I need help with my cat

[Sonya]

DH is saying he is going to send her to the pound. Olivia is about 10 years old and weighs about 25 pounds. She can hardly clean herself anymore. We have tried to get her to loose weight but with 2 other cats it is hard to control the food. (long story, trust me)
Anyway now is seems that she isn't making it downstairs to use the litter box. In the last month we have cleaned 2 pillows and 4 carpet stains. And also DS's beanbag. We have locked her our of any room we can. She always finds a new place.
Today we have started gating her in downstairs. She can't jump over it but the other 2 cats can. So she has no excuse not to use the box. I am worried she is doing this for various reasons and will still choose to go outside of the box. Is there anything we can do?
I really don't want to send her to the pound, no one will adopt her and she is such a scardy cat that the shock will kill her. DH is at the end of his rope with her!

 

[noodleknitter]

You poor thing! Caught between a rock and a hard place! I know when my cats (growing up) hit 9 years old they all got some sort of disorder that caused them to pee where they weren't supposed to. It was like clockwork, and they went downhill from there. The vet never told us what caused it, as far as I know. Has the vet checked her?

 

[themarquis]

Sometimes cats can start having accidents because there is something wrong with them medically, so she should get checked out.

Did anything new or unusual happen in your household recently (new pet, new family member, visitors, etc.)? Older pets sometimes don't react well to change.

Finally, many vets will now prescribe small doses of antianxiety/antidepressant meds for pets with various problems, including inappropriate voiding. I have known a couple of cats who have been helped by this. I have no idea how it works, but apparently it does.

 

[OK!]

I agree with getting her to the vet ASAP to see if it's something medical that could be causing the problem. My cat is nine and has always had urinary tract problems that are controlled by prescription food; the first indicator I always have that his problems may be starting up is that he'll have accidents. Once he goes to the vet, the accidents stop.

Best of luck to you and your kitty!

 

[LMC]

Have you had her thyroid checked? That could be the reason she is so heavy. Or it could just be she is an inactive indoor cat. I would get a second litter box and lock her in a bathroom if she is left home alone. Try to place the other cat's food/water in an area she can not get to and then feed/water her in a separate area so you can control how much she is eating. I would definately have the vet check her, there could be a medical reason as to why she is doing this. We had a cat that did this once and she had some type of medical problem.

 

[phorsenuf]

My sweet Milo started peeing outside of the box and he was about 4. I took him to the vet and found out he was in kidney failure due to cancer. He was so young I never imagined it was anything like that.
Now I am more vigilant about it. I agree, take her to the vet and get a blood workup.

 

[Sonya]

Thank you all for your help, I will get her to the vet and see. I hope it can be treated!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Yes, a vet visit is the first step. There could be a medical problem causing it. And make sure you are using an enzyme cleaner to clean up all areas that she has gone. We have a blacklight that we used when our old cat was going outside the box to find the spots. The vet will give you advice. I would feed the cats apart, too (and not near the litterbox).

 

[noodleknitter]

Does the enzyme cleaner and blacklight really work? I always figured it was TV magic!

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

Her weight could definitely be from a thyroid problem. My oldest cat (now 15) used to be overweight when she was younger. We would have to watch how much we were feeding her. When she reached about 13 she started really losing weight. Now we are trying to make sure she doesn't lose anymore.

Going to the vet is a good idea. As others have stated, she could have a medical problem causing her to not use her box. Cats usually don't do that unless there is something wrong. Well, she could also be spiteful, we had a cat like that. But that isn't a constant thing. I also suggest using an enzyme cleanser. Soap and water just won't do it. Good luck to your kitty.

 

[Hannathy]

First step take her to the Vet. Second step with 3 cats how often are you changing the litter box. Often as cats get older they don't like a dirty litter box and will avoid it and with 3 cats they get dirty quick. with 2 I changed it completely twice a week sometimes 3x. My next statement is mean but I'll say it anyway. Next time Hubby threatens say I'll remember that when you get old and overweight, which Nursing Home do you want to go to? Sorry but we commit to animals their whole life not just when they are young and cute. I think isolating her/him is a good idea and I would feed them seperately. Try placing the other cats food up high where the fat one can't jump.
If your Husband insists on taking it to the pound you need to insist he be an adult and take it to the Vet and have it put to sleep. Let him explain to other people his petty reasons for killing an innocent animal. And if you take a 10 yr old cat who misses the litter box to the pound they will either immediately deem it unadoptable and put it to sleep or and I think this may be worse- let it sit in a strange noisy cage for 2 weeks and then put it to sleep. Good Luck please try awhile longer.

 

[noodleknitter]

Next time Hubby threatens say I'll remember that when you get old and overweight, which Nursing Home do you want to go to?

I love it when someone else writes what i am thinking!

 

[Corwin12]

we commit to animals their whole life not just when they are young and cute.

Amen

 

[happybratpack]

If your Husband insists on taking it to the pound you need to insist he be an adult and take it to the Vet and have it put to sleep. Let him explain to other people his petty reasons for killing an innocent animal. And if you take a 10 yr old cat who misses the litter box to the pound they will either immediately deem it unadoptable and put it to sleep or and I think this may be worse- let it sit in a strange noisy cage for 2 weeks and then put it to sleep. Good Luck please try awhile longer.

ITA.
Unless you or your husband are willing to have her put to sleep like stated above, I'd suggest to start calling rescues that will work with her and get on their waiting lists if you aren't going to keep her. It's NOT fair to leave her at the pound to wait it out till D day. There are a LOT of steps to take to work with her - contact the SPCA, Best Friends in Utah (bestfriends.org), etc, they all have a lot of information to keep pets that might have issues from ending up dumped. Personally, if someone told me they wanted to take one of my animals "to the pound" there would be some serious hell to pay.

ETA - Links, hope this helps.

http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/pdfs/cats/catinappropriateelimin.pdf

http://www.spca.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=2520&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/inappro-elim.html

 

[Sonya]

Next time Hubby threatens say I'll remember that when you get old and overweight, which Nursing Home do you want to go to? Sorry but we commit to animals their whole life not just when they are young and cute

This is what I have been trying to tell him, thank you for giving me the words to say it!

DH is stressed out over the fact that we are going to have 2 new babies plus our 3 year old and then a cat peeing on everything. He just wants a clean house for the babies, he is not an animal hater or anthing.

We have been using more than soap and water, even our little dry cleaning vac. Plus spray for this sort of thing.

 

[noodleknitter]

I was just talking to my son, and he reminded me that our cat had problems last year, too. She wound up have i UTI, and we treated her with antibiotics (they had a great syringe for sticking the pill in back of her mouth) and switched to prescription food. She too is chunky, and the et would have liked us to put her on the diet food, but my other kitty would have blown away in a breeze!

 

[happybratpack]

We have been using more than soap and water, even our little dry cleaning vac. Plus spray for this sort of thing.

My husky has seizures, therefore sometimes there are lots of accidents. The BEST thing I've found is Natures Miracle. I looked it up and they have a cat version. It doesnt smell grand when it's working but eliminates the odor completely.


http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441775019&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025596&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023690&bmUID=1160499855460&itemNo=0&Ntt=miracle&In=All&previousText=miracle&N=2

 

[luvwinnie]

Try Nature's Miracle to get the odor out. Great product.

 

[debden]

My 12 year old cat also started to poo all over the house and I could not figure out why.He always went in the kitty litter.Come to find out he had chronic kidney failure.And that's one of the symptoms.
It may not be that but there could very well be another medical reason for your kitties problem.
Our kitty had a urinalysis and blood test to determine what was wrong.
Good Luck.
I hope all is OK.
Debbie

 

[4cruisin]

My kitty ending up having some kind of behavioral issue several months ago. Would pee in her box but not poop there. She loved my scatter rugs and I was going crazy trying to figure out what was going on with her. No medical issues and the vet suggested I take her to a kitty shrink. I love my cat beyond words but I was not taking her to a shrink. I found this litter on line and it works like magic. She used the box the first day I bought it and although it is a little expensive, it is well worth the price. I swear by it.

Maybe it will help if you try it.

http://www.preciouscat.com/precious-attract-p-5.html