So sick of my cat pooping everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Here is some history. Ever since we adopted her from the shelter last year she has had some digestive issues. She throws up on average once/day sometimes three or four times. We've seen the vet, they ran tests, nothing came up. We've gave her antibiotics and prevacid and it didn't work. Now, she is not only throwing up, but she is not using her litter box for BMs. Just in the past week, she had a BM on my bed 4 times and I woke up this morning to a mess in the middle of my living room. I make sure that her box is clean so I don't know what else to do. I love her dearly, but I cannot live like this. She had a few incidents in the past, but this is getting ridiculous. Any ideas anyone?

[Anonymous]

bye-bye kitty cat.

[Anonymous]

Cat owner for 40 years here.

The first thought that comes to mind is that she is allergic / intolerant of something she's eating or licking (ie, Febreeze residue). Or an allergen she's inhaling.

She feels sick in her GI system and is manifesting that with the barf and poop.

I would RADICALLY change her diet to something simple, possibly something you prepare yourself, for a couple of weeks. LImited ingredient, and not too rich. Not plain tuna -- altho many cats love it, it's actually too rich for them except in tiny amounts.

So maybe, just chicken breasts minced and water. Or just beef.

Don't fall into the trap of "but I'm buying her Good Quality Dry Food!" I feed that myself, but some cats can't tolerate the random ingredients (blueberries? pumpkin?) in "designer" kibble, and other cats just find the ____meal in those kibbles too overwhelming.

(go ahead and look -- your bag / can has "chicken meal" in it, right? that's claws).

[Anonymous]

You need a vet who really, really, really understands feline GI issues. One is Dr. Fiona McClure at NORthside Veterinary Hospital but I am told that she is not accepting new patients, which is a real shame, b/c she turned things around drastically when our female cat was having same probs. (Our cat basically has irritable bowel disorder, and was sensitive to some ingredients in foods, and also sensitive to stress.) So, gosh, I don't know who else to recommend, but maybe someone else on here can chime in? I have found that your typical, run-of-the-mill VET does NOT understand these things thoroughly; we came to Dr. Fiona after leaving our previous vet (who shall remain unnamed) who was supposedly super-awesome but really did nothing to help us. I was at my wit's end and my DH was adamant that we had to give her away. But I was like, "Who's going to want a cat who pees, poops, and thorws up everywhere?? Giving her away would be a death sentence." I am so glad we found Dr. Fiona, suffice it to say. :*)

[Anonymous]

PS 10:26 poster back. I agree with all of 10:21's comments as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need a vet who really, really, really understands feline GI issues. One is Dr. Fiona McClure at NORthside Veterinary Hospital but I am told that she is not accepting new patients, which is a real shame, b/c she turned things around drastically when our female cat was having same probs. (Our cat basically has irritable bowel disorder, and was sensitive to some ingredients in foods, and also sensitive to stress.) So, gosh, I don't know who else to recommend, but maybe someone else on here can chime in? I have found that your typical, run-of-the-mill VET does NOT understand these things thoroughly; we came to Dr. Fiona after leaving our previous vet (who shall remain unnamed) who was supposedly super-awesome but really did nothing to help us. I was at my wit's end and my DH was adamant that we had to give her away. But I was like, "Who's going to want a cat who pees, poops, and thorws up everywhere?? Giving her away would be a death sentence." I am so glad we found Dr. Fiona, suffice it to say. :*)

I am 10:21, and this PP is so right. It does sound like your cat has irritable bowel and you can probably turn it around -- but it takes some sleuthing. IME though, once you figure it out, you're good for years!

We "figured it out" with a holistic vet on the West Coast, so I can't help you here but I would call the Vet this PP saw and ask for a similar practice. I guarantee she will know one other person and that you'll probably have to drive far -- they never work in the same zip code.

Alternatively (pun intended), look up her CV online and see where she went to school and who her classmates are. Hopefully there's one in the metro, but maybe there is a practice in, say, Annapolis or Richmond like hers.

As I said, once you figure it out, you don't have to keep going in just to hear your cat can't eat fish over and over. So it may be well worth driving out of town to see a Dr. Fiona-like person.

[Anonymous]

I really appreciate all of your thoughtful comments. I have a suspicion there is something in our apartment that is causing all of us to get sick. I have been battling allergies every weekend (since i spend more time at home over the weekend) and then I get better during the week. My suspicion is the carpet and very poor air filtering.

I took my cat to the Friendship Animal Hospital which has a very good reputation. Perhaps she does need a specialist. I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it, however. I'll try drastically changing her diet and see if that helps at all. I'm just not sure I can live with this for much longer.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am 10:26 back. 10:21 had a great suggestion, to call Northside Veterinary Clinic (703 -525-7115) and ask if they have a recommendation for another vet who specializes in GI issues. If you want, you can use my name and say that I suggested you call. You can email me at kitty sitty va @ gmail dot com and I will tell you my real name, if you'd like to use it as a reference to them. We have 3 cats - the one with the GI issues and then 2 others -- and have been there quite recently, so I think Dr. Fiona will remember me!

I want to underline what 10:21 said, to give you hope: once you get things under control, you are good to go. So, hang in there, b/c it's just the hard part of figuring out what are his/her triggers, but then, once you got it, you got it. We figured it all out with our girl about 5 years ago, and now she's as good as gold. Sometimes I shake my head at how awful things used to be, and all we had to do was figure out the right food for her and it's like we have a different cat.

One final note: I have heard good things about Capital Cat Clinic (I think that's what it is called?) and SouthPaws. In fact Dr. Fiona McClure originally came from SouthPaws, so maybe you could call there too and ask them if they have a vet who specializes in GI issues, or, if not, who they would recommend. I do think these types f specialists are "regional," like 10:21 said; they're not every vet on every street corner, but there usually are a few of them spread out within a large metropolitan area such as DC.

[Anonymous]

OP, here is some reading on feline IBD for you, if it helps:

http://www.2ndchance.info/inflambowelcat.htm

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/ibd.html

http://feline-nutrition.org/health/feline-inflammatory-bowel-disease-nature-and-treatment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am 10:26 back. 10:21 had a great suggestion, to call Northside Veterinary Clinic (703 -525-7115) and ask if they have a recommendation for another vet who specializes in GI issues. If you want, you can use my name and say that I suggested you call. You can email me at kitty sitty va @ gmail dot com and I will tell you my real name, if you'd like to use it as a reference to them. We have 3 cats - the one with the GI issues and then 2 others -- and have been there quite recently, so I think Dr. Fiona will remember me!

I want to underline what 10:21 said, to give you hope: once you get things under control, you are good to go. So, hang in there, b/c it's just the hard part of figuring out what are his/her triggers, but then, once you got it, you got it. We figured it all out with our girl about 5 years ago, and now she's as good as gold. Sometimes I shake my head at how awful things used to be, and all we had to do was figure out the right food for her and it's like we have a different cat.

One final note: I have heard good things about Capital Cat Clinic (I think that's what it is called?) and SouthPaws. In fact Dr. Fiona McClure originally came from SouthPaws, so maybe you could call there too and ask them if they have a vet who specializes in GI issues, or, if not, who they would recommend. I do think these types f specialists are "regional," like 10:21 said; they're not every vet on every street corner, but there usually are a few of them spread out within a large metropolitan area such as DC.

Thank you so much!!! I'll e-mail you right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, here is some reading on feline IBD for you, if it helps:

http://www.2ndchance.info/inflambowelcat.htm

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/ibd.html

http://feline-nutrition.org/health/feline-inflammatory-bowel-disease-nature-and-treatment

Thank you! These are great articles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is some history. Ever since we adopted her from the shelter last year she has had some digestive issues. She throws up on average once/day sometimes three or four times. We've seen the vet, they ran tests, nothing came up. We've gave her antibiotics and prevacid and it didn't work. Now, she is not only throwing up, but she is not using her litter box for BMs. Just in the past week, she had a BM on my bed 4 times and I woke up this morning to a mess in the middle of my living room. I make sure that her box is clean so I don't know what else to do. I love her dearly, but I cannot live like this. She had a few incidents in the past, but this is getting ridiculous. Any ideas anyone?

I had this problem and vets were useless.

Most likely, she has megacolon (it's from chronic constipation that leads to the colon being extended, making it painful and difficult to pass stool).

But Miralax from your local grocery store/pharmacy. It's an odorless and tasteless powder. Sprinkle some on her food. Then keep her confined for a couple of days to get her to re-learn the litter box (like to a bathroom).

Do the Miralax with each meal, just a sprinkle. At first she might have the runs, and if so, then just adjust and give less miralax. After a week of being confined to a bathroom with a litter box and having the miralax ease up the digestive problems, you can let her out during the evenings and then eventually let her out all day.

It's very hard to diagnose megacolon. They have to do x-rays. And most vets don't even think of it.

[Anonymous]

Our solution was to use a special litter called Cat Attract.
We also now have four litter boxes for him to choose from (in the same room), all without liners and cleaned daily.
Not sure which did the trick, but he started going in the boxes. We had to remove the rug he always pooped on and keep the guest room door closed (he used to poop on the bed). Worst case scenario you can restrict him to certain rooms. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

For our cat during to a "raw" diet instead of the cheap brands of food, even the perscription diet food we got from the vet didn't work but Natures Variety instinct - Chicken has worked wonders for us. The cat doesn't always get it in the box, but its usually in the litter tray outside of it instead of around the house, its no longer runny and our cat is a much happier animal once we changed the diet. Plus we change the litter box every day - if we go as much as a day over he'll look for another place to poop.

[Anonymous]

I have the same issue. Mine never began until we moved. She poops in the box and everywhere else as well. She will even urinate right next to the flipping box. Her favorite place to go is my food pantry. I am at my wits end. She's lucky she's old. She also scratches everyone ask the time. It's weird. She's super cuddly and lives to be petted but sometimes she'll scratch you when you pet her. She'll even scratch you just for walking by. I have lots if kids and I can't stand this cat... It's my husband's. Not to mention his 2 dogs who will take your food right out of your hands if you're not looking. Ughhh.