1. Giorgio, 2.5 years old, male
2. Neutered
3. Bombay
4. 8.44 lbs
5. Has a big appetite and is a very food motivated cat. He gets the zoomies after peeing or especially pooping, I think he hates strong smells, especially since his burying doesn’t work (he attempts but never succeeds). He loves playing with balls and him and our other cat like to play/wrestle sometimes. He loves snuggle times with me and being held by my husband, too. He has been pooping and peeing outside the litterbox ever since we got him (just over a year ago) with little breaks of actually going in the litterbox in between. He imaginary “buries” his food and his poop/pee by digging on the ground around the food bowl or litter box- not actually burying anything, just doing the motions. He has great energy and his brain is calm (he used to suffer from anxiety, and he is epileptic).
6. His diet is mainly home cooked salmon now as the base. I add a little parsley to the broth so there’s a bit more minerals, plus, we have a kelp supplement, and I add vit b12, a little zinc, C, & olive leaf to his foods. He has a tiny bit of celery juice added to his food plus a dusting of barley grass juice powder for more minerals, although he hates the taste of that so he only gets it a few times a week. He eats 2x a day, a good sized meal until he is full and attempts to bury his food to say he’s done. He has a great appetite and always has, especially after he gets a seizure- he will eat 3 meals in a row after a seizure. But that hasn’t happened in a long time. But I think his brain makes him want to eat more, too. He gets the occasional freeze dried raw turkey heart as a treat and he loves those too. He loves all his food, lol.
7. He was just vaccinated with his puravax rabies vaccine. We lapsed in giving it to him after we got him so he will have to get another one a year from now. He got a seizure 2 weeks after his rabies shot and a rash that made a bunch of bald spots on him and they were really itchy to him. It seems to roam around his body, right now there is one itchy spot at the front of his neck. He used to get a seizure from itching, but now he doesn’t since we started him on a spirulina/coconut water mixture (this mixture was recommended by Medical Medium for preventing seizures. His seizures reduced to every 7 weeks after starting it. Before that, he was having them every 2 weeks or more. It really helps stabilize him.) He’s been on anti-seizure medication for 8 months now- keppra and phenobarbital. We decreased his Keppra dose from 1.8mL 3x daily to 1 mL 1x daily. His pheno dose is unchanged: 1/4th of a 32 mg tablet 2x daily. His vet wants us to increase Keppra if he gets one more seizure, as she thinks his last seizure wasn’t caused by the vaccine- but I disagree. Other than his last seizure, he has been stable.
The only other exposure to toxins was an environmental one- we had black mold throughout our house when he first moved in with us. We actually found the source because of Giorgio- every time we’d open up a cabinet and dust it, he would immediately get a seizure. Every time. So I know the mycotoxins were affecting him. I have worked hard at removing the spores from his body by using homemade food only and tailoring it for him. Our other cat gets to benefit from the extra healthy food, as well.
8. The Primary Problem: Giorgio does not go in the litter box. He has a few places he likes to go- our entry way, and a corner of our dining room. We have placed a small empty litterbox in our entry way- and if it is completely clean, he will go in there. If there is anything else in there, he will not go in and he will pee or poo on the floor nearby. I’m wondering if he is a bit of an extreme clean freak with his toilet. We will notice him digging in the corner, and sometimes pick him up and put him in a clean litter box with sand in it- and sometimes, he will go right then and there. Other times, he will jump out. He refuses to go on any sort of carpet or bed- thank god. So we’ve tried locking him in a carpeted bedroom with a single (sanded) litter box before. Sometimes, he will go. Other times, he will hold it until we inevitably let him out of the room, and then he’ll go in the empty clean litter box or on the floor. So it feels like a preference. I have a friend with a pet bunny who had the same issue, and she said the only thing that changed it was confining her pet in a small room for several weeks. I would hate to have to do that to Giorgio, but my husband wants to do it. I feel like it just wouldn’t be fair. But I don’t know what else to do.
This started when we first got Giorgio about a year ago (last March). I talked with the manager of the cat cafe where we got him about it, and she said that there was one cat pooping outside the box consistently, and it must have been our boy because the issue disappeared from the cat cafe when he left. So this isn’t isolated to our house. But this behavior does get worse after stressful events, for example, after a vet visit he had the end of last year, this behavior got markedly worse, and I believe it’s because the vet’s assistant was forcibly manhandling him because he is so squirmy, and he is such a gentle guy, I think it traumatized him. It also got worse after he went to the ER for repeated seizures, the same time he got his two anti-seizure medications. But it was especially bad after the regular vet appointment where I felt he was manhandled. But even so, this has been an ongoing issue regardless of his stress levels. There is also an ongoing stress level in our home, as I am about to file for divorce from my husband. And Giorgio is mostly attached to me. We don’t fight a lot as of now. But that is the emotional environment he is living in- where I feel depressed and anxious, and my husband is agitated. It is not constant, though. And I have been working on myself a lot with therapy and massage and it has improved. But I am still going forward with the divorce.
The point is, we cannot constantly clean up the empty litter box every time he wants to go in order to prevent a mess. He does need to go in the litterbox. If we separate and I become single with him, I will have to leave the house eventually to start work. That is what I have been trying to do currently, but inevitably I will miss a pee in the empty box and he will go on the floor next to it. So I’m not sure what to do about this. My husband and I are both perplexed. The vet mentioned she could give us something to help, but hasn’t followed through on it. And even so, Giorgio is very sensitive physically- he get seizures and rashes from topical medications and is sensitive to fragrances. I’m not sure where to go from here. He does have insurance now so I could get a second opinion if I wanted to in person.
9. It doesn’t seem to get better or worse, except that we emptied a litter box and he is more willing to go potty in it when it’s completely empty. It actually feels like a preference at this point, but I’m not sure.
10. Giorgio has no bladder or kidney issues. He had bloodwork and his numbers are clear. His bowels are also healthy- he poops anywhere between 12-20 hours apart, give or take, depending on if I share my green smoothie with him. When he first came to us he was pooping every 24+ hours and had a tapeworm, and both of those issues have been either eliminated or improved- he was retested and has no tapeworm now, and he does go a little more often and doesn’t hold it in anymore- something he did when we first got him (we thought this was due to stress of a new home).
11. Treatment for going outside the litter box: all we can think of is to lock him in a bedroom. My husband will lock him in a bedroom overnight and let him out during the day. Sometimes Giorgio will hold it overnight and immediately go when he gets out of the room in the morning. My husband will pick him up when he’s about to to and carry him to a sanded litter box, and a lot of the time he will go then. He will never seek out a sanded litter box on his own- historically, we have placed him in front of the sanded litter box every time he went inside to pee (he’s never pooped when we’ve done this, though). We’ve also tried changing the type of litter to no avail.
12. All other health concerns have been listed above. The rash, the seizures, the former tapeworm, and the constipation. That’s about it.
13. @Dr. Jeff , @Dr. Christina thank you both for helping so many babies
2. Neutered
3. Bombay
4. 8.44 lbs
5. Has a big appetite and is a very food motivated cat. He gets the zoomies after peeing or especially pooping, I think he hates strong smells, especially since his burying doesn’t work (he attempts but never succeeds). He loves playing with balls and him and our other cat like to play/wrestle sometimes. He loves snuggle times with me and being held by my husband, too. He has been pooping and peeing outside the litterbox ever since we got him (just over a year ago) with little breaks of actually going in the litterbox in between. He imaginary “buries” his food and his poop/pee by digging on the ground around the food bowl or litter box- not actually burying anything, just doing the motions. He has great energy and his brain is calm (he used to suffer from anxiety, and he is epileptic).
6. His diet is mainly home cooked salmon now as the base. I add a little parsley to the broth so there’s a bit more minerals, plus, we have a kelp supplement, and I add vit b12, a little zinc, C, & olive leaf to his foods. He has a tiny bit of celery juice added to his food plus a dusting of barley grass juice powder for more minerals, although he hates the taste of that so he only gets it a few times a week. He eats 2x a day, a good sized meal until he is full and attempts to bury his food to say he’s done. He has a great appetite and always has, especially after he gets a seizure- he will eat 3 meals in a row after a seizure. But that hasn’t happened in a long time. But I think his brain makes him want to eat more, too. He gets the occasional freeze dried raw turkey heart as a treat and he loves those too. He loves all his food, lol.
7. He was just vaccinated with his puravax rabies vaccine. We lapsed in giving it to him after we got him so he will have to get another one a year from now. He got a seizure 2 weeks after his rabies shot and a rash that made a bunch of bald spots on him and they were really itchy to him. It seems to roam around his body, right now there is one itchy spot at the front of his neck. He used to get a seizure from itching, but now he doesn’t since we started him on a spirulina/coconut water mixture (this mixture was recommended by Medical Medium for preventing seizures. His seizures reduced to every 7 weeks after starting it. Before that, he was having them every 2 weeks or more. It really helps stabilize him.) He’s been on anti-seizure medication for 8 months now- keppra and phenobarbital. We decreased his Keppra dose from 1.8mL 3x daily to 1 mL 1x daily. His pheno dose is unchanged: 1/4th of a 32 mg tablet 2x daily. His vet wants us to increase Keppra if he gets one more seizure, as she thinks his last seizure wasn’t caused by the vaccine- but I disagree. Other than his last seizure, he has been stable.
The only other exposure to toxins was an environmental one- we had black mold throughout our house when he first moved in with us. We actually found the source because of Giorgio- every time we’d open up a cabinet and dust it, he would immediately get a seizure. Every time. So I know the mycotoxins were affecting him. I have worked hard at removing the spores from his body by using homemade food only and tailoring it for him. Our other cat gets to benefit from the extra healthy food, as well.
8. The Primary Problem: Giorgio does not go in the litter box. He has a few places he likes to go- our entry way, and a corner of our dining room. We have placed a small empty litterbox in our entry way- and if it is completely clean, he will go in there. If there is anything else in there, he will not go in and he will pee or poo on the floor nearby. I’m wondering if he is a bit of an extreme clean freak with his toilet. We will notice him digging in the corner, and sometimes pick him up and put him in a clean litter box with sand in it- and sometimes, he will go right then and there. Other times, he will jump out. He refuses to go on any sort of carpet or bed- thank god. So we’ve tried locking him in a carpeted bedroom with a single (sanded) litter box before. Sometimes, he will go. Other times, he will hold it until we inevitably let him out of the room, and then he’ll go in the empty clean litter box or on the floor. So it feels like a preference. I have a friend with a pet bunny who had the same issue, and she said the only thing that changed it was confining her pet in a small room for several weeks. I would hate to have to do that to Giorgio, but my husband wants to do it. I feel like it just wouldn’t be fair. But I don’t know what else to do.
This started when we first got Giorgio about a year ago (last March). I talked with the manager of the cat cafe where we got him about it, and she said that there was one cat pooping outside the box consistently, and it must have been our boy because the issue disappeared from the cat cafe when he left. So this isn’t isolated to our house. But this behavior does get worse after stressful events, for example, after a vet visit he had the end of last year, this behavior got markedly worse, and I believe it’s because the vet’s assistant was forcibly manhandling him because he is so squirmy, and he is such a gentle guy, I think it traumatized him. It also got worse after he went to the ER for repeated seizures, the same time he got his two anti-seizure medications. But it was especially bad after the regular vet appointment where I felt he was manhandled. But even so, this has been an ongoing issue regardless of his stress levels. There is also an ongoing stress level in our home, as I am about to file for divorce from my husband. And Giorgio is mostly attached to me. We don’t fight a lot as of now. But that is the emotional environment he is living in- where I feel depressed and anxious, and my husband is agitated. It is not constant, though. And I have been working on myself a lot with therapy and massage and it has improved. But I am still going forward with the divorce.
The point is, we cannot constantly clean up the empty litter box every time he wants to go in order to prevent a mess. He does need to go in the litterbox. If we separate and I become single with him, I will have to leave the house eventually to start work. That is what I have been trying to do currently, but inevitably I will miss a pee in the empty box and he will go on the floor next to it. So I’m not sure what to do about this. My husband and I are both perplexed. The vet mentioned she could give us something to help, but hasn’t followed through on it. And even so, Giorgio is very sensitive physically- he get seizures and rashes from topical medications and is sensitive to fragrances. I’m not sure where to go from here. He does have insurance now so I could get a second opinion if I wanted to in person.
9. It doesn’t seem to get better or worse, except that we emptied a litter box and he is more willing to go potty in it when it’s completely empty. It actually feels like a preference at this point, but I’m not sure.
10. Giorgio has no bladder or kidney issues. He had bloodwork and his numbers are clear. His bowels are also healthy- he poops anywhere between 12-20 hours apart, give or take, depending on if I share my green smoothie with him. When he first came to us he was pooping every 24+ hours and had a tapeworm, and both of those issues have been either eliminated or improved- he was retested and has no tapeworm now, and he does go a little more often and doesn’t hold it in anymore- something he did when we first got him (we thought this was due to stress of a new home).
11. Treatment for going outside the litter box: all we can think of is to lock him in a bedroom. My husband will lock him in a bedroom overnight and let him out during the day. Sometimes Giorgio will hold it overnight and immediately go when he gets out of the room in the morning. My husband will pick him up when he’s about to to and carry him to a sanded litter box, and a lot of the time he will go then. He will never seek out a sanded litter box on his own- historically, we have placed him in front of the sanded litter box every time he went inside to pee (he’s never pooped when we’ve done this, though). We’ve also tried changing the type of litter to no avail.
12. All other health concerns have been listed above. The rash, the seizures, the former tapeworm, and the constipation. That’s about it.
13. @Dr. Jeff , @Dr. Christina thank you both for helping so many babies
