As the title indicates my female, neutered 5 years old cat has not been using the litter for pooping for 3 years now. We went to the vet several times and she confirmed that while at the start, she was doing that due to a UTI, that is no longer the case. She is physically healthy and there is no medical reason for her to stop using the litter for pooping, especially since she actively uses it for peeing normally. The vet said its likely behavioral and prescribed anti-anxiety meds and stool softeners, both of which were used religiously. It has not fixed the issue. She continues to do it on the floor, on clothes, on carpets and as of recently on the bed. Its never in the same spot twice in a row that would mandate placing a pee pad or a litter box in that area (we tried that too didnt work). She has access to outside balcony but she doesnt eat plants nor drink the rainwater.
We have removed all carpets from the house, threw away mats and some of the clothes and whatever we could salvage, have been religiously cleaned with enzymatic cleaners and washed on high temprature. We have 3 litter boxes in the bathroom, living room and in the bedroom, which we have seen her using for peeing. We live in 1 bedroom apartment, and we are limited on space so its not possible to add another litter box.
We noticed she holds in her stools, tries to use the litter and then panicks and jumps out of it and run, then prowls, snifs around and then poops on the spot. Alot of times she does it out of our sight, for example the bedroom when we are in the living room so we have to lock in our bedroom after feeding time. However, since she holds it in, its unpredicatable when she goes to poop. Most of the time, she just goes to the other room and poops without the panic and anxiety behaviour. Other times we would be on the couch and she would do on the coffee table or around us by the coffee table. Once I caught her mid way, brought her to the litter and she jumped out and did it on the floor, again picked her up then again jumped out. It was a deliberate avoidance.
We tried different vets and went through blood tests that turn out normal. We switched litter types, we switched her food to expensive sensitive food per a vet recommendation and it didnt help. She is on wet diet mostly and we add water to her wet food and she drink & eat it all. She gets her vaccination and deworming tablets on time. Other than this issue, she is not experiencing any other concerning symptoms.When we bring her to the cat sitter, she is the most social kitty per the cat sitter and she still continues the behaviour.
We just want to know how to get her back to stopping this behaviour. Its getting frustrating for me and my partner and I am at loss on what to do and how to stop it. It became so frequent, I have started contemplating rehoming her. Its brutal but at this point, I dont know what else to do and I hope someone else can help her.
TLDR. Physically healthy female neutered cat refuses to poop in the litter box and started doing on the bed now. In need of dire help otherwise she will need to be rehomed.
