Why is my cat pooping outside the box with loose, stinky stool?

Sometimes even a simple diet switch from one food to another is enough to cause intestinal inflammation or bacterial imbalance and diarrhea in cats. Though his risk is low, it's also possible he could have an intestinal parasite (cannot be ruled out without a fecal test). You can try adding one tbsp of canned pumpkin to his diet for fiber. If he does not improve soon, it would be best to take him to a vet. Sometimes a short course of medication is necessary to resolve this type of diarrhea.

Is this a new behavior? Is the stool firm and hard? If it is firm and hard then it may be from her being constipated. If it is soft and she has diarrhea, she can have intestinal parasites or she could have eaten something that upset her stomach. I would recommend having a stool sample performed to make sure there are no parasites and to see the consistency of the stool. If the veterinarian says everything is fine then I would use at least 2 litter boxes with clumping litter. Make sure you have a box on each level. I would also consider medication to help with the behavior. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would inform the owners and ask them their wishes. If they are going to be gone for an extended period, I would feel better if the cat could be seen by a vet before then, since the condition seems to be not improving. They may need to call their vet to authorize you to take the cat in on their behalf. Since you are the sitter, I could see him maybe peeing outside the box in protest to someone else taking care of them, but, unless the cat is extremely sensitive to stress, I wouldn't think a petsitter would be enough to make him have intestinal upset. He could have parasites, a bacterial infection or has eaten something that disagreed with him, among other possibilities. If they will be home in the next day or so they may want to get him seen themselves and as long as he continues to eat and drink and behave normally, that should be okay.

I am sorry to hear about your kitty! If the food appears different than the one he normally eats it is possible that perhaps there is a different additive or food coloring that has upset his stomach (or is it possible it is a different flavor even though the brand is the same). We can see some pets have GI upset from quick changes in diet. That being said, we can also see diarrhea from other causes, including GI parasites, bacterial overgrowth, inflammatory bowel disease, as a symptom of systemic illness, and more. If he is still energetic with no vomiting you could try getting a probiotic from your vet or the pet store for him which can sometimes help with diarrhea and feeding something bland for a few days (such as plain white rice and shredded boiled chicken or lean ground chicken) or picking up the food you normally get at the pet store and trying this for a few days. If he is having urgency so often he isn't making it to the litterbox, however, it is quite possible he has colitis http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=677 and will likely need prescription medication to get the diarrhea under control, so the fastest solution to eliminating the problem is to have your vet examine him!

Poor Meechi! Normal cat stools are firm and dark in color, so it sounds like she probably has a medical problem of some kind causing her soft stools. It's very common for cats to poop outside the litter box when they have soft stools or diarrhea, so the underlying cause for this will need to be diagnosed and treated in order to get her to use her litter box appropriately. I would recommend taking Meechi to the vet for an exam as soon as you are able to. He/she can do some diagnostic testing, which might include a fecal exam for parasites as well as blood work to screen for a systemic illness of some kind, to help determine the problem and get her started on appropriate medication to treat it.

This is suspicious of chronic diarrhea, which is not specific to any one condition and would eventually require a vet evaluation and some testing in order to discover the cause of this. Below is a link to a good article that explains the various causes of chronic diarrhea. https://www.petcoach.co/article/most-common-causes-of-diarrhea-in-cats/ I hope that helps and Luna gets better soon.

Litter box problems can be extremely frustrating! Sometimes this can be managed by a few simple home modifications. For starters, add an extra litter box to the area where Shadow seems to be having his bowel movements - even if it that means that you have two litter boxes directly next to each other. If the current litter box has a hood/lid, leave the second litter box open, or vice versa. Also try using a calming pheromone diffuser (Feliway is one example) close to the litter boxes. If you have recently changed the type of litter being used, go back to the initial brand. If you have not changed the brand of litter, try using a different brand/type (such as Yesterday's News) in the second litter box. Also be sure to scoop the box several times per day - some cats will only use a pristine litter box. It may take a good bit of trial and error with some of these strategies to figure out what will work best for Shadow. If he continues to go outside of the litter box after a few weeks of trying some of these different strategies, it may be worth taking a trip to the vet to discuss a trial with anxiety management medications. I hope that all goes well!