litter training troubles

[wolfsoul]

I'm really running out of patience with Caleb's peeing problems. He was always so good -- he never peed outside the litter box. But for the past couple weeks, he's been driving me up the wall. He started out peeing on my laundry. Then it escalated to peeing on my bed. It used to only happen when I was out, but now it happens whenever he feels like it. I woke up early this morning to him peeing right beside me! :mad: I've gone through six blankets already!

I caught him again today. He knocked down the laundry basket and was peeing on my blanket that fell out. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and said "Bad cat!" And then I placed him in his litter box.

He has two litter boxes and Slick told me to make sure that they are clean, or he won't use them, so I've been keeping them very clean. What else can I do? So far, he's only pooped once outside the litter box...it may have been an accident. because it was diahrrea and he may not have been able to hold it, but it was in the pile of laudry, so I just have to wonder. He had a little bout of colitis last week, and I'm afraid that it might come back and he'll stain something. My mom would KILL. :eek:

I've decided that he is no longer allowed on my bed, nor in my room when I am gone or sleeping. I don't imagine that keeping him in the bathroom at night would make him feel isolated and hurt him mentally, do you? I would imagine it's like keeping a dog in a crate. And I'm going to get a more secure laundry basket. But I'm afraid he will resort to peeing on something else when I'm not looking.

Sara never did this, so I'm at my wits end. I'm trying to keep this a secret from my mother. But now that our laundry dryer is broken, she's going to come home to a bunch of blankets and sheets haning up in the living room. I'm pretty sure it won't be secret for long lol. I just don't want her to regret letting me getting Caleb.

Thanks in advance for ANY help!

[boscibo]

Has he been checked by a vet? The diarrhea may be a sign of something wrong. Whenever a cat is peeing inappropriately a vet vist (even if he was in last week for something else) is in order.

[catcrazylady]

The first thing is a vet check to be sure there isn't anything wrong like a UTI.
Where did you get Caleb? Was he already litter box trained or was he outside? If he was already litter trained then maybe he doesn't like the type of litter you have. It may be very different than what he was used to. It is strange that he used it before and just now started this.
I would vet check soon and talk to your vet about what he is doing. Caleb may also be stressed for some reason and this is how he is trying to tell you.
Putting him in the bathroom at night won't hurt him but be prepared for lots of crying. If you do decide to do that then make sure you put his bed and litter box in there as well as food and water.
Good luck and keep us posted on how he is doing.

[catmandu]

We are thinking,that Caleb,might ahve some kind,of blockage,and the Vet,could fix that! But if he just likes tope,on soft thing,you might have tocrate him,like Mowgli.best Wishes,from all Of Us!

[wolfsoul]

Thanks for all of your suggestions! :) Caleb has been to the vet, and they said that he had colitis, because I give him a variety of food, and he wasn't used to some of the food I was giving him, so it was irritating his colon which gave him bloody diahrrea, but other than that, he's perfectly fine. He was litter trained before he came to me. He was on pine shavings, and he's on pine pellets now. I'm going to change the litter to something else anyways because I don't like the smell, and with him in such close proximity to the litter box while he's crated, I'm afraid he'll develop some respiratory problems from the phenols in the pine. I've been crating him in my room every night now. He cried at first, but he's gotten used to it. But the little bugger dragged his blanket into his litter box and peed on it! With not letting him in my room unless he's in the crate, and trying to keep my laundry away from him, he's only had one more accident. I changed out of my clothes and accidentally left them on the floor, and he peed on those.

[moosmom]

"I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and said "BAD CAT!!"

Grabbing him by the scuff of the neck and yelling at him won't do any good. Is he neutered??? If not, he needs to be.

I would also feed him nothing but cat food (no table scraps, no treats). His colitis is obviously bothering him and you getting angry at him for something HE has no control over isn't going to help. It's only going to make him feel worse.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by moosmom
Grabbing him by the scuff of the neck and yelling at him won't do any good. Is he neutered??? If not, he needs to be.


He doesn't need to be neutered, he isn't spraying. He is only 3 months old. I will neuter him in two or three months.


Originally posted by moosmom
I would also feed him nothing but cat food (no table scraps, no treats). His colitis is obviously bothering him and you getting angry at him for something HE has no control over isn't going to help. It's only going to make him feel worse.

No, no, he only had colitis for a few days. It wasn't making him pee on anything. All it did was make him have bloody diahhrea. I NEVER got mad at him for having blood in his diahhrea. I was very worried about him. His peeing has nothing to do with his colitis, nor any medical problem. He simply doesn't understand, which is what I have been trying to make him do. I don't give him table scraps. He got the colitis from the Tripett cat food, but since he has gotten used to it and it no longer irritates his colon.

I thought that grabbing him by the scruff would show that I am correcting him, like a mother would correct her kitten, and "bad cat" (I didn't yell it, just firmly said it) would be the phrase I use when he is doing something wrong, and that he would get used to hearing it and understand what he's doing is wrong.

Since I have been crating him, we've had no accidents, even though my mom keeps leaving the laundry room open. I haven't been letting him on my bed, nor in my room when I am not home, and he's been doing very well. He went in for another checkup the day before yesterday, and the vet said he is in top shape, and that his accidents should go away as long as I am consistent and punish him if he's caught in the act, like I've been doing. So hopefully this behaviour has gone away, but for the next few months he will be crated at night until I am sure. :)

[carla and mike]

It would be great if you slip a small plastic container under him
while he's peeing and bring it in for them to annalize.
I really think the pee should be checked..no matter what the vet says.

[wolfsoul]

I did have it checked -- I took the litter out of his litter box so that the urine wouldn't be absorbed and took it in. That was when he had his stool checked and they informed me about his colitis. :)

[carla and mike]

Excellent news.Sorry but I couldn't tell if it was checked.
:D