Hi Purrley,

Like the others, I am sorry that you are going through this. When Fifi was using the living room instead of the litter box we were at the same point that you are now.

We found that it was the mold under the carpet that was affecting her. No more carpet, no more litter box problems.

The fabric under the box springs is there only to make the box springs palletable to handle. This is shear material that allows mosture trapped in the box springs to escape and keep the humidity in the "box" low.

What ever solution is in place needs to allow the breathing to happen. I would spray the inside of the box with a good disinfectant spray (no reflection on you! Stuff happens during manufacture and warehousing.) and after a couple of hours use Fabrese (SP) to kill the rest of the odors.

Fresh wood, like in the frame of the box, gives off strong natural odors that cats love.

First replace the fabric. Upolstery shops will have this in rolls and probably have the stuff in rolls of the correct width. Tear off the old stuff and put the new stuff on with a staple gun. Excess material should be folded under PRIOR to stapling.

Next is the cardboard trick. Four sheets of cardboard. This will leave a gap down the center and from side to side. Fill this with strips of aluminum foil, loose and crinkly.

You could add a sratching post in the same room and praise the beast for using the right place.

When we thought that we were going to have to get rid of Fifi, I cried out loud right here at my desk. I vowed, long ago, that if anyone had to put one of my animals down, it was going to be ME. I feel that I owe them that to take matters into my own hand. If I turned that duty over to a vet it would be like abandoning them.

Thinking that if one of my cats had to be killed (no other word suits) that I had to be the one to do it with my own hands made me think more creatively as to how to help my beloved pets to LIVE.

My wife says that I am cruel and heartless. I am only cruel to myself and heartless humans. I love my animals and I know that I am responsible for their health and happiness.

Pick up you cat, look it right in the eyes, and tell it, "I am going to help you live here all of your life." Then kiss it on the forehead and remember - - anybody that looks at the bottom of your box springs deserves what they see!