Hiya - I've posted a couple of times about my cat Charlie. After about 6 wks of vet visits and 3 ops we've finally (hopefully!) sorted him out. He had an abcess on his anal gland and also an anal hernia, both of which have been fixed.

Problem is he refuses to go outside and go to the loo. We have a cat flap and he's always been free to come and go, and he always enjoyed being out before. But now he just won't go out at all. He's taken to messing in the house and this morning he had completely messed up his bed by both weeing and pooing in it.

I've tried taking him out in the garden but he bolts back in as soon as I put him down. We've tried putting him out and shutting the cat flap but he just claws and cries at the cat flap.

Vet says it's a psychological thing, probably down to the fact his backside and going to the loo has been painful for him (he's on lactulose to help him at the mo). Any tips on how I can rehabilitate my cat to going back outside? I have 2 young kids so the cat weeing and pooing in the house is not good!

Thanks.

Aww bless poor puss. little babe has been through the wars.

Perhaps you can find a little place indoors where its private with a cat tray! If you try and force him out will only stress him out more.

Oh poor cat ~ sounds like Charlie's been through a horrible time recently. I suspect that your vet is right & that the pain of toiletting has lead him to feel anxious & vulnerable outside & his feelings of safety & security have taken a big knock. He may also be trying to hold on to wee/poo because of potential pain, so he only goes when desperate, hence does it indoors.

Another cause could be that during the last 6 weeks or so, his outside territory could have been taken over by another cat who has left its own scent around. If Charlie's already feeling vulnerable, he certainly won't want to risk a confrontation with another cat over territory.

As the weather's getting better now, can you or members of your family spend more time in the garden with Charlie? Give him time to get his own scent in your garden by rubbing his face & scent glands around the garden, perhaps by eventually weeing & pooing in the garden again? He'll probably feel much safer outdoors if he's accompanied by you & your family. If he's just pushed out & left on his own, it's not surprising that he wants to get straight back indoors where he feels safe. Apart from anything else, it probably takes a lot longer to get over the physical & emotional effects of operations, anaesthetics, vet visits, drugs, pain etc than we realise. So give Chariie some time & don't rush things.

In the meantime, can you provide him with an indoor litter tray? It would be better than Charlie being forced to use his bed or the carpet etc. I know this isn't ideal if you've got young children, but it's still better that messing in the house. If you put the litter tay in a quiet location, away from his food, water & sleeping places, & put a layer of suitable, fine-grained litter & keep it regularly cleaned, the chances are that he'll use it. Then you can gradually move the litter tray closer to the door/cat flap, then outside & after that Charlie may feel happier about leaving his scent outside.

I hope Charlie starts to feel better soon.

You can get 'tents' that fit over litter trays, maybe that's something to consider? I.e. somewhere quiet and safe where he can 'go'?

Cats are very strange creatures (which is what makes them so special, I guess?). They seem to suffer from all sorts of paranoia and upsets that send them off the rails. Of course they can be loving and cuddly and affectionate too.....

Good luck with Charlie. He sounds like he's through the worst of it. Definitely don't force him out as any 'forcing' of cats never ends well.

Feliway may help him chill a bit?

Glad to hear Charlie seems to be on the mend.
But a cat messing his own bed says he is feeling very fragile and challenged. He has been through a huge amount so that isn't surprising.

I am not clear if there is a litter tray for him to use? Presumably there must have been when he was poorly as he couldn't go outside, have you now removed it? He most definitely needs a tray, in a place where he feels safe (which may not be the most convenient for you, but you can move it as he gains confidence). A corner or behind a door/sofa might be good as he would feel it was 'private' and he wasn't going to be interrupted. He is obviously feeling far too vulnerable to toilet outside at the moment.

Please don't either put him out or shut him out You could try encouraging him, by sitting outside yourself and seeing if he'd like to join you, but whatever you do, don't force him. and let him have a litter tray for as long as it takes. It may be a slow process but you will just have to go with it.

He's not used a litter tray for years apart from when at vets. When we have tried to keep him in before on vet advice when he gashed his leg, he was fighting the door to get out and I called the vet and they said just to let him go outside. He has never been a cat that could be kept in, but now seems to have reversed totally on that.

Having a litter tray would be a problem as we live in a 2up 2down with not a lot of room as it is. Certainly nowhere behind a sofa or door to put it. The only place would be by his bed in the kitchen which wouldn't be ideal. Mr Python has said he doesn't want a litter tray full stop, because he's worried about the kids being near it.

Have just come back from vets for his final checkup and all went well. Vet has suggested Feliway, but the price was extortionate (£28 for plug in that last 4wks) and vet didn't know if it would help or not. As I'm already £1000 in debt with the cats ops money is v. tight. So I'm going to try and focus on rebuilding confidence by making a paper butterfly toy for him to play with and lure him outside with it. Maybe if we relax he will too.

What would Mr Python rather thought - a litter tray or the chance that next time it may be your bed he messes on?

Get a covered litter tray so that he has some privacy. I have tried Feliway and I didn't like it but others may have had more luck.

Like others, I think you are just going to distress him more if you try and get him out before he is ready.

Feliway may relax him indoors but it isn't going to relax him outdoors so I doubt it's worth the expense.

For several years I lived in a two up two down with four cats and always provided a litter tray because they were shut in at night. Not pretty, but necessary. If you continue to let him mess indoors it will be a vicious circle, the scent he leaves will encourage him to keep doing it.

He is clearly extremely reluctant to toilet outside (to say the least) and if you don't provide a litter tray he will have no choice but to continue to mess everywhere. If you and/or Mr P get cross with him, he will get more stressed, which will add to his problems. Try to see it from his point of view - he needs an indoor option and if you don't provide an official one, he is likely to make his own choices which may in future include your soft furnishings.

I agreee with Lippincote.

This is one of the problems of people taking cats litter trays away from them when they fully grown. If they ever need them again they've forgotten how to use them

I can understand that space can be a problem, but a litter tray is the answer, at least temporarily. Naturally, you want to put it as far away from his bed and food as possible.

And I agree about the repeat offending at the site of previous 'toilets'. I had to throw out a carpet once because no matter what we tried and no matter how much cleaning with the right stuff we did, we couldn't stop the cat from doing his business on it because the odour lingered.

During the same period the Feliway came in handy to calm the cat down overall. He was getting stressed outside and then coming in for a protest toilet....

Thanks everyone. I understand a litter tray may solve the problem for a while, and have looked into getting one. The only problem is where to put it! In Mr Python's defence, he's not a cat person, and is very stressed at the mo (we run a business and to say we're struggling with the recession is an understatement). So his annoyance towards the cat is just him stressing really. I will be talking to him over a nice cold beer when he gets in from work and talk about a litter tray. If I explain it's a step towards helping Charlie becoming more confident it'll go ok.

I'll let you know how Charlie gets on and whether it helps him or not.

Thanks again.

FYI don't know if you are allowed to advocate particular shops on the forum so if I've broken a rule apologies to the admins. However I'm just pointing out a good deal I found. There's a Tesco Extra near to where I work and I found a good sized, covered litter tray with cat flap door in there for £3.50 the other week. Couldn't believe my eyes at the price. Any I bought one sharpish coz I've got a kitten arriving in July who'll need its own litter tray for a bit and it'll be a good spare after that.

Thought I'd mention it just in case coz these things normally cost a lot more than that and it might be a good temp solution for you.

Have you thought about leaving a back door open when you're in throughout the day? It could make the actual act of going outside less of a daunting thing.The sounds and smells from out there may entice him out.

I'm sorry you're under so much pressure at the moment frisky python (HUGS)

Thanks for that, I'll keep an eye out!

We already do particularly as it's been nice this week. He just looks out but won't go out. I picked him up and stood just outside the doorway but he hated it. He makes this snorting noise thru his nose and then wriggles to be let down.

Thanks. Have a lot going on at the mo (my own depression/anxiety, sisters cancer and op this weekend, not to mention 2 young kids and money worries!) but I love my cat and I'm sure we'll get there in the end.

good luck with all that

Quick update:

Bought an enclosed litter tray for Charlie who has used it a few times. He has also been going outside on the rare occasion too. So far he hasn't reverted back to peeing and pooing on the carpet!

I just decided to not react really and destress about it all, and it seems therefore the cat is more relaxed too.

Charlie seems a lot happier in himself too.

Thanks to all you FMs who helped along the way. It's very much appreciated.x

Fingers crossed for Charlie and wish you the best of luck with all your other problems

Awwww glad to hear his (various) bum problems are subsiding and I hope it continues ))

........glad to hear you have finally bought poor Charlie a litter tray - a total necessity for any cat who spends time indoors. When you deny them one, they do get stressed.

Try him at night. We have two cats who refuse to go out during the day at all. It just started one day (I think that one learned it off of the other). Under the cover of darkness, they're fine.

He's never needed one for 7yrs we've had him. We bought one initially when we first got him (he's a rescue cat) but he preferred to go outside. It's only with this illness his preference (due to confidence) has changed.

My husband says he does go out at night, but he's not going to the loo when outside. We can smell other cats have been marking near Charlie's cat flap so it seems it's a territorial thing with regards to his confidence tied into his illness.

I've today wiped some of his urine around the garden - maybe this will help. Don't know but worth a try.