My cat is around 15 years old and has just recently started to mess in our dining room. i shut her in the kitchen at night and she then poops in there. She always poops in the same place. She has access to a cat flap. When she started messing in the house i put down a litter tray, she will wee in it and nothing else. I am at my wits end with her and don't know what to do. She is eating and drinking ok. i have spoken to the vet about her and he seems to thinks she is stressed.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how i can stop her doing this.

She has always used the cat flap before and i have had no problems in that area before

She is getting old and younger cats may have taken over her territory. It is quite possible she daren't go into the garden any more.

Pooing in the house may well be a sign of pure stress. My tortie Steffie was about the same age when she suddenly pooed in the living room several times. We then adopted a couple of young rescue cats, who were able to defend the garden for her and Tuppence.
The 2 old ladies got on well with the 2 young men, and they happily shared our garden and the neighbouring roofs, but a couple of months later she started pooing again.
When we figured out it was stress from the noise of the roadworkers outside, we bought a feliway evaporator, and her stress level dropped and she was OK again.

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Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge

Thanks for your reply.

There was an occasion about a couple of weeks ago when she had an altercation with a cat outside and came flying through the catflap. It was like something from a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Her problem started soon after that.

It does definitely sound stress related -poor girl
To get her to poo in the litter tray, when you clean up after her put a bit in the litter tray, even a tissue with a bit of poo on it will help. Make sure the area she has used is cleaned with a biological washing powder or something like Simple Solution, available from pet shops. You won't be able to smell it but your cat will still be able to, so you need to totally eradicate her scent or she will continue to use that same place.
She is an elderly lady and certainly doesn't need stress in her life. You could try a Feliway plug in to help calm her too.

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Have you tried two litter trays?

Some cats seem to prefer to wee and poop in different places. My cat has two trays placed a short distance apart and always uses one to wee in and the other for poop. He gets very upset and confused if there is only one tray.

Thanks for every one who has responded.

Just a bit of an update. Early days, but after i moved her litter tray she has now used it for pooping in and has been outside for a little while.

Hopefully progress is being made.

Well, that's probably the source of the problem. She may have had another problem with that same cat while toiletting, and is now convinced that it is no longer safe to poo in the garden.

In the garden, she would have a choice of places to toilet, so maybe one litter is restricting her choice too much....

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Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge