frustrated and fedup with the cat! WWYD?? **Update post #30**

[minnieandmickeymouse]

We have a Ragdoll cat that will be turning one this July.

I have been having to put up with him peeing on things on the floor!!! I have had to pick up and throw away all the little area rugs. I thought that would take care of the problem. Then I have found that he has been peeing on sheets that will end up on the floor (kids room), or other things that the kids leave on the floor!!!!! I cant and DON"T want to put up with this anymore! I am a big cat lover, but this is something I just can't deal with! The smell of male cat pee is impossible to get out, and so I just keep throwing these things away.
He is fixed and has been since he was 3 months. Also we only have one level home and I have 2 cat litter boxes available to him. He has been brought to the vet and has been on antibiotics, so he can't have a uninary infection. He does have a grade 2 heart mummer, but I don't think that would affect him doing that.

If it was just me, I would get rid of the cat. But my dumb DH doesn't seem to want to do that

What should I do??????

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OK...

Have you tried retraining him? Go get a big wire dog kennel and put him and his litter in there.
Retrain him just like a puppy. No freedom unless he is potty trained. When he is out he has to be supervised. Put him on a leash, even. He does sound pretty bad with marking territory.
Then when he is out you put food bowls where he normally marks so he associates the place as "his".
Perhaps rub him down with a cloth and mark his scent in areas where he frequents.

In the meantime you will need to scrubdown every inch of your house with enzyme cleaner.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Call your vet. A cat doing that often is showing signs of a health issue. Just because he's been on antibiotics doesn't mean anything; it could be a kidney condition or a completely un-pee-related health issue and that his is only way of telling you that something is wrong.

If the vet runs all their tests and clears it, then retrain like you would a kitten. Contact a behaviorist if you need to for a consult.

A cat who is having issues with marking will likely not be adopted out and put down instead by a shelter. Give him a chance and figure out what is causing this.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

I have to ask if you changed the brand of litter you use? Our cat started doing this and I had no idea why---I would pick her up and keep putting her in her litter box but to no avail---I switched her litter back on an off chance and she hasn't peed anywhere but the box since!

 

[daisyduck123]

I feel for you. DH & I are both cat lovers but when we had our 1st child I could not take the mess of the 3 cats anymore & they had to go. Two of them were peeing everywhere, now & then they would vomit on the rug, track cat litter everywhere, oh the mess!!

The next year, we moved into a brand new house & have been pet-free ever since. I do miss having cats but that feeling goes away every time I think about the mess. I love my clean smelling house. It has also made me more aware of animal smells also. I can almost always tell when I'm in a house that has pets....dogs or cats...sometimes the smell is overwhelming, sometimes very faint, but it's there.

 

[lindalinda]

Dr Katvorkian







(cmon...I'm kidding!)

 

[TheDisneyTraveler06]

Good luck with your situation! Hopefully some of these tips above will help you.

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

I know this cat is doing it out of behavior. He's been doing it since he was brought here! I breed small dogs and if I have some puppies in a crate, then let them out.....Kaysar (the cat) willl go straight in there and pee!! He never pees in our room, no dogs go in there! But he will pee in his litter box, in the kids room if there is something cloth on the floor, dinning room,on the kids jackets ect... We are planning on getting a new Modular home next spring, and I will not let him stay in our new home! One Ragdoll breeder told me she would put a cat that did that down because it's a territorial thing, and can't be changed. I don't want to put him down, and I don't want to bring him to a shelter. I just don't think we can keep him if he keeps up with this.

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

Also I know that the kids would be very heart broken if we got rid of him...But I am very sensitive to smells, and it's such a strong oder!!

I thought about just letting him be an outdoor cat, and see if that would help him. He is ALWAYS trying to get out!

 

[DisneyPhD]

My cat does the same thing on the floor in the basemsent, (where his liter box is, but that is in the workshop, he does it in the play room) Anything coth left on the floor he pees on. ONLY In this room. He does not do it in the house. We changed his dry food to unanairy tract, but it doesn't help. The only that helps is not to leave stuff on the floor, but hello it is the lundry and play room, kids leave things on the floor.

No help, just suscribing to see what comes up. This cat is 12 years old, he just started doing this about 6 months ago. He is indoor (and fixed) but there are a lot of outdoor cats around here that hang outside the windows and bug him.

It seems very behavroiral, and he is marking his teritory. (not full wettings if you know what I mean.)

I am at my wits end too.

 

[DisMN]

Once they start piddling everywhere I honestly do NOT believe the behavior can be changed. Been through it too many times unsuccessfully to think otherwise.

That said, I think our pets deserve to be loved but who loves them when they go potty everywhere ruining the house and your furniture?

If you've explored all your options, medical, behavioral, giving the pet away.... and the animals are still creating havoc in your household.........I hesitate to say it but.......I'd put the animal down.



.

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

Once they start piddling everywhere I honestly do NOT believe the behavior can be changed. Been through it too many times unsuccessfully to think otherwise.

That said, I think our pets deserve to be loved but who loves them when they go potty everywhere ruining the house and your furniture?

If you've explored all your options, medical, behavioral, giving the pet away.... and the animals are still creating havoc in your household.........I hesitate to say it but.......I'd put the animal down.



.

Have you found that the cats that do pee on things were males?
Or did you have any females that did this?

I have never had a female with this behavior, but have had a couple of males in the past that did this also ,but they were outdoor cats and well they eventually never came home. we have woods so animals have gotten them.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Have you found that the cats that do pee on things were males?
Or did you have any females that did this?

I have never had a female with this behavior, but have had a couple of males in the past that did this also ,but they were outdoor cats and well they eventually never came home. we have woods so animals have gotten them.

My cat is a male. My friends cat was too. She ended up making him an outdoor cat and this cured the problem. He doens't do it any more (in the house, I am sure he marks all over outside.)

The thing is becoming an outdoor cat would kill ours. He is 12 years old and has ALWAYS lived inside. He is scared of the outside really. (he does still have his claws, we clip them.)

 

[Dodie]

If it's not a health problem - I doubt that you can change it. This is why I will NEVER have another male cat. I've never had a female cat that did this, but male cats (even neutered male cats) are a whole other story.

 

[SC Minnie]

Our male cat, Luke, started this after we moved to our new house. When he first started it I took him to the vet and he had an UTI. We got that cleared and he kept doing it. I finally discovered it was behavioral. He was mad and marking in territory. He was always afraid of children because they were loud and moved fast. He would growl and hiss at them (never tried to bite or hurt them). He tolerated DD. When we moved to this house the neighbor kids started coming over. It was not long after that when he started peeing on the floor. I worked with him for almost a year but finally had to send him to my Mom's. We live in a subdivision with other cats and not everyone keeps their dogs in their yard. Our house is also close to the road. He would not have been safe outside. My mother lives in the country way off the road. He is able to stay outside and he loves it there. She lets him inside now at night nuring the winter and he doesn't pee in her house.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I've dealt with this too. Do take him to the vet just to be sure. UTI's sometimes are hard to treat and come back. Make sure you have him on a uti cat food. Never take him off of it. Now you need to get your kids cooperation. Tell them you may have to get rid of the cat. Tell them that you want to try making sure no clothes or sheets are left on the floor to see if that fixes it. Then be very careful not to let that happen. Also get a good odor remover and treat every area he's been going. If you can't keep clothes off a floor in a room keep the door shut.
Also, limit his access to most rooms. Close the doors and keep him in as small a space as possible. Make sure that there is a litter pan near by. When I did all these things and was diligent about it I solved the problem. I always have male cats.

 

[vetrik]

I live this at my house too. I'm getting more and more frustrated everyday, especially since we just bought a new house 2 months ago and I feel like it's getting destroyed.

We have 2 cats. DH's cat pees on couches, walls, bath mats, towels, sawdust (we're doing work on wood floors in the house), plants, basically anything. He vomits constantly, and scratches the furniture and carpet despite scratching posts in every room (that he has been trained to use). I used to work for a vet, and this cat has been checked multiple times for any health issues causing this, he is also on a prescription cat food for urinary problems (that costs $45/bag), but it continues. I am also convinced that when he does it it's behavioral, not medical.

We bought our puppy a new bed - the cat walked over to it, looked right at us (DH and I were sitting on the couch right in front of him) and he peed on it. He has stood on the couch right behind my head and peed on the wall behind me. We never leave the bath mat down, but the other day I took a shower with the bathroom door open since I was home alone - during the 15 minutes I was in the shower he came and peed on the bath mat. We buy Nature's Miracle by the gallon jug.

At this point (actually for a while) I've been wanting to make him an outdoor cat - at our old house he had been going out much more (after fighting with DH about it for months) and it was better. Now we live in a neighborhood with other cats, houses, etc and DH will not let him go outside anymore. The problem is DH LOVES this cat. He is paranoid that this cat will get hurt, killed, disappear, etc. It sounds awful, but I don't think I'd mind if this cat disappeared right now. I think for us the next step is kitty prozac to see if that settles him down, although we've been trying to avoid drugging him and having to give him pills everyday.

Oh boy - I think I really needed to vent about this! I wish I had more advice for you, but I can commiserate!

 

[DisneyPhD]

This is pretty much what we have done, but it is hard for the kids. (friends come over and they don't understand the whole, not eve a hat on the floor, in a play room no less.) The other day he peed on the floor, because the lundery baseket was down there, and he couldn't get to the cothes. It makes me so made (we have a carpet cleaner, but still.) He keeps it to the basement, and if we keep it clean we can live with it. Still I don't know how much longer. In addtion the cat is a big issue with my family. I have this one brother who won't even come over to my house because of the cat. The problem is my house is the biggest, and most whole family friendly. I don't mind hosting holidays, but then they won't come. I think even if we got rid of the cat, cleaned it all from top to bottom and the ducts too, they would find some reason not to come. So really blaming the cat isn't fair.

 

[LynnTH]

We had a female cat that did this. We had her for quite a while and even got 2 dogs after her and she was still fine - until we had my son. She would poop and pee right outside of her litter box. We took her to the vet to get checked out and she was fine. At the vet's suggestion we would keep her in small confined areas with her litter box but she would still go outside of it. So, it was totally a behavioral problem we think stemmed from being jealous of our son. We finally had to take her to a shelter - I was very upset about having to do that but we could not put up with that every day.

 

[kaw1218]

Have you found that the cats that do pee on things were males?
Or did you have any females that did this?

I have never had a female with this behavior, but have had a couple of males in the past that did this also ,but they were outdoor cats and well they eventually never came home. we have woods so animals have gotten them.

I had a female ragdoll that had started to do this(she was about 4 months old).... unfortunately she got out and was hit by a car before I even had a chance to try anything to stop it.
My other 'tabby' cat who is also female will wet on the floor right next to the litter box if it is not totally clean(we call her the witch-and she deserves it!!)
I got the littermaid litterbox and that really helped with this one.

Hopefully you figure something out, and soon!!!