Cat owners ... I need your help !

[DVCindy]

I'm trying to resolve a problem we have with our cat. He has a history of not using his box faithfully ... and I want to get this under control once and for all. We just put new flooring and carpeting down in our home to the tune of $7,000 and I am desperate for a solution. DH will resort to having him reside in the garage if we can't get this under control.

He is 6 years old. He had a urinary blockage about 4 1/2 years ago but has been fine since (thank goodness). He is on the special urinary health diet food and an indoor only cat.

His box was in our finished basement and when we tore the carpeting out in there to get ready to have the new carpeting put down we could see all the areas that he was peeing in ... it was in every corner and along alot of the perimeter of the room. Yikes ! He also has been caught going on the den carpet, in dd's closet, and in DH's hamper (did you all hear DH screaming that day ...I'm sure you could have no matter how far away you live! )

I would like to move his box (or boxes) to another location so I can keep a better eye on him. Here is what I've come up with so far ...

For now, I am restricting his access around the house at night and when we are not home. We have him in DH's workshop at night with his box, food, water, and some favorite blankets. When I go out during the day, I put him in the kids bathroom with another box, food, etc. Do you think this is an effective way to retrain him to consistantly use the box ? How long do you think I should do this for ? DD is flipping out thinking we are being very mean to him by doing this ... but I don't trust him with free reign of the house unsupervised.

I read about a few products to try for this problem ... has anyone tried Feliway plug-ins or Cat Attract litter ?

I'm willing to try just about anything at this point.

If you're still with me, thanks for reading my tale of woe ... I'd really appreciate hearing your suggestions and advice.

 

[Sherri]

I think you are doing right by restricting him to certain areas when you are not at home.
Is there anyway that he may have become reblocked? I know he is on special food, but is possible that he could be having another blockage problem?
Maybe you can see if the Vet. can give you an antibiotic to try due to his history.
I hope it all works out. I am sure you must have heard my husband yell when he discovered one of the cats went pee-pee on his jeans.
Good luck.

 

[BamaTigger]

My cat Tinkerbell uses the floor when I put litter in the box that her "highness" doesnt approve of!

Try switching brands, see if that helps!

 

[M 'n C]

you might not want to move him around to so many different places with his box. Some cats are particular on the location of their box. How about leaving him in one room at night and using that same room when you leave and go places? You could also try moth balls in the places he marks the most or placing food in those areas. Cats tend to not go in places where their food is placed.

 

[Jpgirl]

It's really hard to retrain a cat that's had a urinary blockage. They associate the litter box with the pain they felt-so they're constantly looking for new places to go. My dd was a vet tech and they've had some success with getting some sort of powder that smells good to cats-it's some sort of pheromone. That worked well with her cat-along with crating her in a dog crate 24/7. Unfortunately it hasn't worked well with our older cat. We never can get her retrained. Good luck sorry I don't have much help

 

[asta]

Since your cat is peeing around the edge of the room it is possible that he is marking instead of peeing. Some cats do this to establish their territory. There is actually nothing wrong with a cat that does this, it just messes up the house and drives you nuts. Our vet said that you can try and give a cat a sedative (Prozac) and see if this calms a territorial cat. It just made our cat loopy. In the end we have to make sure that we don't leave our cat unattended inside the house. You just never know when she might get worried and mark something. It is not a lot of fun keeping up with her and she spends a lot of time outside.

 

[Tazicket]

We have a problem kitty, too. We just switched to the Cat Attract litter, so haven't really been using it long enough to tell whether it's working or not. DH keeps threatening the kitty with homelessness, so I hope this stuff works.

 

[bbangel]

My sister had an older cat with this problem. She wouldn't go more than once in her litter box. She liked it only when it was spotless. My sister took to cleaning the litter box several times a day and then she was happy. She would only tolerate certain types of litter as well.

 

[rockin_rep]

Wow, this is an awesome thread, thx to everyone for posting.

Can i also ask ~ how long should you let your cat throw up, from hairballs i think, before you become concerned? I've asked friends and they say its normal, but i dunno, its kinda scary (and gross!)

 

[Sherri]

Wow, this is an awesome thread, thx to everyone for posting.

Can i also ask ~ how long should you let your cat throw up, from hairballs i think, before you become concerned? I've asked friends and they say its normal, but i dunno, its kinda scary (and gross!)

I would go out and buy laxatone (I think thats how you spell it). Its for hairballs. The cat likes the taste and it helps prevent hairballs.
Also brush your cat a lot to try and get the loose fur.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Buy a large wire dog crate to retrain your cat. It is much better than locking them up in rooms.

 

[DVCindy]

Thanks to all who replied !

It is tough having a cat with this issue ... we love him to pieces, but he frustrates the heck out of us, too !

M 'n C - The workshop room we leave him in at night has no windows and I'd feel awful leaving him in there during the day with no daylight and nothing to look at. The kids bathroom has a nice view of the backyard for him.

He seems to be doing fine with the new boxes I've introduced. He is using them consistently at this point. I'm sure alot of that is due to him being confined to the room the box is in when we can't watch his every move.

Jpgirl - the Feliway plug in diffuser I am trying sounds alot like the idea of the powder you are talking about. It's supposed to relax them and control the urge to spray / urine mark. I'm giving it a try, so we'll see.

We've always used the exact same kind of litter since day one ... we get the large buckets of clumping litter at Sam's.

asta - I've read alot about giving cat's sedatives in cases like this. He does fit the profile of a very anxious personality ... hates it when the doorbell rings ... he will hide for hours and hours. He's also very skittish. If I'm still having problems with him in a month or so, I'm really thinking about talking to the vet about this option.

Sherri - Thanks ! I'm trying not to feel guilty about confining him, but it's hard. I am very confident he is not blocked again. The vet gave us some powder to sprinkle in his box from time to time to check for abnormal pH and blood in the urine. He is just being a stinker !

Any other input it always welcomed ! Thanks

 

[CheshireVal]

It's really hard to retrain a cat that's had a urinary blockage. They associate the litter box with the pain they felt-so they're constantly looking for new places to go. My dd was a vet tech and they've had some success with getting some sort of powder that smells good to cats-it's some sort of pheromone. That worked well with her cat-along with crating her in a dog crate 24/7. Unfortunately it hasn't worked well with our older cat. We never can get her retrained. Good luck sorry I don't have much help

Oh no, don't say that!! My cat is had a blockage about 3-4 weeks ago. He's recovering fine and is using the litter box, but he did pee on the living room carpet once last week for the first time ever. I hope it's not going to be a regular occurence!!

 

[tikilyn]

I feel your pain. I had the same problem over the summer! I thought I had both of my cats retained. I went on vacation last week and left them lose in the house. BIG FREAKIN MISTAKE! I came home and they have pee'd all over my leather love seat and once on my leather couch. My house stinks like cat pee and I can't get the smell out. I could just cry right now. The cats are outside to live forever!! I'm so mad at them.

My couches arn't even paid off yet. Right now I am spraying natures miracle. So far it hasn't help. My windows are open to air out the house (still stinks). The smell won't go away


just an FYI my neighbor was suppose to be coming over to feed them and make sure they were all right.

 

[Muushka]

This is a long shot, but here goes. My cat was doing the exact same thing as your cat. Drove me nuts. Come to find out she has diabetes. Since she has been on insulin, no problems.

This is probably not the case, but has he been checked for diabetes or any other metabolic disorder?

 

[marciemi]

Just some support from another frustrated cat owner. We recently moved and when we were trying to sell our old house, got comment after comment from realtors that people were turned off by the "cat smell". We cleaned the carpets over and over, used Nature's miracle and a bunch of other stuff but it just didn't help (primarily the basement). Finally had to rip out the carpet in the basement entirely and cover the floor with a sealant before recovering.

I'm also one of these people who's SUPER annoyed by finding puddles of cat urine. My cats like to go on plastic so if you ever leave a plastic grocery bag, garbage bag, etc., lying out, guess what happens when you pick it up? I bet OP could hear me over her husband!

It's hard in the new house with new carpets to deal with this. Especially since one of the cats had a stroke over the summer (they're both 17). We've had to get a special (ferret) litter box that she can get in and out of easily, but due to the low size, I swear she brings more litter out of the box than leaves in it!

We've started locking the cats up when we leave as well (especially with some new furniture). The cat that's okay goes in the basement (the other cat is NEVER allowed down there due to the steps and too many places for her to climb/fall from). At least now when I find puddles down there I know who to blame! The other cat is locked in the laundry room (which has water/food/litter and a blanket). If nothing else, it's confining the mess to certain (non-carpeted) areas. We do the same at night. I guess due to their age, I don't find this all that cruel (although like your DD, my sons disagree at times). It's not like they spend their time racing around the house or anything. At any given time the odds are about 99 percent that they're sleeping somewhere (and the basement has a cat condo, a bunch of rugs and soft chairs, etc.).

Good luck on your situation and keep us up to date!

 

[DVCindy]

Oh, tikilyn ! I'm so sorry you came home to that ! I could cry for you !

I have used Nature's Miracle and it works OK ... but I've only had issues with carpeting or fabric. Maybe you could contact the sofa maufacturer and see what they suggest for getting it out of the leather. That's a tough one. I hope you find something that works.

Muushka - I never really considered that. No, he hasn't been tested for diabetes that I know of. I will talk with the Vet about it ... we just always attributed it to his prior urinary problem. Thanks !

 

[Muushka]

Muushka - I never really considered that. No, he hasn't been tested for diabetes that I know of. I will talk with the Vet about it ... we just always attributed it to his prior urinary problem.

Me too. My cat had the urinary blockage problem also, so I attributed it to that. Before you think that there is chance of diabetes, does your cat drink a lot of water (like 8 oz a day )?
If not then it probably isn't diabetes and your cat is just being a bad boy!