Old (19yrs) cat poops everywhere, anywhere but the litter box.

[Denvergirlie]

So my parents cat is 19 years old. Deaf and sleeps a lot, still goes outside almost everyday to frolic in the yard and is over all very healthy. He will use the kitty litter box for pee, but always poops in other places and has been getting worse for the past year or so. Vet has given kitty a clean bill of health considering that he's 19 years old now.

What gives with the pooping? used to be behind a chair or somewhat hidden, but in the last month, has started to do so more out in the open. Carpet, floor, location, time of day, it doesn't really matter, just won't use litter box anymore for pooping.

So my mom is getting really tired of looking and hunting for cat poop each day, heck who can blame her. But the big issue is that my parents will be traveling this summer, for the entire summer, and they are considering putting the cat to sleep because who can expect a housesitter to clean up cat poop every day....

I would hate for them to put him down, but on the other hand he is old. But then, he's healthy so it's not like a quality of life issue for the kitty, it's a quality of life issue for the human.

Me taking the cat for the summer really isn't in the cards, I'm some 700 miles away with two cats of my own.

Any ideas for me ladies?

[SophieAnn]

If it were my cat, this is what I would do (so take it for what it's worth)...

It sounds like his quality of life is very good, so putting her down would not be an option for me.

I would set up babygates in order to limit his access to space indoors to tiled or hardwood areas. This would make cleanup easier and limit the amount of "hunting" I would need to do. Of course I would ensure that the litter box, food and water are all available in this area. I would also choose an area where people often are (such as the kitchen), so he would still have lots of attention and affection. Venturing out of that area would be only under supervision.

I would also keep looking for some sort of medical or behavioural cause. Since he goes pee in the litterbox but poop wherever, it might mean that he has control over her bladder but has lost control of his bowels. I would look into a 2nd opinion on whether there is a medical cause that would explain the loss of control.