My cat is breathing hard and pooping outside the litter box- help?

My cat, Beastie, who is about a year old, male, neutered, has been acting strangely. He ll start breathing hard, acting like he doesn t feel well. Then he ll go to the hallway and poop on the carpet (he normally always uses the litter box). He ll continue to sit around in a ball like he doesn t feel well for a while, maybe an hour or two... but then he gets back to normal and acts energetic and content. He s done this 4 times over the last two weeks, usually with one-three days in between each incident.

I know I should have already taken him to the vet, but our money is very limited and transportation is a problem. I m hoping I can get some help from family so I can make him an appointment soon, but right now I m just worried about what could possibly be wrong.

My husband thinks it may be that he doesn t get outside to eat any grass and purge, like cats do. We had to start keeping our cats in full time when packs of stray dogs started roaming the area.