Help me keep my mental sanity!

[jenluckenbach]

As you might remember, Jim has been spraying. And then I caught Sterling doing it once. Well now I believe I have a REAL problem. Some of the spots that I find are puddles (vs. a spray on a wall). And last night I found one of these puddles in the tub. (a classic symptom of a medical problem). So now all I need to do is..........
Find Out WHO !!!
Today I start by separating one cat at a time to collect a urine sample to take to the vet. It may be the hard way and it may take forever, but I can't think of any other way to do it but to eliminate them one at a time. I just can't sit and wait to catch him/her in the act. I had my "panic attack" last night and am now ready to solve this thing. Does anyone have a better suggestion?


Holy pee-spots Batman, this is going to be a L O N G week!!

[sasvermont]

Jen, I suspect the guilty parties will never step forward and you will have to be a private eye for days to come. I think your approach may work. The pee-pee testing isn't that expensive, is it? And maybe they will give you a volume discount!

I am not sure, but inappropriate peeing doesn't mean illness in every case. I know that Graemer would (as a young cat) pee behind the washer and dryer until I blocked off the area! He had nothing wrong with him.

Peeing in the bathtub does sound like a call for help, but ya never know with cats! I owned a cat for 18 years that would poop in the bathtub (any tub, even my Mom's) if he felt like it. He would go right over the drain! It just seemed like a good idea to him...but not to me. I would put Comet bathroom cleaner in the tub to keep him out!

I wish you luck and please keep us posted.


SAS

[emily_the_spoiled]

Is there any way you could separate the cats. For example, if you had 2 bathrooms, put one cat in each bathroom with a litter box for 24 hours. The "guilty" party would quickly be identified. I know that it would take a few days, but it would also take a few days to get all the urine samples and at least this way you might not have to test all of them.

Good luck

[Randi]

Oh no, Jen! It does sound like an investigating job ahead of you. Any suspicion who it could be? I'm afraid I don't have any better suggestions, but your idea of getting a sample is probably the thing to do, I hope you'll find out soon who it is!

Good luck!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I would start with the already suspected offenders, Jim and Sterling - and mainly Sterling because you've already had Jim tested if I remember. Since Sterling seems to have just started spraying, I would start the separation with him. However, if it's not him, all bets are off and I think your solution of separating them and getting a sample from each one is the best way to do it.

Good luck and hang in there! I'm sure you'll figure this out and get it taken care of because you're one of the best kitty moms I know. And remember, the kitties pick up on your stress, so you have to remain calm so you don't upset them and make matters worse. It might be a long week, but you'll make it through it and all the kitties will be fine, so take a deep breath (glad you got the panic attack over with ) and you'll be fine.

Oh, and also, just really watch the cats for awhile. I know when Tubby has his UTI he was acting very strange and it wasn't hard for me to catch on that something was wrong. I know a lot of cats don't show it like this, but if you watch them very closely, you might pick up on little clues here and there that might indicate who's having the problem.

[K & L]

Your veterinarian can prescribe fluorescein for your cats, helping you to determine which urine stain(s) glow under an ultraviolet light.

[rg_girlca]

Oh Jen, my heart goes out to you for having to go through this.
But I think your solution by separating them is a good one.

I remember when my RB C-Fer had UTI, he would also go in the bathtub or the sink and also on the kitchen floor which was white tile at the time. I didn't know anything was wrong with him until he started doing this and I noticed blood in his urine. It was almost like he was telling me, "Look Ma, there is something wrong with me." If he did it anywhere else in the house, I wouldn't have noticed.

You didn't mention if there was any blood in the urine. Was there? Cause this is a classic sign.

My prayers and thoughts are with you Jen. I hope you find out who it is and that it isn't anything serious.

BTW, you're Holy pee-spots batman comment is hilarious.
You need a sense of humour in times like this.

[jenluckenbach]

I chose to start with Lucas. He was in a room by himself with a litter box (no litter, just a bit of wax paper shreds to scratch in) from 6:30 this morning until 8 tonight. NO PEE. So, I can ALMOST assume that he does not have a problem holding his water. So instead of keeping him in lockup for any longer, I changed the guard. Bonnie, being the newest cat member, is next on the list. She will need to be in solitary all of tonight and tomorrow until I get "pay dirt". I feel like a jailer. I hate this. Just gimme the PEE and no one gets hurt.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Jen, I'm so sorry to hear that you have to go through this long process. I sure hope that you find the right cat or cats soon. Since you have one litterbox per cat, can you separate them in their own rooms so that you can test more than one cat at a time. How many rooms do you have in your house? Take care.

[jenluckenbach]

No more long days of waiting for the PEE.
I talked to my vet last night and here is what we are going to do:
The cats..........yes ALL of them, are going into see Dr. Hess. She will draw the urine from them (MUCH better than waiting ALL day and getting nothing, like I did yesterday). All I need to do is crate them for at least 2 hours before hand. She is giving me a fantastic $$$$ deal (I think). $10 for each cat's visit and $9 for each urinalysis. THEN, if we find a problem, she will examine only that (or those) cats. And one other thing, since we KNOW Jim is spraying, we will be confining him at home for 2 weeks and then medicating him with what she called a "Kitty Prozac".
I will be making this appointment for Monday (hopefully). Wish us luck!

[Barbara]

Wow -that sounds like a reasonable deal! It will still be a major project to get your herd to see the vet -but yesterday it looked like 4 weeks of stalking cats near the litterbox

I wish you and the furkids luck! You are such a strong person

[Randi]

Jen, this is a much better solution. Your vet will be able to get the samples fairly quick and analyse - this is important, especially if one of them have UTI.

In the meantime, watch for any of your cats straining to go but can't. He will most likely sit in or near his box looking miserable.

Good luck getting them in the crate and finding who it is! Fingers and paws crossed here.

[L. Wayne]

Jen, I have a cat who poops in the bathtub especially when I haven't cleaned out their litter box. Generally i have found that such a problem is from one of the males. The girls are usually more discreet about where they urinate or poop. Good luck, and I know that you will get to the bottom of the problem.

......wayne

[HayleyRosie]

I hope this problem get solved really soon.

[jenluckenbach]

I am leaning toward a problem that is NOT a UTI. The spots I found were more like the spots I found when my Y.Lee (RB) was diagnosed with diabetes........LARGE wet spots, not the dribbles of pee combined with frequent box usage.
The biggest problems are 1) It COULD be all from Jim....and 2) It could be ANOTHER cat with a behavoral problem. But peace of mind is a thing you cannot put a price tag on.
My vet suggested I call the office on THURSDAY to make my appointment as that is the next day she is in to OK the deal with the receptionist. I can only hopt that there is still open time on Monday (my day off) to do this or I may need to wait.