My elderly tom is becoming incontinent and it's getting me down

[Magichappensallthetimeifyouknowwheretolook]

Up until a few months ago my lovely boy had never had an accident and literally overnight he just started pooing & weeing all over the house. He'd always been an outdoor cat until then so we got him a couple of litter trays and that seemed to work for a while but now he's using the trays and still going all over the house. This morning I cleared up 4 poos and multiple wees and I have to be honest it's really getting me down.

I did take him to the vet when it started to happen and he seemed fine health wise, still eating but is really reluctant to go outside so I think he's lost his confidence a bit there.

He's 16 and still eating and drinking fine, has lost a little weight but not too much , we tried a few different foods now in case that made a difference (it didn't). I'd just like any advice to help him and us.

Thank you.

Getting you down that he’s getting older and deteriorating
or that you are having to clear up?

unfortunately you will just have to suck up both

It would get me down as well, OP. Is he struggling to get to the litter tray or do you think it’s confusion?

Is it dementia of some sort? I ask because my lovely 15yo cat started doing this last year and it was part of a pattern of deterioration that hadn’t been obvious until then.
In our case the cat was fairly happy and content for quite some time after that, then very quickly it was obvious it was time to let him go.
In the meantime we lived without rugs!

This happened to me the year before last with one brother (18) and the remaining brother (19) last year.
Now I'm cat free and would love to have my boys back, even cleaning up.
Having said that I did find it overwhelming at the time. Not helpful but I'm just saying it's a life stage and means it's probably getting close to the end for your puss.
I also lost my dog last year. Total nightmare although we do have a new pup and am considering inviting a new cat or two into our family too.

Thanks for that - really helpful🙄If you can't understand that maybe having to clean shit up constantly might be a bit annoying then probably not worth commenting.

In answer to other questions, I did think about dementia as there have been a couple of other behaviours which are quite out of character. He used to be outside all the time and now won't go near the cat flap, although maybe the cold weather hasn't helped.

I think it might be a mixture of being confused and almost forgetting where his tray is as he's fine actually using it when it's in range (if that makes sense).

If anyone is worried I'm thinking putting him to sleep, I'm really not, I love my cat. I just wanted to see if anyone had experienced similar and might have some advice.

Can you shut him in somewhere easy to clean overnight so it at least contains the issue?
I'd vet check again if it's getting worse.
Dementia/old age is likely as not behind it.
Continence is a quality of life issue too.

Hi op. Our old fella did this in his final year. We had to stop him having full access to the house in the end. We have a large back room and kitchen/diner area that's all hard floored so he stayed in this part of the house with a couple of trays. He still had lots of accidents but at least it wasn't on beds or carpet. He'd come into the living room when we were home and we'd watch in case he decided to crap anywhere x

Well yes of course I can understand that 😂

but just like with a baby and poop
and my elderly cat and poop

it’s what you do when a loved one needs you

Once this starts, it’s time to let go. Cats are very clean animals, when they become incontinent it is very distressing for them.

Some other experienced cat owners may have some advice on how to prevent it happening, it’s not just a case of ‘shut up and clean up’. Equally as a PP says incontinence can often be very distressing for cats (as well as the human cleaning up after them) so it’s always worth asking for advice.

Thanks - I think that's what we'll do start letting him sleep in the kitchen at night as hunt the poo isn't the most fun way to start the day. He's fine sleeping anywhere as long as he has a cardboard box and a blanket :)

@Beamur - I agree, he almost looks embarrassed when he's doing it ,he's always been such a confident boy and so clean. I think another trip to the vet as it does seem to be getting worse.

Ah I feel for you OP. This thread has made me miss my old boy. He was always with me, whatever I was doing around the house. We have another cat who’s lovely but doesn’t follow me around getting in the way like he used to. Have a chat with your vet and see what they advise.

I really feel for you-cleaning up poo and wee constantly really gets you down and posters telling you to just suck it up is so unhelpful. I would definitely go back to the vet and ask their advice.

Similar problem in our house. Bothers my husband a lot- me less so.
We have just tried to keep to eating and outside time routines, and to limit areas of the house overnight and while we're out.
Bless 'em.

I don't think it is unreasonable to consider euthanasia for an elderly cat that is becoming incontinent. I suspect that cat finds it distressing. Cat wee is very smelly and it is virtually impossible to get rid of the odour completely ( I think you just become a bit nose blind)

My cat did the same at age 14. She died from kidney failure about 2 months after she started doing it. No idea if this is relevant to you.

Is there a small room (toilet? Utility?) that you could put newpaper etc on the floor each night and throw away each morning? That might make the nights less gross.

End of life is horrible in any species, from
the movies we imagine it’ll be graceful and quick but it it definitely isn’t, it’s long messy and depressing, I feel your pain.

Yes, I think so too, just couldn't work out how to word it kindly.

For my last old boy it was his toileting distress that led to the devastating decision to have him PTS.

This is what I think. An elderly, previously clean cat is probably really not happy if this is happening to him. You know your cat best, Op, so only you can tell whether his quality of life is still good.

I'll agree with this. You have to consider the overall quality of life for the animal. For a cat to be doubly incontinent, would be very distressing for the cat as it goes completely against their inbuilt toileting habits.

The advice a poster gave about keeping them in one room of the house would work for some cats, but mine would find it devastating, as he loves being around people.

When things get to this stage, unless the vet can find an underlying cause, things aren't going to get better. In which case you have to ask, in whose interests is it to keep going? Only you can answer that.

(Just to clarify I meant shut him in the utility overnight, not 24/7 😬)

Vets suggest pet owners use this scale to decide when its time to end it

vetsocialwork.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Quality-of-Life.pdf

Honestly, and in the nicest possible way, it's time to put his needs first and let him go.

Cats are clean animals and he will hate this situation as much as you do.

You need to do the kindest thing for him.

You could try nappies. If he's happy with these it would work and if not then I agree confined space will help.

Putting a nappy on a cat would be cruel.

This.

Any other 'solution' is for your benefit, not the cats

I'm sorry OP but it really is the kindest thing