Perhaps she doesn't like the type of litterbox and/or litter you are using. Have you tried both covered and uncovered boxes? Shallow and deep boxes? Small and large boxes?

Clumping and non-clumping litter? Scented and unscented litter? Clay litter and litters made out of other materials? Pelleted litter and granulated litter?
Have you tried Cat Attract added to the litterboxes?

Is your cat declawed, by any chance?

Laurie

You say the vet says she checked out OK. Can you specifically say what tests were run? I.e. urinalysis, complete blood count (CBC), blood chemistry test? Any other tests?

As Laurie mentions, it could be litter or the litter box. Does she have any issues related to getting older that may make climbing into a litter box more difficult? You may try different combinations of them. You mention that you think it is behavorial - does she have issues with the other cats? Have there been any changes in the house recently? I think there are plenty of options for investigation before giving up on her.

Good luck!

We have all kinds of litter clumping ,non clumping, and every known brand too. No one else has this problem and I have six other cats. She is NOT declawed as I find this practice very cruel. She does not have a covered box but a meduim low one but there are all sizes in the house which she had access to. She doesn't appear to have issues with other cats in the house but she has been alone now for a few weeks and still doing it. A few days go by and she's doing well and I tell we're going to go back in the house and then I find she has done it again. Has me nuts..Vet did CBC and urinalysis

She's rather old. Maybe she's becoming a bit senile.

As others asked, have there been changes in your home recently, including visitors, new pets, rearranged furniture?

Did the urinalysis check for crystals in the urine? That can cause pain and avoidance of the litter box.

Older cats often forget to drink enough water. That can lead to constipation, which can make bowel movements painful, causing some cats to go on the floor. Wet food instead of dry can help, as can stool softeners.

Others have had good results with adding Cat Attract to the litter boxes.

Sorry you're having this problem, and I hope it is resolved soon.

My recently departed cat always urinated in the box, but he stopped pooping in it for his last couple of years. He would poop on the floor near it (it was in the basement laundry room). It seemed to have no connection to type of litter, what he was eating, or cleanliness of the box. In fact, we kept two clean litter boxes for him at all times. He did not seem to be senile. He did seem to be constipated at times, more so as he got older. Now I wonder if I should have done something about that -- and if this had any relation to what turned out to be his failing kidney function. lily, were all your cat's numbers completely normal on the blood and urine tests?

Please talk with your vet again. She/he may consider prescribing an anti-anxiety used for behavioral problems. It's better than the cat living alone for the rest of her life or being euthanized because of this. I know this must be tough, please ask the vet for help.

I DO feel bad about her being out there altho she is safe and I go visit many times a day. It's toasty warm in there now, but won't be for long as there is no heat. Absolutely no changes at all in the house but they did get fleas and were treated with Frontline Plus months ago. I comb her every day and no fleas or dirt. She drinks her water dish down 1/2 way every day and eats all her dry food and the one dish of wet food she gets. Her stools are perfectly normal looking. She doesn't have diarrhea nor are they hard. The consistency you'd want. Her numbers were all normal, and I should add that she also has peed out side the box but not lately. I should also add this is not a new happening. She always in all her 15 years has had these episodes of deciding not to use the box. I have an 18 and 1/2 half year old that just now jumped out of the litter box. In ALL his years, I don't recall him ever going outside the box. And all the others cats are great too. My house smells so good now. I was getting anxiety attacks just walking into the kitchen. I've even been distracted and stepped in it. Yuck and double yuck. I will ask vet about an anti anxiety drug for her (and me too!) and see about that cat attract product. We use mostly non clumping..Fresh Step or Tidy Cat. I once got Yesterdays News and it sat there unused. Alrighty then. Thanks all for your help.

Are you sure the cat has no problems with any of the other cats? I read (probably on this forum) that some cats will poop or pee to mark their territory that they know the other cats must travel.
My sister had this problem with her cat for YEARS.She spent hundreds,maybe thousands of dollars trying to figure out why the cat was doing this.Her cat was also prescribed anti-depressants as it was deemed a "behavioral problem".

Finally,she took the cat to the pound after it pooped all the way around an entire room and smeared it against the walls.
Feeling bad,she went back and got the cat after almost two weeks.
The cat stopped pooping and peeing everywhere,but only for about 6 months.The cat is now doing it all the time again,EVERYWHERE and she is really frustrated and at wits ends as well.The cat even ruined a laptop computer by peeing on it.
I'm sure this doesnt help you,but no one can hardly blame you for how you feel.There is no way I could keep a cat who does this.Good luck~I really hope you can fix the problem.

Maddie is in the house now. I brought her in five minutes ago. Everyone but the old guy came and sniffed her and she let them. No one hissed and we put her litter box beside the other big one upstairs. Not thrilled to be doing that but what ever it takes. She poops or pees ONE time and she's back to the carriage house. I'm done dancing around her.

No advice or help here I'm afraid. I too have a pooper. Same song different verse. She is eleven and goes through this periodically.No rhyme or reason. She just feels like it I guess. We are moving to a new home soon and I don't know what to do. My husband is less than sympathetic and I'm not really hip on it myself. I just can't bring myself to put her down but I wouldn't feel right trying to find a different home for her when I know she has this problem. I have friends who foster animals and they are always overrun with cats let alone an older cat with a litterbox aversion!

I'm one of the ones who has recommended anti-anxiety drugs in the past. They're inexpensive, and relatively easy to give to a cat (especially if your cat will take them in pill pockets). Please, please do try this avenue rather than just giving up, or continuing to drag this situation out -- you can keep saying "Well, I'll try one more time, and see if she poops in the house again." Guess what -- she is going to poop in the house again, because you don't know why she's doing it, and therefore haven't resolved the situation so that she'll stop doing it. For your own sake, I'd recommend just stepping up and seeing the vet again, and getting the cat on some meds (if the vet okays it).

I don't think I would have as much patience as you have shown and I have no answers except thinking that perhaps kitty cannot smell her own poop, therefore no need to put it in a special place. One thing I would do is try to time her poop time and restrict her space to the litter tray until she has been successful. I would watch to see if she does try to smell and bury it. That cat would probably be wearing diapers by now. Gosh I feel mean! Shame on me.

Well, the Maddie saga continues with her only being in the house for 14 hours. I feel like Cruella Daville but it is what it is. For the weeks she's been in our large carriage house my house has smelled wonderful despite the fact that I'm typing two feet from the large upstairs litter box in my sunroom under a table. Maddie was not harrassed when she came in. They all sniffed her and went on their way. She wasn't freaked, and used the litter box once, my husband observed. However later in the evening I went to the kitchen and found a pee spot on an antique rug. I also found pee in the tray that the litter box sits on. That used to be a common occurence but we found out it was Maddie who did it since it was clean as a whistle the whole time she was not in the house. When I went to give her her wet food today I noticed she had pooped right next to the box. And it's not that her rear is hanging over the edge. She is small.. the box is large. She never buries either poop or pee which is strange. I'm thinking maybe senility??

I wouldn't be so certain it isn't another cat in the house. Just because she was seperated, doesn't mean she can't smell them on your clothing.

We had a himilayan persian cross, and she was great with just our main coon. We recieved another female kitten from a different litter as the first, and all was well for a while. Then the first girl started urinating on everything, and pooping on everything. We tried separating them, everything. Vet checked out okay.

We ended up having to move where we could not have the cats. My sister took our big main coon guy, and each himilayan went to a different home. The one went to a house where she was the only cat, and she never displayed that behaviour again.

Perhaps your cat never fully understood the concept of using the litter box, and it might be helpful to do as suggested, and almost treat her like a kitten again. Place her in a small room, with access only to the box, show her what to do. Give her her very own box, and place her in that space after eating/waking. And who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and it will work for you.

How was she when she was in the carriage house? Did she have accidents there? I hate to be a nag, but really really recommend talking to your vet about meds to lessen her anxiety. Something like Amitriptyline could help her and help you. I know I'm repeating myself now. But why not try it? What are your other options?

She has the exact same behavior while in the carriage house as in the real house. She is unpredictable and has been for years and years. Since accidents were occuring a few times a day, we thought it was more than one cat. But doing the elimination process by putting them all in the basement except a few we knew for sure and bringing them up on at a time, we found out soon enough it was Maddie and she alone did it all. I know now it's been her for years now since as I said my hoiuse does not have any cat odor here in the sunroom, and I hate to admit it but most times it did. I have had 14 or 15 cats in my life and have never had this persistent problem with a cat which has been ongoing for years. I've had her since she was 6 weeks. In retrospect maybe too young to leave her mother. She has never had a trauma in her entire life, never left this house except to go to the vet and gets along with the others. ..lays with them , rubs against them..All litter boxes..7..are cleaned daily...I will not euthanize a cat for behavior issues but i can't take the stress in the house. She has a great space out there and I go see her all the time , but I will call the vet about the anti-anxiety meds altho I haven't a clue why she's anxious. Is there such a thing as senility in older cats?

It can't be senility, since you said she's been doing it for years and years. I doubt she's been senile for most of her life ;)

Don't stress yourself trying to figure out why she may be anxious; you're not a cat, and who knows what might be stressors in their lives (probably not work and bills, I suspect). Focus more on taking action. Try the meds and see if they work. Hopefully they will. If not, then there may be other actions you will have to try, such as retraining her to the box.

Well this is a timely thread, as I am having the exact same problem! We have 7 cats, and one is a "problem child." This little guy is so cute, and he is the youngest, and was the last addition to the family. All was fine while he was still young, and we kept him separated from the others while he was little. He is neutered like all the others, but he isn't social with them, and there is a LOT of aggression between him and one of my other cats which is a large, dominant black male.

"Corky" is peeing and marking up a storm all over the house! And this morning he ruined my laptop, which I am cursing myself because I told myself I needed to keep it put away and I got lazy. I know it is definitely behvioral, and I see a lot of recommendations for some anti-depressants. I guess I am going to have to do this, because NOTHING is working. We recently moved and it stopped for a week, then started back as bad as ever. I am using gallons of that "Nature's Miracle", and it helps with the smell but nothing else. There is no way we can give our little guy up, my husband is crazy about him and vice versa, and he is so cute and sweet outside of this.

He does pee in odd places - on the floor, on plastic, on electrical stuff, wet clothing, rugs, etc. It is very frustrating! I do have one other cat who occasionally will pee in an odd place, but I think it's because he smells the other one's "marks." Had cats ALL my life (58 years) and never had this problem before. I am thinking I may need to keep him out on the enclosed porch by himself, at least at night or when I am gone. Most of the "accidents" are during the night.

gypsyrose, I'm a big advocate for anti-depressants for aggression and inappropriate peeing (either due to territorial peeing or anxiety peeing). My male cat pees for all of the above reasons, and he's aggressive! He's been on a drug called Clomicalm now for several years; it's worked wonders for him. The only times that he pees inappropriately is when I forget to give him the pill, and he's much calmer with our other cat.

On the downside, the pill does make him rather sleepy and less active, so you are likely to notice a behavior change in your cat if you put him on meds -- so I give him the pill at night, right before bed. The upside of that is that it makes him less likely to wake us up by running around meowing or jumping on our heads in the middle of the night ;) Personally, I feel a slight behavior change is preferable to having cat piss all over the house, or relegating him to a single room in the house.

The pills cost about $30 for a 6 months supply if you order online (I've found they cost much more if you get only a few pills at a time from the vet). My cat gets a quarter of a pill each day. Chopping the pills up is a pain in the behind, but not that big of a deal. I just grab my cat and shove the pill down his throat -- easy enough to do, but if he knows what I'm up to, he runs and hides behind the tv. Little bugger.

The only other cost is that your vet will probably want to check your cat's liver levels every year or two to make sure that the drugs aren't affecting them. As your cat gets older, you should probably be doing that anyway, so it's not a big deal.