I have three cats and a dog, but I think it's finally time to say
goodbye to one of them. We have a cat who has always had a urination
problem. There are times when it's been better then others, but for
the most part, it's been pretty consistent. She's been to the vets
and has been on nearly ever medication to treat a variety of
conditions. She's physically healthy...no urinary track disorders of
any kind. Her doctors believe it to be totally behavioral. She's
even been on medication for that but nothing has helped. Until now,
we've just lived with it and the constant use of Miracle Pet and a
steam cleaner. We've recently moved into a new house and she's
brought the condition with her. We thought that maybe a change would
help. She uses and has always used the litter box to poop. She even
uses it to pee but once and awhile she goes wherever she wants,
sometimes even right outside of it. We've used different kinds of
litters and still, the same result. Now my wife might be starting
her own day care center and obviously we can't have the place smelling
like cat piss when people come to drop off their kids. Besides, she
made a mess of the old place. We only recently found out how bad it
was when we started to move the furniture. It was terrible. I'm
surprised we got out of the old house without having to replace the
carpets. Now I'm faced with what to do with my little Chloe. I could
take her to an animal rescue to but then I have no idea of who would
adopt her. Would it be someone who would beat her if she started
messing up their house? Would they throw her out on the street? It was
suggested by the vet that maybe I find a farm that would take her. I
feel horrible doing this since she's never once spent a night outside,
but what other choice do I have? I really don't have a room where she
can be isolated. I could keep her in the unfinished part of the
basement but then I'd have to keep the other litter boxes elsewhere
which just won't work with a freakin day care center. God this is so
frustrating. Does anyone have any words of wisdom? Any suggestions?
I'd certainly appreciate any help and if you've actually gotten this
far, thanks for taking the time to read.
--Brian
Jayjay - 21 Aug 2003 16:55 GMT
>I have three cats and a dog, but I think it's finally time to say
>goodbye to one of them. We have a cat who has always had a urination
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>--Brian
Where and how many other litter pans do you have and what kind do you
use?
Take notice when she pee's outside the box - how clean are the litter
boxes? If there's debri in them, she's probably peeing outside
because of the debri.
We solved this problem by getting the littermaid and making sure its
always clean, as with Sabrina - if there's one poop in the litter she
won't poop in there again, she'll go right outside. (we had other
reasons for getting it to, but this also resolved the poop outside the
box problem).
Having multiple cats should mean multiple litters. Maybe this
particular cat needs 2 litters of her very own.
If you must give her up - call around to the shelter or local vets.
My local vet has a special program for homeless cats to find them new,
forever homes and they interview and screen all applicants before
giving them the cats. Many shelters have a no-kill policy, try to
find one like that and see if you can resolve it.
Finally - adapting a cat - as long as it is not declawed, to the
outside is not that hard. Consider an indoor/outdoor situation too,
where you let this one out. This will require flea/tick protection
for all the animals though. But I've had indoor cats become outdoor
cats before.
Brian - 21 Aug 2003 18:39 GMT
>>I have three cats and a dog, but I think it's finally time to say
>>goodbye to one of them. We have a cat who has always had a urination
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>for all the animals though. But I've had indoor cats become outdoor
>cats before.
I've used as many as three boxes and different kinds of litter. The
most frustrating thing about is that she urinated outside the box just
a little while ago and it was totally clean.
--Brian
bunny_baby - 21 Aug 2003 18:53 GMT
--
April :-)
http://community.webshots.com/user/bowmanzoo
> >>I have three cats and a dog, but I think it's finally time to say
> >>goodbye to one of them. We have a cat who has always had a urination
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> --Brian
Hi Brian
If you 100% sure that you no longer want this cat then
please...please...please give it to a reputable cat center that will vet the
cats new owners and home and if you tell them what the problem is they will
be able to let the new owners know so that they realise what they are taking
on before hand. Where abouts are you? Let me know as I actually work for a
cat center and we vet all out new owners.
April :-)
http://community.webshots.com/user/bowmanzoo
Brian - 21 Aug 2003 22:28 GMT
I live in a small town outside of Baltimore Maryland. I really didn't
want to come here with this. I've already received more then a few
emails from people telling me how terrible I am for even thinking
about getting rid of a cat I've had a few years. In fact, this is
really tearing me apart. My step-father lives close by and he's
thinking of at least taking her for a short while to see if the
urination problem continues. He has no other pets.
--Brian
AG - 21 Aug 2003 22:51 GMT
> I live in a small town outside of Baltimore Maryland. I really didn't
> want to come here with this. I've already received more then a few
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> --Brian
I really feel for you. I had a cat about 12 years ago with similar problems,
and as I was living in an apartment at the time, I had to let him go. My
solution was to give him to a farmer friend who had a lot of barn cats and
cared for them very deeply. I don't know if that's possible where you live.
I visited off and on for a couple years afterward until I moved out of the
area, and Snoopers seemed happier there.
Good luck to you and the poor furry. Just like humans, they all have their
faults as well as their good points. There really isn't any blame to be
assigned, it sometimes just happens.
Purrs,
Andy

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Karen Chuplis - 21 Aug 2003 23:02 GMT
> I live in a small town outside of Baltimore Maryland. I really didn't
> want to come here with this. I've already received more then a few
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> --Brian
It's not a bad idea. She *may* quit all together. Perhaps she is one of
those cats that likes being an only child?
Karen
Jayjay - 21 Aug 2003 20:49 GMT
>I've used as many as three boxes and different kinds of litter. The
>most frustrating thing about is that she urinated outside the box just
>a little while ago and it was totally clean.
>
>--Brian
3 cats may require 4 to 5 litter boxes.
Victor M. Martinez - 21 Aug 2003 18:24 GMT
Try Feliway, both as diffusers all over the house and the spray for localized
aread.

Signature
Victor M. Martinez
martiv@FAKE.che.utexas.edu
http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
nospam - 23 Aug 2003 18:39 GMT
> I have three cats and a dog, but I think it's finally time to say
> goodbye to one of them. We have a cat who has always had a urination
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> --Brian
Reminds me of some people I knew who started training their cat to 'go' in
the toilet. The cat was already well litter trained but hey, who can argue
with teaching the cat to use the toilet?
They bought one of those kits that were expensive but still amazingly
flimsey. It was a (too) thin molded piece of plastic pan that sat on the
toilet seat with concentric rings that one removed over time to acclimate
the cat to the situation. You start with a small amount of litter in the
pan and remove that over time as well.
Somewhere in the middle of this process the plastic thing failed and the cat
fell into the toilet. OOPS!
After that, the cat wouldn't even go to the litter box any more and would
pee/crap in only one place: the couch.
Luckily they came from a farming community and found a farmer that took the
cat off their hands. All's well that ends well.
Michelle Fulton - 23 Aug 2003 18:48 GMT
> After that, the cat wouldn't even go to the litter box any more and would
> pee/crap in only one place: the couch.
LOL :-)) Great story!
M