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Wed 12 May, 2004 12:25 am
Hello there.
I am a newly married man, (Feb 04) who has just inherited 4 wonderful felines of my wife's. I have always been an animal lover/liker, so I hope I don't come across as negative toward cats in this post.
The 4 cats are:
Mother - Estimated 6 or 7 years old.
Daughter, 2nd Daughter, and Son. (all about 5 years old, all spayed and nuetered.)
They haven't had the most disciplined of lifestyles and are all pretty timid cats. Here's the problem...One of them, (maybe more) seems to think that the litter box is only there for occasional usage. We don't know who is doing the peeing, but it has been happening for years now. I would chalk this up to a new home, or madness toward the new guy(me), or something of the like, but it happened even before I ever knew them.
So, my general question is... Is there hope to fixing this problem? Or are they so set in their ways that it can't be fixed? We keep their litterbox clean daily, feed twice a day, and pick up the food bowls, etc...
We both hoped that moving and having a fresh start with new carpet, etc...would end this problem, obviously we were wrong. It's about 1 every other day we find something somewhere that has been peed on. There is no particular format to the cats madness!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Reedly
Oh my! Some recommend pussy tranquilizers - the thing would be to isolate the offender.
I would suspect a fella first, by the way - boys (even neutered) tend to want to mark teritory. Once it has happened once - oh boy!
The cat and the comode problem.
Hi Reedly,
Sounds familiar, four cats one litter pan, one or more of the cats use an "alternative" litter pan. Suggested solution, have one or two additional litter pans for you cats to use. I have lived with multiple cats for about thirty years and have loved all of them. We now have six cats. Like your's they are all related, all have the same sire.
My rule of thumb is no more than two cats per litter pan. For cat heaven have one pan per cat. Unless the litter pan is huge, say about three feet square, only one cat at a time can use it. That can be a problem if two cats have to pee at the same time.
The other thing you will need to do is clean all the alternative use sites. Try an enzyme based cleaner to remove all traces of urine and odor. A black light is helpful in tracking down all traces of pet urine as it fluoresces nicely.
I hope this helps with your problem.
One more thing, do any of your cats pee on plastic bags or similar things? One of mine does and I'm interested in learning if it's a cat thing or a Rumple thing. Thanks.
All my best to you and your's
Sam
I agree with Sam, 2 cats per box. It may be that the second is hardly used, but better that than pee on the rug. Good luck, hope the solution is that easy!
Reedly,
How are you and your feline family doing? Have you had a chance to add one or two litter pans?
I was thinking about the problem and a couple of side issues came to mind. Some cats insist on privacy, as in being totaly alone, when using the litter pan. If you have the space placing the pans in different rooms may help. Are any of the alternative sites near a window or door with an interesting view? One of my cats regularly used the doormat by the back door. It was a french door and offered a great view of the birdfeeders in the backyard. I placed a litter pan near the door and he stoped using the door mant and began using it. Perhaps the show in the backyard was too good to leave for any extended period.
Please post your success or failures with this issue.
Sam
Solution: Buy yourself a big, friendly dog that likes to eat cats.
Cats that urinate on furniture
Sometimes cats urinate on furniture or other objects because they have a urinary tract infection, and come to associate urinating in the litterbox with having pain. Some people suggest a trip to the vet to rule out this possibility. Good luck...cat urine is atrocious smelling, I know!!
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