Poll of the Day > What would you do if this was your cat?

(+) Yeah! (+)

My cat is about 16 years old, and exclusively an indoor cat (in house, and basement). A while back, she had some issues with diarrhea and pooping on the floor. Took her to vet. Vet didn't see anything wrong in test results, but tried about 5 different medicines, none of which changed anything. Tried different diets and foods, cycling through well over 10 different cat foods, many specialty designed for stomach issues. Vet gave up and said they didn't know. Cat has become exclusively a basement cat after too many times of shitting upstairs. Cat regularly shits on the floor in the basement, which is easier to clean up of course. But also not good. The cat doesn't act like anything is wrong; she doesn't act sluggish, she eats normally, she purrs and comes up to you, etc.

Debating what to do here. It's been almost a year of being in the basement only now, and still poops on the floor regularly. I'm thinking of just saying "Now you are an outdoor cat, be free." while still feeding her outside of course.

---

Try probiotics?

Instead of accepting one vet's advice and moving on, try to see a different vet who may be able to explain it better. This sounds like a major issue so it's worth looking into somebody who is an expert in cats. Doing research on websites where you can ask questions to a vet online would be easy and you could get some good ideas. She may have a condition developing with her bowels that could become serious over time. They should take stool samples to see if she has parasites, too. Medications can also cause her to have diarrhea. Make sure she hasn't gotten into any plants you may have around.

I would say the change in diet was a step in the right direction, but trying too many hew foods could have actually upset her stomach even more.Try giving her white rice an plain boiled chicken instead, that works well for cats and dogs and even humans, and is a cheap and easy alternative to buying all kinds of different foods.

If there's nothing wrong with her physically then she could be stressed somehow. Stress actually causes a lot of behavioral and physiological changes in cats. Cats react to their environment substantially, afterall. Has there been any recent change that could be causing her some kind of anxiety? How long has this been going on? When she poops, is it always at the same time of day?

Make sure she drinks lots of water. It's much easier to dehydrated from diarrhea than vomiting. On a side note, you should layer your basement with some absorbent puppy-pads to make cleanup even easier.


---

I think the cat just doesn't like you anymore.

---

Behold, the great outdoors!

---

This situation sounds pretty shitty to be honest.

---

Flappers posted...

Instead of accepting one vet's advice and moving on, try to see a different vet who may be able to explain it better. This sounds like a major issue so it's worth looking into somebody who is an expert in cats. Doing research on websites where you can ask questions to a vet online would be easy and you could get some good ideas. She may have a condition developing with her bowels that could become serious over time. They should take stool samples to see if she has parasites, too. Medications can also cause her to have diarrhea. Make sure she hasn't gotten into any plants you may have around.

I would say the change in diet was a step in the right direction, but trying too many hew foods could have actually upset her stomach even more.Try giving her white rice an plain boiled chicken instead, that works well for cats and dogs and even humans, and is a cheap and easy alternative to buying all kinds of different foods.

If there's nothing wrong with her physically then she could be stressed somehow. Stress actually causes a lot of behavioral and physiological changes in cats. Cats react to their environment substantially, afterall. Has there been any recent change that could be causing her some kind of anxiety? How long has this been going on? When she poops, is it always at the same time of day?

Make sure she drinks lots of water. It's much easier to dehydrated from diarrhea than vomiting. On a side note, you should layer your basement with some absorbent puppy-pads to make cleanup even easier.

Lots of good advice in this post. I think trying a different vet should be at the top of your list.

I would also be very wary of letting her be an outside cat after 16 years inside.

---

Your cat should get some additional testing done, namely an abdominal ultrasound. The most common causes of chronic diarrhea in older cats are Inflammatory Bowel Disease and intestinal cancer. IBD can be managed with medications like prednisolone. Intestinal cancers have a wide range of aggressiveness in cats; the milder forms can also be managed for many years with medications.

Once the diarrhea is cleared up, the cat will probably start using the litter box again. Or at a minimum, make it even easier to clean up the basement turds.