Somebody PLEASE give me just 2 good reasons why I shouldn't........

[jenluckenbach]

send a couple of BAD cats to the electric chair???? :mad:

Sterling is still spraying on my sofa............ :mad:

And Lucas is still pooping on the carpet..... :( (and I just today, shampooed 2 carpets, and he had loose stool on BOTH!!)

Can a person really survive while constantly cleaning up messes and wondering where the next one will be?

So what I need is the voice of reason to soothe me until I can love them unconditionally again.


SIGH...............

[kimlovescats]

Oh Jen ... I can certaily understand your frustration. If it makes you feel any better ... we have a poodle who will still randomly poop by the door rather than asking to go out! She is 4 years old, and "housebroken". Trust me, dog poops smells MUCH worse than cat poop! :rolleyes:

I gave up on having clean carpets a long time ago. As you know, I have a house full of kitties, like both you and K&L. I don't think there is a single spot in my whole house that hasn't been peed, pooped or barfed on by at least one kitty. There are days when I get really down and out and feel like doing something drastic, but then I remind myself that this is the price I pay for having the unconditional love of my babies!

I hope this helps a little bit! ;)

HUGS!
Kim

[rosethecopycat]

nix the carpet for laminate. :(

[QueenScoopalot]

Reason #1 is I'm not sure they have electric chairs small enough for cats yet!
Reason #2 cats will be cats and that's that. :rolleyes:
I have an ongoing problem with my 3 legged hellion Impy who whizzes on everything he can. I know the biggest part of is problem is he's picked on by a few of the other cats, so he retaliates in his finest fashion GRR! And having 3 legs does not stop him from climbing on counters etc. :mad: Is there a room you could segregate Sterling & Lucas into until things calm down? I have had to resort to keeping Sweet Pea (PEE?) in the bedroom so she doesn't pee (and sometimes poop) on the counters...she's another low cat on the totem pole. :rolleyes: She's happy and relaxed, does not pee in the bedroom, so it works well for us all. I invested in a Hoover Steam Vac a few years ago, and I have to say it works wonders! It sucks the pee out (along with other nasty bodily icks) instead of spinning it around like a shampoo machine. And it has upholstery/ stair attachments too. Our 120 lb. dog Greta has UTIs sometimes...and talk about flooding! I highly recommend them. ;)

[Corinna]

Simple cuz you love them.

[jenluckenbach]

nix the carpet for laminate. :(
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :(

[catmandu]

Because Cats aremore important than carpets.
Imagine how badly you would feel,if anything happened to One Of Your Cats,while you were angry with them.
You would feel badly about that for years.
Tubby2,still sprays as he is an Older Tom,and I understand that he will do that for a while,its the price I gladly pay.
Jen,I think we know you well ,that you dont really mean that.
You are a True Cat Person,just venting a bit.

[Pam]

send a couple of BAD cats to the electric chair???? :mad:

(and I just today, shampooed 2 carpets, and he had loose stool on BOTH!!)



Murphy's law Jen. I think we can all attest to that. Occasionally Ripley will throw up in my bed in the middle of the night. It is more of a reflux thing and happens with a burp and not the urping sound (so no advance warning :eek: ). I have found that he is more likely to do this right after I have just put sparkly clean new sheets on the bed. :rolleyes:

A furmommy's work is never done. *sigh*

[catnapper]

MY boy Sterling being bad????? :eek: Tell him if it continues you'll send him to boot camp with Aunt Kim!


Seriously Jen, I have been to your house.... yours is probably like mine: good wood floors under all that carpet. Have you tried to pull up a corner in a smaller room to see whats under there? You might even have oak. We had pine, and for the most part they were in a pretty good shape. We lived without carpet on them for over a year, but got carpet when the few bad patches got really bad. Somedays I wish I could go back to the bare floors and spent the money on repairs instead of carpet.... ah, but that was when I was un-informed about cats and carpet

[Catty1]

A friend of mine had two unspayed females; the one had peed all over. When she tore up the carpet in her apartment, she could hardly believe the extent of the stuff!

So if Sterling and Lucas are otherwise healthy and neutered and all that - they could be picking up 'cues' from what is under the carpet.

It's a thought. Get a gang of friends together for pizza and carpet ripping, and get some of that industrial-strength deodorizer!

Worked wonders for my friend - and a surprise cash gift allowed her to get her cats spayed(even low-cost was expensive for her!)

Good luck!

[moosmom]

Jen,

I know how ya feel. When I took in Tabitha and she started peeing and pooping in one corner of my living room, I knew I had a problem. She is now happy and healthy and living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!!

I know how frustrating it can be. Especially when you love them so much and feel like you're at your wits end. I just wish I had some words of wisdom to help you.

[Kirsten]

I have these problems with Luna all the time, and I know it's so frustrating! Luckily I have laminate instead of carpets!

I also wish I had some advice, but I guess if I had, I wouldn't have these problems with Luna... :rolleyes:

Kirsten

[Craftlady]

I would go with ripping up the carpet. Your fightening a losing battle with just cleaning the carpets because you cant get past the padding to the floor area that really is place that needs most attention and its holding in the urine & it's smell. There are so many discount places out there that have very reasonable flooring (do it your self). If the flooring just needs cleaned up and coat of poly all you would need is couple large area rugs throughout the house.
If I were doing fostering work on scale you do, I wouldnt have carpet in a house.

[kimlovescats]

I would go with ripping up the carpet. Your fightening a losing battle with just cleaning the carpets because you cant get past the padding to the floor area that really is place that needs most attention and its holding in the urine & it's smell. There are so many discount places out there that have very reasonable flooring (do it your self). If the flooring just needs cleaned up and coat of poly all you would need is couple large area rugs throughout the house.
If I were doing fostering work on scale you do, I wouldnt have carpet in a house.


That's what I want to do ... but still trying to convince my hubby! :rolleyes:

[jenluckenbach]

Thanks guys. Of course, most of the time I accept the cats for who they are, but sometimes it is too much all at once.

As for ripping up the carpet......I have thought about it. 4 of the 5 bedrooms just have an area rug, not wall to wall. But I wouldn't know hard wood from sawdust if I looked at the floor underneath. :rolleyes: I figured I could live with the bare floors for a while, but I am fairly certain they are UGLY!! I know the floor is painted around the perimiter of some of the rooms.

as for do it yourself.......LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL......it would have to be as easy as laying down an area rug. :eek:

As for this.

Get a gang of friends together for pizza and carpet ripping
Sadly, I do not KNOW a gang of people, let alone anyone who would help with WORK!

But I guess the bottom line is, I LIKE my carpet. It make my home feel good to me. I could not imagine living on wood, or tile, or laminate, or vinyl......... I like SOFT. :(

And the poop is what is on the carpet, the pee is on the COUCH! :eek: but I admit to having it covered in plastic with a sheet over it. So I wash the sheet and place a new one on the couch. (I am just tired of doing that!)

ACK! They are still my brats, and I love them.

[kimlovescats]

Jen, I do understand and feel your pain. Keep in mind, like Catnapper, I LOVE to decorate and am constantly changing the decor in my house. I used to also be a neat / clean house freak. The past four years have drastically changed all of that. I do still enjoy decorating to an extent, but I have had to give up the aspirations of ever having a truly neat OR clean home again. Trust me, there are days I get very depressed and disgusted with how bad things have gotten around here... like all the torn doorways on my carpet, and all the many, many, many stains on it as well! :rolleyes: Thankfully my hubby and I are content with our home and the companionship of our furry family, over that of worrying with entertaining guests who might expect a formal and perfect environment. I have found that just doing the best we can and accepting the rest, is easiest on the nerves, and having the love of our kitties over friendships is easiest on the HEART!

BIG HUGS!
Kim

[NoahsMommy]

(((Jen)))

That has to be sooooo frustrating!! I remember the day when David literally spent ALL DAY cleaning the couch Livvy chose for her cat box. He spent all day with our carpet vac upholstery attachment. Hot water, soap, hot water, soap, bleach, hot water, soap....all day. The cushions, the arms, the pads, the entire thing.

That night, Livvy pooped and pee'd on the couch and he was livid!! Its frustrating!!

Noah is my little barfer. I wash my blankies from my bed weekly and it seems that he picks the day after I wash them to upchuck at 3 in the morning. It soooo gross to roll over and get your arm in wet, cold cat barf. Eww....

I'm sorry about the poop and pee. I hope it'll get better for you.

I live with my friend CiCi. She has four kitties, one uses the couch for peeing. :( She bought special couch covers for her couch, pillows and cushions. Before putting the covers on, she wrapped it all in black trash bags, added dryer sheets (kind of deters the cats) and then puts the covers on. She also puts dog training pads on the cushions so when he pee's she can just throw them away. He still pee's, about once a week and she just washes the couch covers, but still, its a huge job to wask all the covers and redo all that each time that little orange bratty cat wants to pee.

The only thing...he's so darned CUTE!!! ;)

Cats....

[Lizzie]

I discovered this site and then this thread only an hour ago, but already I feel "at home" because I'm reading about other crazy cat ladies who live in virtual cat toilets and somehow cope. I too have furniture wrapped in plastic under washable covers, and in places I have plastic taped up against the floors and walls. Just before finding this site I was in my daylight basement, nearly in tears because I just found more places with cat pee to clean up. Even after nearly 20 years of doing this, it still gets to me. Visiting places like this with a mug of tea and a few chocolate hobnobs (I'll work them off later when I go on a cleaning blitz) at my elbow is the way to restore my sense of balance.

I did once "punish" a male cat (I shouldn't have named him Loki, it was asking for some kind of trouble) for peeing on some saucepans and packets of food - he peed on everything, including up in my face a few times. I thought I was about to go crazy and was actually afraid I'd hurt him, so I got a pan of tepid water, snuck up on him and upended it. As you can imagine, only a very small amount hit Loki and I spent an hour cleaning water out of the carpet.

[Catty1]

No, not for cleaning - put it in a spray bottle and try spraying the area. Cats do NOT like the smell of vinegar...

And it can't hurt the floor or furniture any more than it already is....

[jenluckenbach]

I discovered this site and then this thread only an hour ago, but already I feel "at home" because I'm reading about other crazy cat ladies .........
WELCOME to Pet Talk. You are definitley in the right place. I'll have to check the board and see if you wrote an introduction thread. (this is my first thread of the day).

Well, I am off to clean up my first poop of the day. :rolleyes:

Seroiusly though, I think it is time to take Lucas BACK to the vet. Mind you, we tried a host of things for him, and even the vet is running out of ideas, but his pooping is getting worse again. He can't seem to hold it long enough to make the litter box. I will wait until business hours tomorrow as it is certainly not life threatening (unless of course you consider my threat. :p )

[K & L]

It's nice to hear other cat lovers have these frustrations. I spent the WHOLE day yesterday cleaning. If it's not hair it's a hairball, pee, poop, you name it. Shadow has been having a behavorial problem with fear of going to the litter box since Mouser started acting aggressive. Thank goodness I do have laminate flooring so clean-up is much simpler, although still time consuming and tiring. There are times I'm ready to throw them all outdoors (except Bo :) ) but then it all seems to calm down again and become normal. I am an extreme clean freak (even considered going on-line and taking the Monk test :D ) so everyday I'm vacumming and wiping down counters etc.

As for Shadow, last night we locked her in the computer room with a litter box, food, etc. This morning she has free range of the house. I'm going to try and do this every night, if possible. It's quite confusing cause she'll mingle with all other, including the Mouser, when eating or laying around the house, but refuses to go to the litter box! :mad:

All I can say is getting rid of my carpet was the best thing I ever did. I have no lingering odors, clean-up is so much easier, and I just buy area rugs to help add warmth to the house. Which poses another issue. :D Even though I have NO carpet anywhere, why is it the hairballs are always on the area rugs? :confused: :D

Good luck Jen and hope things settle down soon. How' the ringworm issue going?

[kb2yjx]

We also pulled up the carpet, and have the floors cleaned up!!! The previous owner had cats that obviously peed in the corners!!! The fellow who did the floors could not get rid of the discolouration!! So, we put a chair there!! What we do for our cats!!! And we all know we will continue to do so, because despite the behaviour, they do love us!!! Good luck!!

[QueenScoopalot]

No, not for cleaning - put it in a spray bottle and try spraying the area. Cats do NOT like the smell of vinegar...

And it can't hurt the floor or furniture any more than it already is....
Please tell that to whoever peed into the bowl of vinegar I had to deter nawty cats! :rolleyes: It's supposed to freshen the air as well as deter cats from peeing in spots...but does it still work when mixed with urine? :confused: And yes Lizzie...you have come to just the right 'home away from home'. ;) Welcome to the wonderful world of pee, poop, puke-aramas and all those other fun things that cats do! :)

[heidiv]

I myself have not had any issues with this situation yet! I know the day will come though. I agree the wood floors would be the best but it can be kinda spendy. When my carpet is old its going. For me mainly its easier to deal with all of the hair. I do have a sister in law that has been having a hard time getting her little Romeo from going on their new leather furniture. She has been laying tin foil on the furniture because it was the one thing he didn't care for on the bottom of his feet. I give all of you guys a TON of credit for dealing with this. Most people that aren't cat lovers would have pitched both of the cats out. I have a neighbor that has done that. I am feeding the poor guy when he comes around. So I give you and everyone huge hugs for NOT doing that. Good luck and I hope things change for them.

[orangemm]

We went through that in our old house; once "somebody" does it, it's like free license for everyone else to follow suit.

We eventually ripped up all the carpet, my husband refinished the oak floors and that was that. MUCH easier to clean up any 'accidents'. Luckily, the floors were free of any odor, so from then on we were fortunate.

[jazzcat]

Oh Jen you have my full sympathies. Ripley has sprayed again and this time he wasn't kind enough to do it in the bathroom on the easy to clean floor, no he did it in my bedroom on my drapes, wall and carpet. I'm keeping an eye on him to determine if it's another bladder infection or just his behavioral problems again. So far he is acting fine and still playing with the other cats and when he sprayed it was when he was unhappy with me so I'm going with behavioral problems for now. He's my only problematic cat and boy is he a problem sometimes!

[Vermontcat]

Jen, I can give you two good reasons to keep them.

1) You love Sterling.

2) You love Lucas.

:) :)

Samantha had some issues in the past year with missing her litterbox but I am happy to say that now she is doing very well due to some suggestions made by you, Jen, in an old thread. So keep trying different things, hopefully you will find the right solution to your problem soon. :)

[jenluckenbach]

Jen, I can give you two good reasons to keep them.

1) You love Sterling.

2) You love Lucas.

:) :)

Samantha had some issues in the past year with missing her litterbox but I am happy to say that now she is doing very well due to some suggestions made by you, Jen, in an old thread. So keep trying different things, hopefully you will find the right solution to your problem soon. :)
AH! 2 of the best reasons so far. Thanks! :) And I am glad I could help. ;)