I don't know what to do anymore...

[Samantha Puppy]

As most of you know, I've been having a problem with my 7 month old kitten, Maya, defecating outside the litter box. As urination was never the problem, I thought the problem was most likely medical as opposed to behavioral. Now I don't know what to think.

This morning, as my husband and I were just getting out of bed, Kimi (Maya's sister) urinated on my dog's pillow. She has NEVER done anything of the sort before. Of course, then Maya came over to smell it and went herself. The pillow's ruined now as the inside is soft (read: absorbent) foam and cannot be washed. What's worse is that not only was this a different cat doing a different thing, but it was in a different location as well. Our bedroom is two floors away from their litter boxes. None of them have ever had a problem with the litter boxes being in the basement, so I know that's not the problem. That's where they've been since we got the cats, it's what they're used to.

The biggest issue here is that the problem is spreading. It's spreading cats, it's spreading locations, and it's spreading what they do. And I'm in my sixth month of pregnancy. It was almost *almost* doable if the problem was limited to the little alcove outside the litter box in the basement... my son won't be playing down there. But if they're doing it all over the house now...

I love my cats. They are my babies. But I cannot have this, especially ESPECIALLY now. I don't know what to do. It's just getting ridiculous and my husband's been very patient - and if you know my husband, that is quite the feat. He's losing it now and I have to admit, so am I.

Does anyone have ANY advice? I just simply cannot have cat deposits all around my house with a baby coming.

[Laura's Babies]

I would put in several more litter boxes, perhaps one on each floor? I would give that a try before I considered having to give either one of them up.

[catnapper]

I am so sorry! I completely understand your frustration! I have a similar problem right now with Allen and Pouncer peeing, though I know exactly why --- their room has been closed off and Minette now has it. They are very peeved kitties.

Is it possible your cats are also peeved? Maybe they feel their territory has been changed to make room for baby? Have you recently begun to paint and move things into the nursery? Did they hang out in that room before and now are shooed away from it?

It could be that the boys were mad first, peed on Samantha's bed. the girls came along, smelled it, then they peed to cover the boys' scent. It could be a multitude of things! :(

[catnapper]

Originally posted by Laura's Babies
I would put in several more litter boxes, perhaps one on each floor? I would give that a try before I considered having to give either one of them up.
Laura, if they are peeing on things in spite, they will NOT use the additional litterboxes. I have seen the boys pee RIGHT NEXT to a completely fresh litterbox. They are just ticked off and trying to tell me how mad they are.

[Samantha Puppy]

I don't know, they could be peeved but that doesn't seem like Kimi's nature at all. She's so sweet - she's been the perfect kitty. We've gotten paint for the baby's room, but haven't begun painting. And when we first got them, we put them in the baby's room at night (not yet knowing it would be a baby's room so soon), but we have kept them out of there and the door closed for MONTHS now. It's been shut off to them longer than it hasn't since they've been here (does that make sense? We got them the end of April, found out about the baby 5 days later and two or three weeks later - so in May - moved them out of that room and have had the door shut ever since).

As for the boys being peeved... their cattitudes haven't changed at all. Neither of them has had a problem using the boxes or anything else, ever. And we've had them for 3 weeks short of a year. I honestly don't think they did anything and the girls were just covering anything up. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't get that feeling.

The thing I'm most worried about is Kimi having a medical issue. Like I said, I don't fault Maya for going right after Kimi. It's instinct. But this is SO unusual for Kimi. I just don't know if I should wait and see if it was a one time thing or do something about it now (not speaking of getting rid of her). Money is tight and I know responsible pet owners don't get too many pets than they can handle... but the fact of the matter is, we'd have much more money to play around with if we weren't saving every penny for when the baby arrives. He was a big surprise and we were nowhere near ready for the financial responsibility of a baby. Anyway... I'm babbling now. I'm just so worried. I've been crying (okay, sobbing) most of the morning over it - I suppose it doesn't help that I seem to have hit the emotional part of my pregnancy - and now I'm feeling sick to my stomach.

I just... I don't know. I just don't know what to do.

[furrykidsmother]

I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. I just don't want to see you getting yourself all upset. You are very emotional now and things are going to upset you much more easily at this time. Hopefully, someone will come along and give you the solution to your problem or at least some good advice. All I can do is offer good thoughts and prayers to you that things will get better.

[catmandu]

I WISH,I COULD AY,SOMETHING TO HELP,BUT EXCEPT FOR SAM,WHO OCCASIONALLY PEE,ON PLASTIC,THE FOUND CATS,HAVE BEEN IMMACULATE,IN THIER LITTER BOX HABITS.
I ,AND THE FOUND CATS,ARE PRAYING,THAT YOU CAN NIP THIS,RIGHT,IN THE BUD!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/catphotos933.jpg

[CalliesMom]

I too hope you can figure something out. Have you taken either Kimi or Maya in to the vet? If it is behavioral, they can put them on medications if there are not other routes to modify the problem. The medication the vet wanted to put Shadow on when she kept peeing in her beds was only $20 a month.

[catnapper]

Thats the thing... Allen seems his normal, laid back self. He's hanging out with us, coming for loving and such. The ONLY way we put two and two together is when the third floor was open to him, we never had any peeing. When the door to the 3rd floor was closed, we had peeing. Now that its permanently closed.... well, I've got daily peeing twice a day. He's ticked off and only telling us by peeing on blankets, clothes & pillows left on the floor, and in laundry baskets. I bet if I let him on the 3rd floor for an hour right now, he won't pee tonight. Unfortunately I can't do that because Minette the grump is up there. I am so ticked at my husband and daughter because I told them this would happen. But their answer: he'll have to "get over it" GRRRR. He's a CAT and he doesn't follow logic. He wants his space and that is that. I keep hoping that soon enough he'll "bond" with his new room on the second floor. So far, he's slept in there on occasion, but has NOT used the litterbox in there.

All this peeing from him, and I KNOW why. I KNOW its not physical. His bladder is not full, his tummy is not tender. It completely behavioral. If you met him right now, you'd swear he was one happy mellow kitty. He IS a happy boy, he just wants HIS room back.

Maybe the girls aren't upset over the room, but are picking up on the activity in the household getting ready for the baby. Cats are notorious for disliking change of any kind. You said you've hit the emotional stage of the pregnancy... did the peeing start right when you hit the emotional part? Maybe they are picking up on your mood swings and reacting. There are so many "maybes" out there for what could be setting them off!

I hope my rambling helped you pinpoint something! I know exactly what you are dealing with!

[jenluckenbach]

Question #1 (because I am very forgettable) are they spayed?

Thought #1....Could Kimi have a urinary tract problem? If it is out of character for her to pee inappropriately, this is a good indicator of a problem.

Thought #2.....could something be preventing them from getting to the basement to the litter boxes? (any chance they had a scare down there recently, workman, loud noise, etc?)

Question #2.....how many litter boxes are available?

The plan of action I would take.
-rule out medical problems in Kimi.
-Attempt to retrain Amaya to use the box (usually done by confining them to a very small area until she uses the box exclusively and then allowing more area, but not the whole house yet)
-And I oersonally would make sure there were litter boxes available on ALL floors of the home (just my personal opinion that going down 2 or 3 flights of stairs to get to the bathroom is too much to expect from a cat.)

[Samantha Puppy]

Originally posted by jenluckenbach
Question #1 (because I am very forgettable) are they spayed?Yes. We got them at approximately 8 weeks of age and they had been spayed the day before. Late April, 2005.


Thought #1....Could Kimi have a urinary tract problem? If it is out of character for her to pee inappropriately, this is a good indicator of a problem.What would be some other symptoms besides urinating outside the box? She acts fine. Her ears haven't felt any warmer than usual and I didn't feed her this evening (my husband did while I ran out to do some errands) but her appetite appears fine. She hasn't been sulky or lethargic. Anything else I should look out for?

I will say, I just went to go do laundry and scoop and I made a point of finding Kimi and placing her IN the box. She did pee, but it wasn't too much. Is that a sign?


Thought #2.....could something be preventing them from getting to the basement to the litter boxes? (any chance they had a scare down there recently, workman, loud noise, etc?)Nope.

[b]
Question #2.....how many litter boxes are available? We have two. I know it's a tight squeeze but aside from when we moved them and Maya began going outside the box (#2), we haven't had any issues - not with quantity or location... I don't know if I could get my husband to buy into getting another litter box. I don't know where we'd put it - our house is wide open room next to wide open room - no good corners or hallways to put it in. *sigh*

Plus, all I need is to convince him that adding another box is what we need and then the issue still doesn't end... ohhh, he would not be a happy man and that would make me a not-so-happy wife.

As for retraining Maya... where would you suggest putting her? The only rooms available are the laundry room, the downstairs bathroom and the room that used to be my husband's office in the basement. There would be no sunlight... and I know that she would have a fit, and Sushi, Kirin and Kimi would as well. I wish there was just some magic litter that would attract cats with problems like this, or a magic pill. I don't want to make any of my babies unhappy... Ugh. This is hard.

Thanks for the advice! I hope it doesn't sound like I'm pooh-poohing any of it and dismissing it, because I'm definitely not. It's just with the layout of our house, some ideas that've been mentioned are a little more difficult to do...

Thanks!

[jenluckenbach]

There IS a litter made to attract cats to it, and cats DO seem to like it. But I could not be the one to guarrentee that it would work for a problem cat. it is simply called cat attact.

http://www.thecatconnection.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=LTR-2954



http://www.petmed.com/acatalog/catatrk.htm


Now on to your UTI questions.
the most common sign is frequent trips to the litter box, but not producing more than a small amount at any time.
second to that is inappropriate peeing.
also, would probably be tender when the bladder area is palpated, but I can't guarrentee that a lay-person could tell, as they might not know the correct amount of pressure to apply.


As for the other issues, if you have 4 cats, 2 boxes are not enough. If the people in the house can't deal with that, then they will need to deal with accidents. Some cats simply need to have it THEIR way, and if that means pottying in a room you'd prefer to not have a box in or if that means they want a fresh box after the other cats have used up the existing ones, then they will simply play by their own rules. YOU will adapt before a cat will change its ways. MY best suggestion is TRYING the extra boxes and if it doesn;t work donate them to your local shelter. It won't be that big of an expense, and it HAS to be better than cleaning up accidents.

[Samantha Puppy]

Jen,

Thanks so much! I am going to send my husband the URL for this thread. You're right - anything is better than worrying if my kitties are sick or angry and cleaning up so many problems.

Thanks for your help!

[catnapper]

Also, you'd be amazed where you can stash litterboxes. My favorite trick is angling a small lightweight piece of furniture in a corner, then stashing the box behind it. I have a small pine cabinet in my bedroom that easily slides out of the way to scoop twice a day. The cats have plenty of room to get back there and they like the privacy. Here's a picture of my room showing the cabinet -- its the one with the lamp. Even with the lamp, its a snap to move every day.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/kasdesign/repaintedroom3.jpg
Yes, there IS a litterbox back there! Not one person has EVER guessed a litterbox would be back there.

If your computer desk is about 30" deep, stash one under where your feet go. Your feet don't go back that far anyway (unless you totally stretch out, but thats another story). Again, nobody but you knows there's a litterbox down there. Its easy enough to bend down and slide the box out ot be scooped every day.

I have one in my hall closet. It has a lid so if coats fall off the hangers, they fall on the lid, and not into the litter :D

I have one hidden behind a chair in the livingroom, one next to a bed under a nightstand... get creative and you'll be amazed where you can stash boxes! I have 8 boxes stashed through the house and the only one people really know about is the one in the bathroom -- and that was the first one we ever had! I didn't think as to how I could hide boxes!