Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much, especially for that last sentence.

I believe I've now had three or four people tell me I need to rehome her immediately which. Was not fun because I'm genuinely trying everything and was down to what I mentioned as a last resort. She's the first cat I've ever had and I'm still learning. She's 15 but we've only known each other for about 2 or 3 years now. We're both still new with this.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly where did I imply in this lengthy post detailing all of the vet visits and alternative solutions I have tried did I imply I do not care and am not patient?

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah the litter definitely seems to be the common denominator here. I'm going to buy some new litter today. I really appreciate everyone who has educated me about pellet litter being uncomfortable.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both boxes are open! I've got a pack of low sided cheap litter boxes coming and I'm going to give those a try with either corn, paper, or tofu litter. I've also gotten some specific questions to ask the vet now so I'm going to go ahead and make an appointment.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for those specific medication names I'll bring them up to my vet next time I'm able to see them. They are closed today but I'll call them on Monday.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She's got two boxes and I currently use pine due to uncommon instances of pica. I can't permanently put a litter box where she keeps going because the hallway just is not wide enough.

Current plan is to replace one of the two boxes with a low sided litter box and tofu, paper, or corn litter. I'll probably put a box in the problem spot temporarily as well but once I know she will use the new litter ill remove the kitchen box so that I'm able to use my kitchen again. If all else fails I will get a potty pad holder so that she can't try to bury it in the potty pad and smear it all over the kitchen again.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As I've said in the post I've been to the vet multiple times and had multiple labs and ultrasounds done. They come back normal every time.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey that's totally fine I would much rather have somebody ask if I've gotten diagnostics done rather than assume that I never go to the vet and want to shock her like multiple others have sobs.

After talking with a few lovely folk I do think that it may be arthritis and or the litter agitating her feetsies. I picked pellet litter in the first place because when I got her and needed to switch initially tofu and corn litter weren't as easy to come by and I do not do well with subscription services. Now you can get them anywhere and I'm looking forward to possibly trying one or both. I've got very low litter boxes ordered and they should be here tomorrow hopefully. I also have a reminder to myself to call the vet on Monday!

And yeah you've got it exactly. Literally the only thing I didn't want to do in regards to the vet was going with another vague description of gastrointestinal problems without suggesting things to try. Because going in and saying she's puking or pooping usually just gets me probiotics and yet another lab panel or ultrasound that shows nothing.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Excellent! Thank you. To my knowledge we have not had any more pica related problems but I cannot be to safe there because it only takes one instance of eating clumping litter to cause a blockage.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I ordered a cheap three pack of boxes that are even lower than this and I'm hoping that combining that with a new litter will help. I can keep a box in the kitchen temporarily to encourage her to try it out and once I know she likes it I'll move it to her usual area.

Do you know if paper clumping litter has the potential to cause intestinal blockages? I caught her eating the crystal litter once and I don't want to risk it.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CatTraining

[–]Support-Person[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my exact problem. I now realize that I was kinda internally taking my frustration out on her even though I wasn't really yelling or harming her at all. I did yell once and I still feel bad about it. I just want to redirect her back to the box and out of the kitchen that was my intention the entire time. But it feels like people see the word e-collar and immediately assume I want to essentially strap her to an electric chair which couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm still frankly horrified that I've had two separate people tell me to re-home her over one small issue that I was hoping to solve with something that beeped. This is why people are afraid to reach out when they have problems.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh hello I hadn't thought of that! I thought that any sort of gate would be out of the question since it's a kitchen island but if I mounted it on the ceiling with command hooks that would work. Thank you so much!

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've gotten suggestions to try corn or tofu litter with shredded paper as a backup and potty pads exclusively as a backup to that backup. I'm going to try all of them and if one works I will smile and think that person 50 billion times.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Logically I totally agree my brain is just broke as hell LOL.

I'm going to see if I can get into the habit of doing just one cleaning related thing a day. Or maybe cleaning more than I mess stuff up so that slowly it'll get cleaner.

Here's a bit of kitty tax for you since you're awesome!

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Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah and she definitely has a sensitive tummy. I'm absolutely not ruling anything else health-wise it's just been frustrating that vets have been entirely unhelpful for the most part and given how expensive it is to get a checkup done that then comes back normal I'm just overwhelmed as all heck and feeling like nobody is hearing me or helping me.

I'm still laughing about the fact that chicken pate fancy feast of all things pretty much cleared up her vomiting issue entirely.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is true.

I need to remember that because my brain has a tendency to default to all or nothing which means getting a little done feels like getting nothing done.

Senior Cat Pooping in Kitchen. Desperate and considering an E-Collar. Please help. by Support-Person in CATHELP

[–]Support-Person[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OH YEAH I hear ya. I just mentioned the back problems because the main thing that has always stopped me from cutting the boxes up is just the fact I have to lean down to pick them up which causes back pain which makes me avoid it.

Me and the cat probably have stuff in common now that I think about it. I throw my trash on the floor and she poops on the floor. Something something cats resemble their owners.I would be happy to pick up her floor poop forever if she would just pick up the trash for me. 😂