Potty problems

Question
We have a kitten about 8 months old that we adopted from my sister.  She was born on the streets in LA.  After a couple of months living with us, she started peeing in various areas of the house, even though she had been using the litter box perfectly well until then.  She then started getting diarrhea pretty bad.  We took her to the vet numerous times and have had many tests done for any parasites or diseases.  They still have yet to figure out what is wrong with her, but we have found that after the antibiotics and steroids she was on finished, the only thing that acutally helped her form a solid stool was wet prescription diet W/D food.  So now she poops ok but is starting to pee and poop in various areas of the house again.  We can't figure it out.  It's a different place every time, and the last time was on our bed.  We are at our wits end.  Please help.  We really don't want to give her to a shelter.  But it's literally every day or every other day that she's doing this.  Do you think she still has some inflammation?  Would that make her pee AND poop in the wrong places?
Thank you for any help you can give us.
Jodi

Answer
Hi Jodi.  It is possible this is all health-related.  She may still be experiencing cramping or gas, which could cause her to poop outside the box.  Urinating outside the box might be because she's also got bladder inflammation or an infection.

But you may want to take a look at your litter box situation.  A great majority of cats prefer to use one box for pee and another for poop. Often, adding another box will solve the problem. You may also want to try different types of litter (clay, clumping, pine, newspaper, crystals), different styles of boxes (extra large, shallow, deep, hooded, uncovered), and different scents and depths of litters.  There's also a litter called Cat Attract that uses herbs to draw cats back to the litter box.  You can learn more on their site, www.preciouscat.com.  It's guaranteed.

If the problem persists, you may be looking at anxiety-related behavior. Try to identify if there is something you do to cause her behavior, and eliminate it if you can. I'm not sure if you scold the cat when he has accidents or not, but if so, stop. It's not very effective and causes anxiety, which may worsen the problem.

If you're not able to eliminate the cause of her anxiety, I suggest to purchase some Feliway. Feliway is a synthetic pheromone - hormones proven to induce relaxation and a feeling of safety. It's an excellent tool to use at all times, and is essential, in my opinion, for use with cats who are prone to anxiety. See their website, www.felineway.com, for more information and to order. It's available at pet stores and some vet offices, too.

If Feliway doesn't work in cases of anxiety, a prescription antianxiety medication usually will. Talk to your vet about this.

Don't forget to clean the stained areas with a pet stain remover. It needs to be an enzymatic cleaner, which breaks down the fats in cat waste that cause the stains to cling to carpets and other surfaces. Nature's Miracle and Especially for Cats are enzymatic cleaners available at pet stores. I also highly recommend Greased Lightning Orange Blast, which uses orange oil to break down fats.  It's available in the auto section at most stores.  Unless you remove the stain, the cat is likely to return to the accident area. A cat's sense of smell is 14 times more sensitive than a human's, so even if you can't smell the stain, the cat can. That's why it's so important to use an enzymatic cleaner to remove stains, not just cover them.