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.

[jazzcat]

If a vet has ruled out a medical problem then I have to agree with Medusa on Clomicalm (or even Prozac). She recommended Clomicalm to me when Rocky started marking in the house due to stress. He was only peeing on cat beds and a particular chair cushion but the Clomicalm along with Feliway diffusers helped.

Has he always done this and just continued after the surgery or did he just start this recently? If recently and it's not medical has there been some change in your house. Did he start this with the new girlfriend or before her? Some cats are very sensitive and get stressed from change very easily whether it be new furniture, new pets or even new people in the house. If he has done this all along then it may be a bad habit and/or behavioral. As long as it's not medical such as an infection that is clavomox resistent, crystals or even kidney failure (like my cat) then feliway, clomicalm or prozac might help.

Columbine - he didn't say he would kill his cat to impress a girl.

[catmandu]

I know that can be frustrating watching and smelling a Dirty Cat but I hope you can try a few of these suggestions before you have him PTS as I think you will feel bad for a long time.
Please give him another chance.

[columbine]

Columbine - he didn't say he would kill his cat to impress a girl.

Not so bluntly. But sometimes it really is useful to strip away the euphemisms and evasions. They have their place when a tragedy's already happened, but when there's still a chance to avert one, sometimes speaking plainly can be very important.

Love, Columbine

[RobLynn]

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.

Columbine, who the hell do you think you are to tell me that I'd kill my cat for a girl? I'm about sick of my house smelling like cat piss, and when I invite her family over, what do I say? Here's my cat, he pisses everywhere, and I've tried everything I can think of to make it better, but that smell is oh so great? Do I say, it's only a matter of time before EVERY SURFACE in my home is replaced? I've ripped up carpet, replaced with different surfaces, I've tried 2, and 3 litter boxes. I've tried different litters. Nothing is seeming to work. Simply put, I'm running out of money. I can't keep going to the vet and spending my last dollars on some kitty prozac or whatever else. The vet bills keep adding up, and quite frankly, I'm a tradesman, not a wealthy man.

First off, I've spent several thousands of dollars keeping this cat alive. Secondly, I've given him a good home, and taken him from an abusive one. Third, I offered him up here to LOVING pet owners, and NOT a shelter.

There are no crystals in the urine. He has had zero crystals since I've had the P/U surgery. I was told, when a cat sprays, it's on like baseboards, and walls. When they are just peeing on carpet, towels, pants, bedding, it's either A;, to show something wrong, or B; to show that he's being a little huffy puffy.

He's been checked over, and he's fine. Hell, he uses the box, and then pees somewhere else.

Columbine, if you need to make me out to be a bad guy, that's fine. First off, think of all I've done for this little guy, BEFORE you even consider that I'm a bastard.

I was off of work last year for 4 months, no income. Then he got the crystals. After a week in one vet, a week at another, then a PU surgery, and 3 months of hell to get him better, I had to borrow against my home. I had my own medical bills piliing up from being off of work, and was definitely struggling to make ends meet. I also took him from an abusive situation when he was a baby.

Yeah Columbine, I really sound like a guy who would kill his cat for a girl. Maybe I'm a guy who knows when he can admit defeat, and I don't want to be upset about cat odor in my home when I have company. Maybe you should have thought of that before you went right to the extreme.

[Pam]

Columbine - he didn't say he would kill his cat to impress a girl.

Everyone has been trying to be so helpful. It is a shame to see Columbine take it to a different level. When you have walked a mile in someone else's shoes maybe you can comment. No, I do not know this person but I have compassion for what he must be going through. I don't see you offering his kitty a home.

[sasvermont]

Hey, I agree that there isn't any nastier of an odor than cat urine. I have a cat that poops inappropriately from time to time. She usually elects to go on a hard wood floor rather than a litter box, when she has her accidents. I have spent thousands of dollars trying to correct the problem and it seems that the cat has a few things going wrong, not just one. If I opt for the surgery, there is not a high chance that she will discontinue with the pooping.

I don't have a suggestion beyond containing the cat to try to retrain him to the litter box. That is what I am going to do with my cat Miley. I will keep her in a huge cage while I am at work or not at home. When I am with the cats, she will be able to run around. I am hoping that by being confined most of the time, she will get the message. It is out of control for her/me right now. I cannot tell you what horrible feelings I have at 3AM when the cat is under my bed, pooping liquid. Its disgusting and also hard on the cat.

I have sent for a cage over the internet. The place is in Lancaster Co. PA, called Martin's. They have all kinds of cages.

I never thought for a minute that you didn't love your cat. Just the opposite. I am sorry that someone read you wrong.

I can't imagine having a cat like your's and still being able to keep fairly calm. If I were seeing a guy and he lived in a cat pee house, I would either not go there or make sure the problem got corrected.

Retraining the kitty sounds like a good idea, yes? You might want to consider rehoming him to a farm or country setting, where he can "go" outside.

Keep us posted!

[RobLynn]

I do have a friend with about 40 acres of land that has offered, if I cannot find someone. I was shying away from that, because he's always been an indoor cat, and I'm afraid of what would happen to him outside.