Elderly cat problems

[justpat]

I wonder if anyone can advise me, I have had cats most of my life, most living to 16 - 18 yrs old. I have two elderly (16 1/2) neutered male cats. They are indoor cats, are provided with a large litter tray with wood pellets as litter. They are losing their teeth and for their age are in generally good health. One in particular is always hungry, they get sachets of wet food, 4 between them for breakfast, 2 at lunchtime and two at tea time. Recently they have taken to using my work surfaces and carpets as litter trays. I have disinfected the areas they go to, but they seem to only use their litter tray rarely, should I put several litter trays around their living area? Should I change the stuff in their trays? I don't want to stress them out but there comes a time when you have to say enough, my carpets are being ruined and using my worksurfaces in the kitchen to pee and poo on has got to be stopped. Help pls

[booktigger]

Personally I'd get them vet checked, in case this is due to an infection. What are you using to disinfect the surfaces?

[lilynmitz]

I agree, a vet check specially for the one who's eating a lot more - that could by hyperthyroidism, which is treatable but does need to be managed as it's stressing all his other organs (basically it speeds up the metabolic rate), but the changes in toileting habits also need looking into with the vet, as this can also be an indicator of health issues.

But looking at it from a behavioural viewpoint, are both of them doing it? If so, as Booktigger suggests, it could be the cleaning fluid you're using. Also, have there been any upsets in the house that might have stressed them (and you have to look at their world from their viewpoint to get this). This can sometimes result in "dirty protests". As I'm sure you realise, they're not doing this maliciously, it's a cat's cry for help. So try to work out if anything's upset them, and deal with that as the root cause.