Updates from my cousin regarding her middening cat, Yevaud:
No, it's definitely not diarrhoea. Anyway, I would like to report – with cautious optimism – that the middening has stopped. Not sure what we did "right" but Alina and I have been making a fuss over Yevaud (petting and cuddling him) to make him feel special. I also got up especially early the day before to "check on" the cattery to help defuse the tension.
Time will tell if this works out in the long run. If not, we may have to take your initial advice about putting Yevaud up for adoption. That would be very sad because he came to us as a problem kitten (hissing, spitting and scratching) and it took a while to bring down his aggression to an acceptable level... Meanwhile, I'll have to keep all the cat mattresses covered with plastic :(
I'll keep you posted!
P.S. By the way, I did cage Yevaud after the first time he did it, but he freed himself and repeated the dastardly act. See photos of a younger Yevaud attached.
Sometimes all it takes is lots of love and cuddles?!!