Cat suddenly toileting outside the litter tray

[Ansjovis]

This is not the most pleasant of topics but I really need advice. I have a 10 year old indoor only cat who has suddenly decided, after 8 years of living with me and using the litter box normally, to poo only by our front door. It's always the same place every time so I think we can rule out her getting the sudden urge to go. She will still urinate in the litter tray so I think we can rule out her not liking the litter (which hasn't changed in the time she's been with me) or the cleanliness of the trays. We've put a litter tray in that spot, as best we can because it's literally right in front of our front door, and she will only use it to urinate.

She's been to the vet, who conducted a thorough examination and found nothing of concern. He suggested a feliway plug in and putting a litter tray in the same spot and we've done both of those things. I don't know whether to take her back and ask for bloods to be done but as she gets very nervous at the vet I don't want to rush into that. We did think that perhaps something is stressing her but her nervousness has been pretty stable in the time she's been with us. We've also purchased a specialist cleaning product and have been using it on the area regularly.

I think I've covered all of the pertinent details. Any advice on other things we can try would be greatly appreciated as this is really starting to get us down.

We had this with Elton but with wee rather than poo. I think it was territorial marking as it started at the same time he started to take more of an interest in the street outside. I also think that having a new floor laid didn't help as suddenly the house smelt different. In the end we enlisted a cat behaviourist who looked promising but our poor boy died before we could meet him.

@Puppylucky I hadn't thought of a behaviourist so I'll look that up thank you. Although with my cat being indoor only she really only ever sees me and my husband so she'd probably hide and refuse to engage!

One of our cats, like yours indoor only, suddenly started to poo outside her litter box. She has a few favourite places and by the front door was one. Interestingly though always on an hard surface, never carpet or soft furnishings. We used the specialist cleaners and odour eliminators to clean. Our vet thoroughly examined her and found no health issues and we sought out a behaviouralist. We tried different litter types in case her paws were sore but again no difference.

I am afraid to say we have never managed to completely stop her, she has good phases where she uses her box more and other times when she wont. We have come to the conclusion that it is somehow linked to stress and she absolutely hates any change in the house. We think she was spooked whilst using her litter box and if she is feeling stressed will not use it.

The behaviourist didn’t really helped. They suggested multiple litter boxes in different areas of the house but this just encouraged her to poo near them! Feliway plug ins have been used and again not particularly helpful. Sorry I can’t be more positive! We luckily have wooden floors and have resigned ourselves to just cleaning up the poo. She is a cat and I don’t think we will ever understand her 😁.

If it’s by the door I would bet that another cat has been there and pooed or peed, and she now either feels threatened or like she has to mark her territory.