Cat Urinating and Defecating

Question
I have two cats, 10 years old- one male and one female. I have always had litter box problems with the male cat. When he was younger he would frequently urinate outside his litterbox at night.  I always assumed the issue was other outside cats.  I would always consult the vets but not get any great resolution other than trying the pherome sprays, no medical issues identified.  2 years ago I moved to another home and added two small dogs.  I keep the cats and dogs separated; the cats may access the dogs but the dogs cannot access the cats.  I didn't want my male cat continuing is marking freely in my new home so at night I place him in the laundry room with 2 litter boxes and his food and water.  Technically he could jump over the childrens gate to get out of this room but never does.  This seemed to work very well at first but every few months I have to deal with either urinating but lately defecation onto the floors for weeks at a time.   This morning I woke up to defecation on the floor, his bed, the window panel, etc....This is becoming extremely frustrating for me, I don't know what else to do. I feel that if I tried to find him a different home, he would do the same thing....and I don't know if I converting him to an indoor/outdoor if that would help.

Answer
Hi
If this problem is not medical it is known as Middening. It is purely behavioral and is your cats way of reacting to how he feels.

Now some cats are more territorial than others and some cats are more nervous than others and some cats are just happier being the only pet. It may simply be that your cat is always feeling under threat by the other animals in the home or feels that he has to scent mark all the time to make himself feel at home as it were.

It is a complicated issue which is difficult to sort out. It sounds as if you are doing everything you can to help keep him separated from the other animals. i feel that your only options would be to try him as an indoor / outdoor cat to see if this extra freedom and space allows him to feel less under pressure from the other animals. If this does not work then you may have to consider that he may be happier as a single pet elsewhere.

i have a page about Middening here for more information

/cat-poo.html

best wishes Kate