catricide or Feliway?

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Kate - 28 Aug 2003 02:01 GMT

I managed to kill the odor in one room of my house- with removal of
the carpet, lots of enzymer, lots of oil-based Kilz- but now those
little ...... are using another two spots. they had used them
previously, but not heavily, but now one carpet is destroyed and will
be replaced in a couple weeks. The other area I really didn't want to
re-carpet so I poured on a gallon of enzymer, and then cleaned the
carpet. I used oxy-clean in the cleaner solution. I had barely
gotten the room put back in order and I smelled a suspicious odor- and
someone had pooped underneath the bed! There is a litter box not 15
feet away that she could have used!

I had just purchased a Feliway dispenser and planned to use it in that
room after I found out if it would still allow them to use the litter
box in the adjacent bathroom. Will it? Will the Feliway help now
that they can obviously still smell the old spot? what will honestly
and truly take the smell away?

I might lift the carpet and soak it from the back, switch out that
piece of pad, change the carpet tack strip and apply Kilz to that area
and have my carpet layer re-lay that area, but I fear that when I see
what is on the backside of the carpet I might get terrified and get
rid of it all! Then my baby son will eventually go sleep in a bedroom
with a concrete floor since I'm rapidly running out of cat-odor
abatement funds. I've even ripped out the molding in the other
rooms since the smell is in that too- I can smell it when I rip the
moulding out and put it outside in the trash.

right now the cat is locked in the bathroom downstairs with the
*unused* litter box, but I bet I'm just upsetting her. *sigh*

=====
Kate, http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~kolina/advantages-of-formula.html
Mom to Ursula (8), Sage (6), Benno (2.5)
Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/kolina

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Cheryl - 29 Aug 2003 05:56 GMT

> I managed to kill the odor in one room of my house- with removal of
> the carpet, lots of enzymer, lots of oil-based Kilz- but now those
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> right now the cat is locked in the bathroom downstairs with the
> *unused* litter box, but I bet I'm just upsetting her. *sigh*

It sounds like there is a deeper problem going on. Feliway will not
mask smells, it is a pheromone that simulates the facial pheromone in
cats that signals safety and calmness. If you have cats peeing in
various spots and then defecating under your bed while cleaning is
going on, something else is wrong besides odor. Do you have something
new going on in your household? Something stressing out your cats?
Are more than just one messing in areas other than the litterbox?

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Arjun Ray - 29 Aug 2003 08:22 GMT

| It sounds like there is a deeper problem going on. [...] If you have
| cats peeing in various spots and then defecating under your bed while
| cleaning is going on, something else is wrong besides odor.

I agree. This last incident is a strong indication of behavioral
issues.

| Do you have something new going on in your household? Something
| stressing out your cats?

Pooping under the bed suggests that the cats don't feel safe using the
litterbox. The location could be poor: either too exposed (out in the
open) or too much in a deadend (where the cat could feel trapped), or
not enough litterboxes in total.

One thought that comes to mind is whether there is a dog in the house
too. Dogs quite often take a quite unhealthy interest in litterboxes
(cat poop is tasty!), so with dogs around, the litterboxes should be
somewhere that dogs can't get to.

Other than that, the texture (and odor?) of the litter may not he to
their liking.

And, of course, the biggest unmentioned reason for litterbox avoidance:
the cats could be declawed - they find standing on and scraping litter
uncomfortable (if not painful).

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Kate - 29 Aug 2003 21:22 GMT

> | It sounds like there is a deeper problem going on. [...] If you have
> | cats peeing in various spots and then defecating under your bed while
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> | Do you have something new going on in your household? Something
> | stressing out your cats?

no.

> Pooping under the bed suggests that the cats don't feel safe using the
> litterbox. The location could be poor: either too exposed (out in the
> open) or too much in a deadend (where the cat could feel trapped), or
> not enough litterboxes in total.

well, we have 3 for two cats. the one in the garage gets used. the
one in the downstairs bathroom, near where they pee (or she, pees),
doesn't get used and one upstairs in the bathroom. one cat is very
comfortable in that bathroom but the other one isn't. my husband
suggested that the cat came in from being out all night and went to an
inappropriate spot to urinate, and he suspects she won't pee outside.

> One thought that comes to mind is whether there is a dog in the house
> too. Dogs quite often take a quite unhealthy interest in litterboxes
> (cat poop is tasty!), so with dogs around, the litterboxes should be
> somewhere that dogs can't get to.

yeah, and the kids. that's one of the issues we have with placeing
the boxes. the suspect cat doesnt' like two of 3 bathrooms, adn
those, in general, seem to be better spots for the boxes.

> Other than that, the texture (and odor?) of the litter may not he to
> their liking.

I've tried several. I've used the same stuff inside as in the garage
and still the box goes unused.

> And, of course, the biggest unmentioned reason for litterbox avoidance:
> the cats could be declawed - they find standing on and scraping litter
> uncomfortable (if not painful).

no, they have their claws.

and yes, I know the theory of Feliway.

=====
Kate, http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~kolina/advantages-of-formula.html
Mom to Ursula (8), Sage (6), Benno (2.5) Books just wanna be FREE!
See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/kolina

http://www.blogforamerica.com/

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