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Cat Forum / General Topics / September 2005OK, Now What?????
A few days ago I told you kind folks about how a cat I had rescued from the animal shelter had been urinating on our bed. (This was during the first week he had been home, when we kept him in our room as he got used to the house and to the smell of our 3 other cats.) He was checked at the vet, and they did find a urinary tract infection. He has been taking medication AND he has been roaming all over the house with our other cats. Things have been going just fine...UNTIL TODAY, when I noticed that he had peed on two different chairs in the living room in the past couple of days! NOTE: I had just changed the litter boxes two days ago, so I know it is NOT because he doesn't have a clean place to go! And I always scoop out the "clumps" almost every single day. ONE MORE THING: He ALWAYS uses the litterbox to poop. I have NEVER had a problem with that. But it seems like he is not nearly as reliable about peeing in the litterbox. I investigated this cat, and it seems that its former owner called the animal control people to have it taken away. I am wondering if the former owner gave up on the cat because of this problem. Could this be an "untrainable" cat? I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE HIM UP, BUT I CANNOT TOLERATE HIS PEEING ALL OVER THE HOUSE! Please...PLEASE...help me with ANY suggestions/advice/training tips. I want to keep this cat in my home but I CANNOT live with him peeing all over chairs and beds. > A few days ago I told you kind folks about how a cat I had rescued from > the animal shelter had been urinating on our bed. (This was during the [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > want to keep this cat in my home but I CANNOT live with him peeing all > over chairs and beds. Some things to try -- Keep the litter boxes clean, scoop at least once a day, *every day*. get more boxes, at least one per cat, if it's a multistory house have a couple of boxes available on each level. if the litter boxes have covers, leave the covers off get a larger litter box, especially if he's a big cat try different types of litter, most cats seem to like the scoopable clumping stuff I do suspect that he got into some bad habits with the previous owner. But, if he was using the box OK for a few days with you, that's a sign that he's not a hopeless case. There's also still the possibility that he's got a problem with urinary tract crystals, though the vet should have found that, what type of food is he eating? > I do suspect that he got into some bad habits with the previous owner. > But, if he was using the box OK for a few days with you, that's a sign [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > tract crystals, though the vet should have found that, what type of food > is he eating? The vet did find crystals and a very small amount of blood in his urine when I took him to be examined. He has been on the medication almost a week. I had been looking all around the house for evidence of "accidents" and I never found anything until yesterday, when I found the two soiled chairs in the living room. He is eating dry Science Diet cat food and I am also feeding him tuna when I give him his antibiotic. I crush the pill up and put it in the tuna and he eats ALL of it. That's the only way I can get him to eat his pill! I am going to go out on a limb and say that he probably did behave for a couple of days immediately after coming home from the vet...but I do have to say that I had stacked things on the two chairs during that time. My son moved the stuff off of the two chairs sometime in the last two days, and it looks like the cat IMMEDIATELY took the opportunity to soil the chairs at that time. :-( >> I do suspect that he got into some bad habits with the previous owner. >> But, if he was using the box OK for a few days with you, that's a sign [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > two days, and it looks like the cat IMMEDIATELY took the opportunity to > soil the chairs at that time. :-( First thing is to work with the vet to be sure the crystals have cleared up. The litter box problems won't end while the cat is in distress from crystals in his urine. I have a cat prone to crystals who's done well on SD dry, but many people recommend a canned food instead. But Friskies canned made George's crystal problem worse, so I have to stick to SD canned when he gets canned. Cut back on the tuna as much as possible, only use enough to cover the meds and no more. Tuna isn't a very good food for cats, although I don't know if it makes crystals worse or not. My vet just told me about a treat called Pill Pockets that you can put a pill in and the cat will swallow whole, I haven't had need to try it yet. >I have a cat prone to crystals who's done >well on SD dry, but many people >recommend a canned food instead. But >Friskies canned made George's crystal >problem worse, so I have to stick to SD >canned when he gets canned. The quality of the canned food and urine ph it promotes are important. Low quality foods like Friskies can promote higher urine ph, which isn't helpful to a cat with urinary tract issues. Canned foods should promote a neutral urine ph which is 6.5. The prescription SD diet promotes a ph of 6.2-6.4. Wellness canned foods (store locator at http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com) promote a urine ph of 6.1-6.4 and not only work just as well, but are a much better quality with no grains and no by-products. There are other foods that fit the bill as well. You just need to call the different manufacturers and find out if they make canned foods that fit the citeria. Megan  Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray wrote: > The quality of the canned food and urine ph it promotes are important. > Low quality foods like Friskies can promote higher urine ph, which isn't [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > just need to call the different manufacturers and find out if they make > canned foods that fit the citeria. I'll stick with ScienceDiet. They've got the data right on their web site. Not just S/D, but many of their other foods also have a target ph of 6.2-6.4. >He is eating dry Science Diet cat food Cats, and *especially* cats with urinary tract issues should not eat dry food. They need the water to keep well-hydrated and keep the bladder flushed so the and crystals can resolve.You can read more about the importance of feeding a canned diet here: http://catsincanada.com/articles/feeding.html > I am also feeding him tuna when I give >him his antibiotic. Tuna is high in magnesium and can contribute to crystal formation. It is not something you should be feeding your cat. You really need to learn how to pill your cat (which is especially important if you have to give pills with an enteric coating that are not supposed to be crushed), or get the medication in a liquid form. Pill guns are available from most vets and are a useful tool. You could also try mixing the medication with a little bit of chicken or turkey baby food (plain meat w/no onion) instead of tuna. I have never met a cat that didn't love meat baby food. Megan Signature"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." - W.H. Murray EADGBE wrote: > A few days ago I told you kind folks about how a cat I had rescued from > the animal shelter had been urinating on our bed. (This was during the [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > want to keep this cat in my home but I CANNOT live with him peeing all > over chairs and beds. http://pseudomart.com/catchit/index.html Your cat's been ill; it's only been a couple days since he started getting medication to treat. Once he's well again he *might* still be in the habit of peeing wherever, but I certainly wouldn't expect anything right this minute. Try putting pans around with kitty litter in it for awhile; you might also want to contact your vet to find out when your cat will be "cured". Pat > A few days ago I told you kind folks about how a cat I had rescued from > the animal shelter had been urinating on our bed. (This was during the [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > want to keep this cat in my home but I CANNOT live with him peeing all > over chairs and beds. |
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