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

[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! 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.

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. )

[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 ) 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!

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. Even though I have NO carpet anywhere, why is it the hairballs are always on the area rugs?

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! 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? 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.