Why does my cat pee and poop in the car on vet trips and boarding?

I’m sorry to hear you are dealing with that, I know how frustrating it is. She might have a health issue, such as a urinary tract infection, bladder stone, or an endocrine disease, or it may just be behavioral. Take her to your vet to have her examined, and have some lab work run to rule out a medical cause. If it is behavioral, there are things you can do to try to help. You may find this article helpful: https://www.petcoach.co/article/inappropriate-elimination-urination-defecation-spraying-in/ Before we call it behavioral, a medical condition should be ruled out. Thanks for asking PetCoach!

In a very general sense, cats typically avoid appropriate places to urinate (i.e. the litter box) because they associate doing so with pain. Any cat that is inappropriately urinating/defecating should be first checked for pain, either from urinary tract issues like an infection or inflammation, or skeletal pain from issues like hip or spinal problems. Once these issues have been ruled out, behavioral problems should be investigated. This can be done by increasing frequency of litter box cleaning (once daily), adding additional litter boxes (at least one per cat + 1), trying covered vs. non-covered boxes, trying a bigger box, and trying a few different kinds of litter to see if your cat has a different preference.

Inappropriate elimination can be due to either medical or behavioral problems. I always recommend having the cat examined by a vet to rule out any medical problems first, like GI disease, intestinal parasites or a urinary tract infection. If everything is normal on exam then you can consider this a behavioral issue. Cats will sometimes go outside the box if it is not cleaned frequently enough, if the litter or location of the box has been changed, or if there is something in the environment causing the cat stress (like the new housemate). You need to also consider pain/discomfort when using the box, either due to posturing or getting in/out of the box, especially if your cat is older. You may want to consider adding an extra litter box or two to your home, making the boxes more easily accessible. To help decrease your cat’s stress levels try adding pheromone diffusers like Feliway throughout the house. You may want to also consider talking to your vet about a urinary specific diet and possibly consider anti-anxiety medication to help relieve stress. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor guy. I would first make sure that he does not have a medical problem to speak of. Get his urine tested by your veterinarian to check for urinary crystals or cystitis (inflammation of the bladder). If none of these are present, then you will have to treat Bambi for stress, which is the most likely cause here. Something about your room may be causing Bambi stress. Feliway plug-in diffusers or oral anti-anxiety Zylkene can be purchase at local pet stores or online. If none of that works, then the last resort would be anti-anxiety medication prescribed by your veterinarian. I hope that you are able to get Bambi's litterbox troubles sorted out soon! Best of luck and take care. : )

Fasting her is an option, but that may lead to carsickness and vomiting. She may be defecating in the carrier due to stress. Try to acclimate her to the crate and travel by taking her on frequent trips. Gradually increase the length of travel as she acclimates. Pheromone products such as Feliway spray may decrease any travel related anxiety.

One of the most common causes of inappropriate urination for a young adult cat is actually lower urinary tract disease. Cats can develop urinary tract inflammation and crystals or occasionally an infection that can cause discomfort and lead to them avoiding the litter box. If you notice any straining in the litter box or frequent urination, or if your cat urinates outside the box again I would recommend seeing your veterinarian for a physical exam and possibly a urinalysis before you assume that this is behavioral. The inappropriate defecation however is a little more suggestive of a behavioral problem, unless the stool was loose or had blood present. I'm wondering if this happened while the boxes were being cleaned today and were unavailable. You may also want to make sure you haven't changed the brand or type of litter and that you didn't use any strong smelling cleaners both of which could make the litter boxes less appealing to your cat. I doubt the skunk pelt is part of the problem.

Poor guy. There are two most likely possibilities. One is that something scary happened to him during the party (kids being too rough or even just the noise being scary for him) or he has been ill for the past 7 months and is feeling poorly because of that. I would recommend starting with a vet visit to make sure he seems medically healthy, and talking them through the behavioral changes you've noticed to decide if he needs treatment.