Dudley, a 6-year-old male, neutered cat, came into the office a few weeks ago for not using the litter box.
He had been caught having bowel movements out of the litter box.
Over the prior month, his owner found feces on the floor. Because there was another cat, she wasn't sure which kitty was making the mess.
The day she brought Dudley in for a checkup, she knew it was he who had the accident. He stopped in the hallway in front of her and pooped on the floor.
His owner thought he was having out-of-box accidents because there was a new baby at home.
I spent about 15 minutes asking lots of questions about other changes in the home, the type of litter, boxes, their locations, the frequency and method of cleaning the litter boxes and arrangement of rooms in the home.
Then I did a physical exam. There was nothing particularly revealing. He was a little overweight, his lung sounds were slightly harsh, and he tensed a bit when I felt the muscles around his low back.
After considering everything I observed, along with his physical findings, I told his owner I didn't think Dudley's problem was psychologically related to a new baby.
Most elimination problems in cats are related to true medical problems. When elimination problems occur as a result of emotional stress, they most often involve urinating out of the box.
In this case, there were only bowel movements out of the box. My primary concerns regarding Dudley were: possible arthritis causing pain when getting in and out of the litter box; possible asthma causing difficult breathing when Dudley would get in the litter box; colitis, inflammatory or digestive disorders causing bowel movement urgency.
I spoke with Dudley's owner about my concerns, and she agreed to run tests. We decided to take X-rays of Dudley's spine, lungs, and heart. We also ran blood tests to check his organ functions and heart muscle enzymes as an indicator of cardiovascular disease. We ran the tests and reviewed results the same day.
It turned out that Dudley had arthritis in his spine, low-level asthma and some heart enlargement. The arthritis and blood-flow problems were causing changes in his ability to have regular bowel movements.
Dudley was constipated and it hurt when he would finally get the urge to go, so he would just go whenever and wherever a large, hard bowel movement had to come out.
In order to treat Dudley, we decided to help his arthritis pain using glycosaminoglycan injections, therapeutic light laser therapy to decrease pain and promote healthy spinal blood flow and diet change to keep bowel movements more consistent.
During the two weeks following treatment, Dudley did not miss the litter box a single time. His follow up X-rays revealed a normal colon.
The best part of Dudley's case is that we found his arthritis in a treatable stage when we can stop progression of disc disease. He will not be euthanized for "bad behavior" and is happier and more playful.
If testing hadn't been performed, we would have assumed he was being a bad cat.
Dudley may have been put outdoors, euthanized or taken to an animal shelter for being a nuisance.
Too often, soiling problems in pets are blamed on bad behavior. The reality is that most of the time, soiling pets are having health issues.
If your cat or dog is having accidents, follow these guidelines: Make an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as possible; take a sample of urine and your pet's bowel movement; be prepared to give a detailed history of the problem; include details about your pet's diet, treats and any supplements; be open to having blood tests and X-rays performed.
The sooner health problems related to soiling are treated, the higher the chance that your pet will get back to his or her regular patterns of elimination.