As I stated in my intro I have 2 cats... the one I am having trouble with is my elderly female called Creep. She is now around 14 and spayed, and WAS toilet trained both in and outside. However past few months it seems she doesn't care where she goes to the toilet any more. She doesn't ask to go out and simply picks some where (anywhere) in the flat and does her business.

So far she has done her business; on our sofa (4 times), in her and Quicksliver's sleeping area (lost how many times) and has just last week taken to doing it in their eating area. (7-8 times!)

I'm not sure if she is just being lazy or if this is a case of her not being able to control her system any more. She knows she does wrong since she hides after doing it, or just stares at me after I catch her... and Quicksilver knows too since she usually goes after her as if to tell her off for doing it.

I am at my wits end and have even tried using accident cleaner after she peed in the eating area today... only to have not even 10 minutes her taking a poop there.

I really do love her to bits and the only time she seems to bother using the litter tray outside is when I have the front door open 24/7. (which in the summer was all well and good, but now it's winter it's becoming impractical.)
I don't know what to do and feel if she keeps doing this I may have to give her another home... so does anyone know what's going on and how I can solve this problem? I love her so much and don't want to give her up, but I feel at this rate I'll have no choice but to do so.

have you taken her to the vets to see if there is a medical problem?

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I took her a few month ago when she was having hairball problems and the vet said she was perfectly healthy... but that was before I noticed her doing this. So no not yet.

well, first i'd take her back as this is a completely different problem. she is quite old and problems can occur quite quickly.

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Your kitty needs a vet check up, including blood work and a urinalysis. Please don't even consider dumping her. Pets are not disposable objects to be gotten rid of when they have problems. She's an old lady and needs her home and people and special consideration in her last years.

She could be constipated with megacolon, she could have kidney failure and/or a UTI, she could be diabetic, or developing hyperthyroid. All these things can cause litter box issues. In the case of constipation and UTI she will blame the box for her pain and trouble, and so avoid it and go elsewhere in the house.

Arthritis can also cause these kinds of problems. The box is too far away, or to difficult to get in and out of. It hurts her to squat, so again, she blames the box. Where is her litter box kept? Keeping a low sided box in every room will help her be able to get to the box in time.

She could be losing her sight and/or hearing and becoming confused.

Please realize that your senior cat needs special care and understanding now. Seeing the vet a few months ago is not enough, a senior cat's health can change from one day to the next. And these problems she is having now are a red flag that something is not right with her.

Yep Creep needs a thorough check up.

It could be incontinence.

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Ok when I next get paid I'll take her.
I know she isn't disposable and I was in no way saying she was. I know she needs a home and I took her in when her last owner abandoned her in the middle of Sainsbury's car park. (I found her wondering as if lost there and looked for her owner for 2 months... after which the police she was legally mine if I wanted her.) I have no idea why. A year later she needed dental surgery to take some bad teeth out, that were hurting her.

The only reason I am considering giving her to another home is because I live in a flat and shouldn't even have her or Quicksilver here. (under our tenancy agreement) The only reason they are allowed here is under an agreement neither would be a pest to the other residents here. So her doing her business around the flat isn't good... especially if one day the housing officer comes round and sees her doing it or can smell it. I think that's my biggest fear...
The litter tray is a few feet outside our front door:



The only time she doesn't go in there is when our front door is closed, and she doesn't bother asking to be let out. Just finds some where and does her business.

In fact now I come to think about it she doesn't ask for anything and hasn't since Quicksilver was 2 years old. She lets Quicksilver do all the nagging for food, water, litter change, door to be opened. The only time she does nag is when she wants attention (which is rare these days) or when I am opening a tin of tuna or sardines for them. (yes I spoil them rotten <.< )
I don't think it's this since she seems to be able to see and hear everyone perfectly as she always has done, and doesn't bump into objects. (a friends dog used to bump into things when her sight was going and barely hear you unless you were next to her. Although I'm not sure if cats behave the same.)
As I said when I next get paid I'll take her. I have no insurance since no company would take her since she was 10, (that's how old she was when I got her) and they want me to pay extra on Quicksilver since she had respiratory problems as a kitten. (she almost died of cat flu and had feline herpes when I rescued her. She is fine now apart from slight wheezing when she sniffs things.)

I do honestly love her to pieces even though it doesn't seem like it. If indeed it is a case of her getting old and I can get help and advice on how to look after her I will keep her... however if it is behavioural I don't know what I'll do.

Do you think her random aggressiveness towards Quicksilver could be her getting old too?

It was good of you to take her in four years ago. Poor kitty, changing homes is so hard on them.

I think you should put a litter box inside the house for her. Since she is not asking for the door to be open any more, she needs a box where she can get to it when she needs it. It may be cold for her out there, also.

She may be sick, or in pain, and that is what is causing her to be aggressive to the younger cat. Pain or illness will make her feel vulnerable so she will warn the other cat away.

Keep in mind that cats are masters at hiding illness, so when they begin to show symptoms, whatever is wrong has been going on for a while and is probably serious.

I don't understand why anyone would dump her. On her good days she is a very affectionate cat, love cuddles, any form of attention she can get off you and doesn't like being moved off you once she settles. (She growls and meow angrily if you even try and move her slightly) Hell even when you don't want to pet her any more she'll force you to.
So one in the living room one, in the kitchen. Got ya.

When we lived with my boyfriends parents she didn't mind going outside all year round...

Also until this spring/summer they had been going in a litter tray in doors,(we have lived here 3 years) but I was getting fed up of the smell it was leaving in the flat so decided to try and get them to go outside which was working out until now.
I never thought of that... all I knew is once every so often when she is having a bad day, even when Quicksilvers body language is saying she is submissive and means no harm she hit her, when all she wants is to sleep with or near her.

Quicksilver can be a little over playful but still likes cuddling up to her when Creep allows her to.
I heard that and when she needed her teeth doing it's only when she started being sick and came to me crying in pain after did I take her. I hate seeing and hearing animals in pain.

I am wondering why if something has been wrong with her for so long the vet didn't pick it up. Do you think this maybe started happening a day or so after she left? I know her behaviour has been like this since Quicksilver turned 2... so maybe she is getting annoyed with having her around?

A cat's health, especially a senior cat's can change very quickly. An example is my recently departed senior kitty. I begin annual blood work on my cats when they are 10. When they turn 13 I begin blood work every since months.

In June of my Bridge Angel's 15th year she had blood work that was perfect in every way. Two months later, in August, she developed a UTI and I brought her in. My vet wanted to do blood work again. I said, well she's not due until December, having just had it done two months ago. But I trust my vet so I agreed. The new blood work showed her to be in early stage kidney failure.

Other than the UTI, shehad no symptoms of kidney failure, yet, and very likely would not have shown any for a few more months.

Because of the early detection, I was able to maintain her kidney disease and have her with me for three more precious years. She had a lot of other problems, too. I moved a litter box upstairs for her. I hated having a litter box in my bathroom, but she was old and could not manage the stairs any more. I catered to her every need, because she had given me 18 years (by the end) of unconditional love.

Okay I am getting off topic. Whatever was okay for Creeps before (litter box outside, for example), obviously is not okay for her now. She's aging and needs special care and consideration.

If the litter boxes are kept clean there should be no problem with odor in the house.

If she had no trouble with Quicksilver for the first two years Quicksilver was there, and is only now objecting, I think it is because she feels vulnerable and does not want to be bothered any more, except when SHE want to. My Bridge Angel was devoted to my Red Boy, but in the last year of her life she spent more and more time sleeping in her special bed in the bathroom, where none of the other cats ever went.

Senior cats require a lot of special attention and care, but the love they give back is worth it all.