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Cat Forum / General Topics / April 2004Behavioural Problem... Please Help!
Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as their litterbox. Seriously. The house smells like cat piss and I'm freaking out. There isn't anything that has changed in the last little while that would warrant protest from them. No furniture has been moved. No new things have come into the house. We haven't had any visitors. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. And he isn't doing it in front of me like he was when he had the UTI. I've caught the both of them a couple of times. I'm afraid we're going to have to get rid of them if they continue. I called the vet and she suggested having them put to sleep. (because i took them in for a physical exam and there's nothing wrong with them) Do you have any suggestions? > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as > their litterbox. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Do you have any suggestions? 1.Yeah, the first one being changing the vet. A vet that suggests murdering cats instead of giving advice and dealing with the issues properly is NOT a vet, and I would personally stay WELL away from her! If you decide not to keep the cats, there are lots of people who would love to have them, so please take them to the local animal shelter, so they get a second chance. 2. Well done on taking them for a medical check up that is usually the first thing one would reccomend in these cases. 3.Just becuase YOU think nothing has changed, this may not be so in your cats opinions. Any new smell that we can only dream about smelling could cause this. Maybe you've done the shopping and brought in some item they really disliked. Or windows were open and something upset the cats. Maybe kids rung the doorbell for fun for half hour while you were at work and terrified the cats. There may not be an obvious reason for what happened. 4.You said nothing has changed so presumebly you haven;t changed the type of litter they are used to? DO theyt still use the litterbox at all? Maybe you have changed the cleaning liquid for the tray and they don;t like the smell? 5. As for solution, you gonna need to think like a cat. Cats are clean animals. However if they do choose certain spots for urinating, they will keep going back there for a wee. However cats will not wee near the food. So, if I was you, I'd first isolate the cats in couple of rooms till they get back to using the tray. I's also buy a second litter tray and place it in the spots they are using the most. The other places need thorough cleaning . 6.Cleaning: Although you have probably cleaned the spots up to yours cratch, cats as we all know have sence of smell beyond our comprehension. To them they probably still smell like a toilet, only a tad milder. Clean every used area with some biological washing powder first, or some speicalised shampoo that contains enzymes which would munch up the parts of urin. We are talking serious scrubbing here, becuase even though we can;t smell it, cats, believe, can. After this has been done, take vinegar (in color matching your carpets/flooring/bedding :) )- probably clear malt one would be the best. Yes that stinks, but it works wonders as cats hate that smell, which is what you really want, to divert them from using this spot again. I am not certain if it also nutralises the urin in some way as well or not, but you must definitly put the vinegar on the spot. If possibly let the carpet dry. Perhaps speed up drying with some hairdryer treatment. Lastly, when dry, you could use some Downy fabric conditioner to kill any residual smell left. This one is for you really. When all dries out, put some dry cat food on that area(even rub a few in the carpet/flooring). Cats are clean animals and wont wee/poo near food. I know this works as my friends done it on their cat/carpet. Alternativly, move the litter tray on that area. 7.Oh and make sure the regular tray is kept clean as some cats like my Shadow will rather hold it in for a day/do it elsewhere, then do it in -what they consider- dirty tray. Some cats are just fussy. 8.If you happen to catch them doing it, yell NO then quickly pick them up and put them IN the litter tray and speak gently prasing them. Even give them a treat if they do it correctly. Never ever punish a cat in any way, which Im sure you wouldn;t. Finally just have to repeat myself one more time, please PLEASE don;t kill the cats becuase of this problem, if you really feel it's too much, take them to the animal shelter, and let someone else give them a second chance.Thanks Gee & Cat co I agree with all Gee's recommendations on cleaning, but if you do take them to a shelter, that will have a terrifying effect on them if they've had a loving home for a long time and will make their negative behaviors worse. Please try to work with them first. And if you do take them as a last resort, tell the shelter the problem so they can tell a potential adopter, and ask that they be adopted together. Some people who don't use message boards for help, might really mistreat or abandon cats that won't use a litter box instead of trying to solve the problem, like you, a good pet owner. Thanks! > > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as > > their litterbox. [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] > > Gee & Cat co In all fairness to my vet... I suppose I should have mentioned that she did give us a lot of advice that Gee has given. And we've tried, but have not succeeded in rectifying the problem. She told us that their behaviour makes them "unadoptable". LET ME BE CLEAR THAT WE ARE NOT EVEN CONSIDERING EUTHANIZING OUR CATS OVER THIS. I have NEVER heard the vinegar thing. I will try that!! I hope that it works. I am going to go out today and purchase a large vat of it. Should I dilute it? or just use it as is? We have been using a product that is quite expensive that is supposed to neutralize the odour and stopping the peeing. While it does work, they find yet another spot to pee. One of the problems that we are having is that we can smell the pee, but can't locate the area where it's coming from. Which makes cleaning very difficult. I have seriously gone around the room like a mad woman smelling EVERYTHING! While my cats are not outdoor animals, I fear that I may have to send them to a farm (farmers in this area are always looking for more cats) and give up their life of luxury. It's too bad that they can't see what a good thing they may possibly be losing out on. (It's either the farm or the animal shelter which is overrun by cats and they will almost certainly be euthanized.) > > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as > > their litterbox. [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] > > Gee & Cat co We don't have carpeting... Will the vinegar thing still work on ceramic tile and hardwood? > We don't have carpeting... Will the vinegar thing still work on ceramic tile > and hardwood? Turpentine or gasoline works on hardwood!! Blondie >> We don't have carpeting... Will the vinegar thing still work on ceramic tile >> and hardwood? > >Turpentine or gasoline works on hardwood!! > >Blondie Don't use gasoline indoors -- fire and fume hazard/ wouldn't turpentin take the finish off the floor too? plus, there's the toxicity factor for my cats... not to mention my 3 year old son... then i look at your email address and figure you're probably being a smartass, with nothing better to do then bug a group of people with cats... > > We don't have carpeting... Will the vinegar thing still work on ceramic tile > > and hardwood? > > Turpentine or gasoline works on hardwood!! > > Blondie "Blondie" is a troll that followed a cross-post over from another newsgroups, and decided to camp out here for a while & try to stir things up. I have him/her/it blocked, so I don't see anything from him/her/it unless it's quoted by someone else. Best for you to block him/her/it as well.  SignatureThe ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? http://www.geocities.com/the_magic_mood_jeep/ http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep > wouldn't turpentin take the finish off the floor too? > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > > > Blondie "Magic Mood Jeep©" <nobody@nowhere.net> wrote in message news:<fpGfc.152153$JO3.89855@attbi_s04>... > "Blondie" is a troll that followed a cross-post over from another > newsgroups, and decided to camp out here for a while & try to stir things > up. I have him/her/it blocked, so I don't see anything from him/her/it > unless it's quoted by someone else. > > Best for you to block him/her/it as well. Trolllll..... Trolllll its shoving its penis deep in my throat.... *GAG* *BURRRRRPPPP* troollllll!!!!! "lafunk" <alexandlaura@sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:EDyfc.25937 > I have NEVER heard the vinegar thing. I will try that!! I hope that it > works. I am going to go out today and purchase a large vat of it. Should I > dilute it? or just use it as is? NO, don;t dilute. The stronger smell the better. But do it in the earlier mantioned order. you have to nuetralise the uring first with bio-powder. > We have been using a product that is quite expensive that is supposed to > neutralize the odour and stopping the peeing. While it does work, they find > yet another spot to pee. Reduce them to one room for a while, say kitchen, till they learn not to pee all over. > One of the problems that we are having is that we can smell the pee, but > can't locate the area where it's coming from. Which makes cleaning very > difficult. I have seriously gone around the room like a mad woman smelling > EVERYTHING! Watch them like a hawk, especially first thing in the morning and see what they do and where they go. ... | One of the problems that we are having is that we can smell the pee, but | can't locate the area where it's coming from. Which makes cleaning very | difficult. I have seriously gone around the room like a mad woman smelling | EVERYTHING! ... This is a tough problem both to stop and to clean up after. If the problem is not medical but behavioral: Feliway works somewhat to mellow out anxious kitties but it's expensive. Our vet (here in the US) had one of ours on Buspar to calm anxiety caused by a change in the social order. It worked ok but you have to give pills, get rx and buy. And she (the cat) still insists on peeing in the sink. Maintaining several catboxes and cleaning religiously (2-3x/day) and using Lysol (not on cats) also helps a lot. Keeping out the strange cats that come through here also helped a lot. Sometimes the strangers pee on the sliding door and windows and the scent gets inside so washing the windows and tracks also helps. Finding the stink: black light. They sell cheap battery-powered hand-held blacklights that really do reveal spots of urine, feces, vomit and ... other stuff. "Stinkfinder" was the brand I found, so charming. If you use it, prepare for an emotional surge! If the cats are territorially spraying, then look about 18" above the floor on walls and cabinets, although their aim is often "off". Enzymatic cleaners are pretty thorough, can reach into carpets and behind baseboards and are pretty easy on carpets and hardwood. We use "Simple Solution," which is cheap and smelly but ... cheap. Hope this helps. dlf > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house > as their litterbox. > > Seriously. The house smells like cat piss and I'm freaking out. Urine only, not feces ? > There isn't anything that has changed in the last little while that > would warrant protest from them. No furniture has been moved. No > new things have come into the house. We haven't had any visitors. > NOTHING HAS CHANGED. including new type of kittylitter, new neighbour with an unspayed female cat, new aftershave, laundrysoap, etc. > And he isn't doing it in front of me like he was when he had the UTI. > I've caught the both of them a couple of times. Are they sitting down to pee or spraying ? If they're spraying it won't only be on the floor but on vertical surfaces as well (walls, furniture, people(seriously, a cat did this... once)) > I'm afraid we're going to have to get rid of them if they continue. > I called the vet and she suggested having them put to sleep. > (because i took them in for a physical exam and there's nothing wrong > with them) Change vets... even if that's a joke it's in poor taste considering the amount of hair you're pulling out. (To me) it sounds like they're spraying, asserting territory for some reason... could be a neighbour's cat comes up to the window and moons them (or the cat equivalent). pat who lets the cats spray on the scratching post only > (To me) it sounds like they're spraying, asserting territory for some > reason... could be a neighbour's cat comes up to the window and moons > them (or the cat equivalent). That's a good point, they could be just spraying not actually urinating. It smells as bad :) but at least you can start searching a bit higher and side serfices rather then floor. > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as > their litterbox. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > ` > end Whats with the 666 ?? I agree with the vet kill the little bastards! Sounds to me that they are having a pissing contest and no one wins, especially the owner! Blondie >Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as >their litterbox. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Do you have any suggestions? Please refrain from posting binaries in a non-binary group. I really didn't want your picture on my hard drive. Thank you. > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as > their litterbox. > Do you have any suggestions? YES, Spread kitty litter ankle deep throughout your house problem solved! You are the cats pet, he rules the house and is letting you know this by claming his territory. If you think otherwise you can suck his little feline genitals! After all Oscar owns you! The ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)© First off, while I do maintain a yahoo address, that's not it; 2nd I do NOT post via Google Groups at all; 3rd, the only medication I take is Claritin for my allergies (and an occasional aspirin for aches & pains) & 4th - you didn't even get my spam-me-not email address right! SignatureThe ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? http://www.geocities.com/the_magic_mood_jeep/ http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep > > Oscar (the cat) and his buddy Iggy have started using the WHOLE house as > > their litterbox. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > former-blonde > in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? Blondie and the troll who is using evryone's name... is/was Mars Project who was using dawngibbaphuck@yahoo.com and under his Blondie name it's Marsprojectcatkiller@yahoo.com > First off, while I do maintain a yahoo address, that's not it; 2nd I do NOT > post via Google Groups at all; 3rd, the only medication I take is Claritin [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > former-blonde > > in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)?
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