Incontinence or control issue

[Jazzman111]

My 12 year old cat has begun to defecate and urinate outside her litter box. This only began after a period of treatment she went through just recently. Because she had begun to vomit often, my vet put her on special diet food, which resolved that problem, but created another. Also part of her treatment was being put on a course of steroids put in liquid form into her food to treat an autoimmune disorder she develops periodically. The problem was that the steroids made her ravenously hungry. It would take 2 1/2 x her normal portion of food to satisfy her. Since I didn't want her to gain a huge amount of weight, I kept her to her normal portions, plus a little more to try to placate her. My cat is a very clever one and knows how to communicate to me when she wants to. The first "message" was she deposited a poop right in front of the chair at the counter where I eat. The next day she deposited the poop behind the chair. At this point, I looked her straight in the eye and told her in a stern voice: "Don't do this again." She got that point. The next day, I by chance discovered that she had pooped three times in the extra bathroom's bathtub. We're off the steroid treatment and she seemed content with resuming her usual portion of food. This morning, I chanced to sleep an hour or so later than usual. As I passed the extra bathroom's door, I noticed the rug had been pulled back. I discovered that she had pulled back the rug and pooped on the underliner. Later, as I was in the bathroom, she came in, settled on the shower rug inches away from me and made a small urine deposit. Right in front of me! Now I'm concerned that she has decided she wants to control the *timing* of her being fed to HER timetable by using these elimination games. Would very much appreciate advice from the cat-wise members of this forum on whether my interpretation makes sense and what I should do about it.

[fjm]

I doubt she is doing it to get at you - far more likely to be due to discomfort from her illness and urgency from the steroids, which are well known to increase thirst and urination as well as appetite. The extra food would also increase the volume and frequency of poops, of course. Does she dislike using a soiled tray? I would try adding another tray, cleaning both trays frequently, and cleaning all the areas she has used very thoroughly with an enzyme cleaner formulated to deal with cat pee.

[Jazzman111]

Thank for your thoughtful reply. I have had this cat for 12 years. I know her behavior pretty well and this is totally novel behavior. The placement of her poops strategically in front and behind my chair is, IMO, definitely not random. She was letting me know she was troubled because it seemed I was underfeeding her. Unfortunately, even though we're back to normal feeding, now she has become noticeably less active and uncharacteristically doesn't seek out my company as she used to, so I'll have to monitor her for any other symptoms. Could be time to revisit the vet.

[mr_frisky]

This is very interesting.

One of my cats is being treated with steroids for a suspected autoimmune disorder (MUO). She also started going outside the litter box since she started on prednisolone. The neurologist doesn't think it is related to her disorder. Sometimes she scoots.\

What does your cat have, and what is she being treated for?