My brown cat is up for a good home, who can break this habit

[RobLynn]

My male cat, sox, about 6 years old, neutered, has been peeing in places he shouldn't. I've ripped up carpet in 3 rooms, and replaced a pile of rugs and towels he likes to pee on.

He is a beautiful, lovey, affectionate cat. He has had a P/U surgery (remember me from last year?). He is on the pet talk, 2007 calendar, the beautiful chocolate brown cat in November.

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I've down two cycles of clavamox to rule out infection, and i'd much rather have someone here seee if they can cure the problem, rather than take him to a shelter and have him put to sleep.

I live in Altoona, PA.

Thank you,

Rob

[columbine]

It could be be urinary crystals - a vet could tell from his urine what food he needs to be eating to stop the crystals from forming. It's not germs (so clavamox wouldn't help) - it's something about his body chemistry.

There are two kinds of urinary crystals, both curable by changing the cat's food. But the food that helps one makes the other worse, so you do have to get his urine tested.

There's also a chance that it's an infection that's not responsive to clavamox, but urinalysis would catch that too.

[Laura's Babies]

Please don't give up on your baby because he has developed a bad habit that is his only way to tell you something isn't right with him. Take him to the vet and find out what he is trying to tell you.

[Medusa]

I feel I always need to preface my remarks with "I don't sell this stuff and I don't make a commission" BUT have you tried Clomicalm? I've seen great success w/it, though you may have to play w/the dosage for a while until you get it just right. I have 7 cats, 4 of whom have some nasty habits on occasion. Well, once is one time too many for me. Clomicalm saved my life. And theirs. (KIDDING!) Might want to talk w/your vet about it. Also, my vet told me that now the drug of choice for pee cats and cats w/other behavioral problems is Prozac. Not sure that I'd want to go that route but it's better than alternative. Hope this helps. I know how frustrating it can be.

[RobLynn]

He is on a special diet for crystals, and has already been tested for them. He's on Waltham Urinary S/O.

I'm sorry, I'm not a man of a lot of means and I simply cannot afford to keep replacing everything in my house. I've also been seeing a new girl, and I don't think the cat piss odor is very charming.

[moosmom]

Cats inappropriately pee when they are either ill and trying to tell you, or it's a behavioral thing.

Both Laura's Babies and Medusa gave you great advice. PLEASE give it a try before giving up on your poor baby. He deserves a chance.

[columbine]

He is on a special diet for crystals, and has already been tested for them. He's on Waltham Urinary S/O.

I'm sorry, I'm not a man of a lot of means and I simply cannot afford to keep replacing everything in my house. I've also been seeing a new girl, and I don't think the cat piss odor is very charming.

My cat was on Urinary S/O and got them anyway. His previous humans were going to have him killed (take him to a shelter, where cats with health problems pine away their numbered days while healthy kittens get homes) too, because they didn't want to spend any more money on the vet. But I adopted him and took him to my local vet, and she suggested a different anti-crystal food (Hill's c/d, specifically for struvite crystals) and it cleared the problem right up. No problem getting him to eat it - he loves it.

Not sure why I'm even writing this - if you'd kill your cat to impress a girl, I don't know what I can say to you that will make a difference. But if you absolutely refuse to get him re-tested, please do try Clomicalm, or maybe Feliway. Both have good reputations for helping with behavioral (non-germ, non-crystal) urinary problems. But they're not free. Perhaps Sox will just have to be sacrificed for your convenience. But any girl who'd date you after you killed your cat to win her affections won't be worth dating.

[Catlady711]

I do know the longer the problem has been allowed to go on, the more difficult it is to solve, but not always impossible.

Is this the only cat you have?

Are there other pets in the home also like a dog?

How long has this problem been going on?

You mentioned a new girlfriend, have you been spending far less time with the cat than you previously had or does the girlfriend have pets of her own that the cat smells on her? (assuming the problem started when the new girlfriend appeared)

Some cats don't like other pets and others are very sensitive to changes in the household. Try to eliminate as many things as possible to help keep your cat stress free.

Cats tend to be funny creatures about litterboxes, they are very fussy with them and even something that has been working fine for a few years can suddenly become unappealing to your cat. Sometimes a litter manufacturer changes the litter formula and your cat doesn't like the changes.


The easiest (and often cheapest) helps are:

Get an extra sandbox, no hood or plastic liner, fill with a plain cheap unscented clay litter, no scoopable ones.

Put extra litterbox in an easy to access place but is absolutely quiet and somewhat secluded (not in a laundry room next to the dryer or in a bathroom next to a flushing toilet)

You may need to keep the cat confined in a spare room with the new litterbox for a few days to see that your cat is using it and not having some other medical issue. Watch your cat closely to see if there is any straining, crying, blood in the urine, or going frequently but small amounts or not at all.

Clean all litterboxes daily and once a week dump all the litter, wash box out in very hot water only (no cleaners like bleach/lysol etc). Refill with fresh new litter making sure to fill to a depth of at least 2 inches.

For areas already soiled, regular cleaning methods don't get all that smell out from a cats point of view. Buy a product that specifically says removes pet urine odors. (for example I use THIS)

Buy some FELIWAY SPRAY and follow directions for spraying on areas previously soiled (after you have used an odor eliminator). It's a pheromone that tricks cats into not wanting to soil an area.

Keep all clothes/towels picked up or put in a hamper. Seems kinda dumb but I have known one client who's cat only peed on her husbands work uniforms (he was a cop of all things). Apparently the cat smelled something on the uniforms it felt the need to mark, once the hubby kept his uniforms in a hamper the problem stopped.

When you wash the clothes your cat has soiled, use some fabreeze wash, or spray the clothes with odor eliminator to help remove any odors only detectable by your cat.



Beyond those ideas, talking it over with your vet, or seeing a behavioral specialist, I don't have much more for ideas.

If you are unable to get any of these ideas to work, rather than have the cat PTS, try working with your local humane society for a new home placement, or consider keeping the cat in an enclosed uncarpeted porch or garage that is easier to clean.

Good luck on a solution.