Pooping on the floor... Health condition or anxiety over being attacked in litter box?

When my fiancée & I moved in together late last year, we combined three cats — her Fritz (2 … neutered, NOT declawed, some misplaced aggression issues) and my 2 fellows (Friday, 12; and The Monster, 1 … both neutered, both declawed). They hadn’t met ‘til we merged them into the small apartment where they got along fine.

One month afterward (last Thanksgiving), we moved into a 4-bedroom home … a much bigger space. That’s when Fritz started wrestling matches with my cats. The Monster enjoys it; but Friday really doesn’t want to be bothered. Worse yet…

Fritz began attacking my boys while they use the litter boxes (both of which are covered … perfect for guerilla tactics). The Monster has adapted. Friday (just last week) started pooping on the floor (not even in the same room as the box) … and exhibiting other behaviors like hiding under the bed frequently, not coming to sleep on our bed at night anymore and eating and drinking sparingly.

Friday – as of his vet appointment in February where he got a clean bill of health – is otherwise healthy. And he’s never had a litter box problem until now.

On the hope that Friday’s issue is just anxiety, I shut him into our bedroom by himself Saturday afternoon with clean litter and fresh food and water; so he could have some relaxed time and go to the bathroom free from worrying about a potential attack. It took him about 12 hours to go to the bathroom at all, but he went both #1 & 2 … his previous #2 was about 34 hours prior. Yesterday morning, I let him roam. He and Fritz actually hung out for a bit, sleeping about a foot apart on the couch where Friday remained all day … ‘til I sequestered him a second time at around 7pm. He’s been by himself ever since and the only litter box activity in that time was one pee around 7am this morning … nothing else.

My question is this: Friday is an older guy. He’s lost a lot of weight over the past two years (going from 15lbs. to under 10lbs.) and he’s gotten sensitive in his old age … Does he definitely have a serious health problem or is it possible his only issue is anxiety?

Friday is my family, and I want to do all I can to make sure he’s happy and healthy and not suffering; so any feedback you can provide will be greatly appreciated; and we all thank you in advance.

Ahhhh poor Friday So sad to hear he's being pestered in his old age

I think the best thing you can do is to separate him from the other two as much as you can and perhaps he will get back to 'being himself' again. I would most definitely keep him apart from the others for at least a week (not just one day) and also switch times for roaming around freely (by locking the other two up in a room so Friday will have the space to stretch his legs as well sometimes) . . .