bad weather, anxiety, etc and so offering an indoor tray improves their welfare by giving them more options and prevents forcing them out into a situation they may not want to go into simply to perform a bodily function. If they choose to go outside, great, some cats will rarely use their tray, but for many cats it's a necessary backup option and useful if they're worried about going out, have an upset stomach etc.
I appreciate you may not have heard of this advice - but it's the advice of major cat welfare charities and animal behaviourists.

@blubberball the first thing you need to do is offer a tray inside as an option for your cat.

You don't need a litter tray, what a weird thing to say. Cats are quite capable of doing it outside and burying it.

That might be your opinion @inappropriateraspberry but it's not the opinion of vets, behaviourists or cat welfare charities. There are many good reasons why cats may not be 'quite capable' of going outdoors. Providing choices improves welfare. You might think evidence-based advice is 'weird' but you may want to consider what the basis is for your own advice?

https://www.thecatvet.co.uk/toileting-essentials---creating-the-ideal-litter-tray-experience.html#

We live very rurally and have never had litter trays but do suggest you use one for the time being as sounds like cat may possibly be ill or maybe been spooked by another neighbourhood cat. You can always remove it at a later date.

Just to add - ask your vet to check her for arthritis too - have you noticed any changes in her activity, jumping etc?

Thanks everyone. I'll get her a litter tray again. To be honest, I've had cats my whole life, and never used litter trays except for kittens or when we first bring a rescue cat home.

She always seems to sleep with one eye open, and generally seems a little more nervous and anxious than any previous cats we've had.

@Veterinari I've not noticed any changes in her activity levels. She's pretty good with climbing fences etc. She grooms herself a lot, which I understand can be a sign of stress. Pretty sure fireworks season isn't helping.

@blubberball

Yesfireworks willl def not be helping if she's an emery kitty anyway. You're right in that over grooming can also be a stress sign.

It sounds as if she's struggling at the moment. Def consider anti anxiety support and please have a look at this article on optimising the environment to reduce stress
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098612X13477537

Being proactive in reducing stress will save you time and money in the long run by preventing problems from occurring

Thanks, I'll read that. I suffer from stress myself. My poor cat!

I'd definetly reccomend feliway. We had a stressy cat and it blissed her out. Pretty sure she was off her face for a lot of the time 😂
Her sitting on you I'd imagine is her trying to be in charge /getting your attention so when she dies if you can just stop for a few minutes and give her some fuss.
It might well be that something outside has scared her from wanting to poo outside. Could be foxes, fireworks or other cats so leaving a litter tray inside for her will just give her the safety she needs for a while.
Hope she's OK.

[quote Veterinari]@Trickyboy

Litter trays are recommended for all cats regardless of whether they have outdoor access - they should have a choice. They may be reluctant to toilet outside for many reasons: social conflict, bad weather, anxiety, etc and so offering an indoor tray improves their welfare by giving them more options and prevents forcing them out into a situation they may not want to go into simply to perform a bodily function. If they choose to go outside, great, some cats will rarely use their tray, but for many cats it's a necessary backup option and useful if they're worried about going out, have an upset stomach etc.
I appreciate you may not have heard of this advice - but it's the advice of major cat welfare charities and animal behaviourists.

@blubberball the first thing you need to do is offer a tray inside as an option for your cat. [/quote]
Having been a cat owner for 54 years . I think I have sufficient experience to say that at no point in that time has any cat required a litter tray past 3 months of age , with the exception of very old age. Majority of my cats have lived past 20 and one to 22 so the lack of a tray doesn't seem to be that great a need.

There is a worrying trend to anthropomorphise cats. They are essentially wild animals that choose to share our homes. Yes of course if you put a litter tray down a cat will use it. Especially if the weather outside is foul.. but they don't 'need' it. They are cats not humans. So whilst you would baulk at being required to take a shit in the garden in the rain - a cat given no other option will not. Because it is natural behaviour .

It's up to you OP. personally I would hate the idea and find them mostly unnecessary.

I live rurally and we don't have a litter tray.

One of our cats started to toilet inappropriately when she got spooked by the foxes outside. We had a litter tray but she didn't use it. The vet prescribed Zylkene which chilled her out. She was always highly strung too.