Retraining spraying cats

I was reading freecycle yesterday and someone was asking for a cage to retrain their cat to use the litterbox per their vet's advice. I heard of it before but rolled my eyes thinking it was a waste of time. I can see Allen getting madder at us and spraying more once he got out. :eek: And poor Pouncer pees inappropriately due to health issues -- why cage a boy just because he's sick? That would only stress him out more, and thereby make him even sicker (since his illness is always linked to stress)

Anyone ever hear of it actually working?

I am with you Catnapper.
A cat does not like being caged :mad: and would have no inkling of why suddenly he is confined and has no freedom.
Thats a bad idea IMHO as well.:confused::confused:

I wouldn't cage them but putting them in a small room has worked for me.

The bathroom or a spare bedroom confinement is much kinder than a cage. My friends who own dogs do caging frequently and I think this is inhumane:mad: They say the dogs like it, I don't believe that for a second!

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Originally Posted by katladyd

The bathroom or a spare bedroom confinement is much kinder than a cage. My friends who own dogs do caging frequently and I think this is inhumane:mad: They say the dogs like it, I don't believe that for a second!

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There's a lot of people who crate their dogs, myself included. Please do some research on crate training before you call anyone who crates their dogs inhumane. :rolleyes:

Now Do you only Crate your pups at night?? I had a boyfriend that Crated his dog at night & every time the dog would potty in the Crate due could not wait till he got out..

Now for me I do not beleive in it & would not do it to my dogs or cats.. And no I have never heard of the cat caging for potty issues before.. I think it would just make my babies even madder..

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Originally Posted by wolf_Q

There's a lot of people who crate their dogs, myself included. Please do some research on crate training before you call anyone who crates their dogs inhumane. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by katladyd

The bathroom or a spare bedroom confinement is much kinder than a cage. My friends who own dogs do caging frequently and I think this is inhumane:mad: They say the dogs like it, I don't believe that for a second!

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I don't know that I would go so far as to say crating is inhumane. I've never done it w/my dogs but I never felt the need. My cats, on the other hand, love sleeping in their carriers, which are smaller than crates and, of course, they have access to their litter boxes because the carrier doors are open. I think crating for some animals instills in them a sense of security. The people that I know firsthand who crate their dogs are very kind hearted and their dogs don't seem to mind a bit. When I was cleaning houses, I had a client who got a new dog and as soon as he saw me for the first time, he went running to his crate and stayed there. So I talked to him through the crate and eventually he trusted me enough to come out after that. This woman was on the board of the Humane Society in Akron then, so I trusted her judgment. :)

Crating with an open door is not cruel or inhumane in any way whatsoever. But....how would YOU like to be locked up for hours with no bathroom access?:( I don't think anyone with a heart can condone that. I'll never understand crating or dogs, so this is just my opinion.

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Originally Posted by katladyd

The bathroom or a spare bedroom confinement is much kinder than a cage. My friends who own dogs do caging frequently and I think this is inhumane:mad: They say the dogs like it, I don't believe that for a second!

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Actually dogs DO like crating. In the wild, they sleep in dens -- tight confined places. They feel safe and secure in conifined places. Crating dogs is beneficial on many counts. I do not crate my dog, but I do understand the whys and hows of crating. Just because we humans wouldn't like to be crated doesn't mean dogs feel the same way. Humans have the tendency to think like humans, and insist our furry pals feel the same way we do. How would we like it if dogs insist we think like them.... I'm not about to go around greeting everyone by smelling their butt! ;) The key is to understand canine behavior in order to understand why crating would be beneficial.

However, crating dogs and cats are totally different stories. There have been no studies to show crating cats leads to happier cats. I just can't see how crating cats could/would retrain the,. Hence, my original post :)

I have two dogs. One is crate trained and the other is not.
We never crate trained Zoee because I am a light sleeper and she was a restless sleeper so she kept me awake. When we leave the house she goes in the bathroom, that is her "crate".
When we got Taggart I decided to crate train him. I was a little skeptical due to the fact that he had been a kennel dog for 6 months (well, we don't know what his life was for the first 6 months). But we crate trained him to sleep in his crate at night. That way we aren't fighting for space on our bed with two dogs.
He is such a sound sleeper, he doesn't keep me awake with moving around. And he has a bladder of steel and can hold it forever. Not by my choice....I'll try to get him to go out before bed and he just looks at me like I'm crazy. He know goes into his crate for bed at night before we even tell him to. He also goes in there if/when we leave while Zoee is in the bathroom.

If that's "inhumane" then so be it! Then I guess there are lots of us here on Pet Talk that are inhumane. :rolleyes:

Oh yes, back to the original post.....I never heard of crating a cat to potty train it. Strange....

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Originally Posted by katladyd

Crating with an open door is not cruel or inhumane in any way whatsoever. But....how would YOU like to be locked up for hours with no bathroom access?:( I don't think anyone with a heart can condone that. I'll never understand crating or dogs, so this is just my opinion.

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Indoor dogs don't usually have bathroom access anyhow unless there's a doggie door for them. When I had dogs, I was gone sometimes all day and my dogs waited until I came home and then I let them out to go. Also, dogs are pack animals and social animals, so some can become destructive while their humans are gone. Coming home and finding your house torn up isn't good either. Believe me, there are a lot of people who crate their dogs and all is well for everyone involved. :)

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Originally Posted by catnapper

Humans have the tendency to think like humans, and insist our furry pals feel the same way we do. How would we like it if dogs insist we think like them.... I'm not about to go around greeting everyone by smelling their butt! ;) :)

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LMAO!

This is also why I was in such a quandary when my Puddy was suffering from dementia toward the end of her life. She wanted to stay in my bath tub and nowhere else. Ok, that would not be the quality of life I would want but who is to say that a cat would object? We really can't think like our furkids on some issues. We have to realize that we're made differently and do our best. :)

My vet had me re-train, via crating, my 2 sprayers (Sterling and Jim) . they each had a large cage with food, water and litter. They didn't necesarily like it, but they used the box!
then they graduated to the small room, and needed to continue to use the box!

Would I do it again? Possibly. Would depend on the personality of the cat AND the reason for inappropriate peeing. Never for a medical reason.

I am just happy to see that someone is actually trying to KEEP their sprayer and not just getting rid of them. At least they seem willing to try.

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Originally Posted by jenluckenbach

I am just happy to see that someone is actually trying to KEEP their sprayer and not just getting rid of them. At least they seem willing to try.

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Excellent point, Jen.

Chiming in on crate training. Coco (our dog) has been crate trained since we got him at 7 weeks. He loves his crate. He is crated at night and when we arent home or if I'm unable to be in the same room with him for any length of time. He only has access to the living room. As he gets older and more trust worthy he will be able to roam more in the house. Yep, he still gets into mischief. Also, We dont have accidents in crate. Luckly, since he turned 1 yr old last week he can hold his bladder longer and I'm not getting up 2x in the night for potty breaks.

I've never heard of crate training a cat.

I guess I'm old school. I had dogs throughout my childhood and we never crated them. In fact, I never heard of such a thing until the last ten years. If it works for you and keeps you from having to get up during the night, or protects your furniture while you're gone, go for it. I guess that's why I no longer have dogs.