Why is my 15-year-old cat peeing and pooping outside the litter box?

Poor kitty! In a 13 year old cat, I strongly suspect that she has a medical problem causing these issues. Some common possible causes would include hyperthyroidism, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. I would recommend taking her to the vet for an exam as soon as you are able to - he/she can do blood work and a urinalysis to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate medication to treat it.

Hi. Poor Zuzu. Usually when kitties defecate, or urinate, outside the box, they are trying to tell us something, if she isn't urinating, that is definitely a concern. Most likely though, she is going somewhere or she would be a lot sicker. I recommend getting her seen as soon as you can. In older kitties, some of the common problems we see include kidney disease, high thyroid, cardiac disease, diabetes, UTI's, or cancers. So in a case like this, blood and urine will help us rule a lot of those out. So to start I recommend an exam and labwork. Good luck

Hi there. Yes, you could certainly try leaving the litter box in your attached bathroom so that it's closer and easier for her to get to, as a starting point. But in a cat this age, I would be very suspicious of an underlying medical issue causing this behavior - this can be true even if she appears generally healthy otherwise, on the outside. Possible causes would include hyperthyroidism, a GI problem such as chronic pancreatitis or inflammatory bowel disease, or arthritis making it difficult or painful for her to get into the litter box when she needs to go. I would recommend a vet visit for a thorough physical exam and some basic lab work to check for these issues. If she has a medical problem of some kind, having it treated appropriately will often resolve the unwanted accidents.

If your veterinarian has not done so already, I would ask her to run full bloodwork including thyroid levels to rule out any underlying disease. I would also request a decal analysis to screen for GI parasites.

Poor kitty! I certainly agree with your concerns about hygiene for everyone involved, and also feel sorry for the cat who has an untreated medical issue that is probably impacting her quality of life. I would recommend taking her to the vet for an exam, to find out what is causing the problem - it may be very treatable once a diagnosis is made. If the problem is not treatable, then it's possible that euthanasia would be the kindest option for her. Your veterinarian can advise you on your options depending on what is found on her exam and lab tests.

Poor Bob! The symptoms you describe could be caused by quite a few different things, so it's hard to say what might be wrong without being able to examine him and run some tests. Some possible causes would include diabetes, hyperthyroidism, or chronic kidney disease, which are all common problems in cats. I would recommend taking Bob to the vet for an exam as soon as you're able to. He/she can do blood work and a urinalysis to help diagnose the problem and see what kind of treatment is needed.

I am sorry to hear about Sadie. There are several different possible causes for the accidents. You don't mention if this is urination, bowel movements, or both. With urinary accidents we can have changes in habit due to urinary tract infection, bladder diseases, kidney disease, diabetes, and thyroid disease. Fecal accidents can occur due to a variety of problems including constipation, intestinal parasites, anal sac infection/impaction, inflammatory bowel disease, or other bowel disease. If your kitty is having urine and bowel movement accidents then we would be concerned about things like arthritis causing discomfort resulting in her not wanting to travel all the way to the litterbox. We can also have cognitive decline in older pets that can lead to accidents, or anxiety issues. I would recommend an exam by your vet to try to pinpoint the underlying cause which will determine the treatment. In the meantime, I would consider moving a litterbox into the room she likes to spend her time in!