Am very upset about Luna today

[Kirsten]

This morning I caught her in the act - peeing on the couch in the living room! This is the worst possible case in behaviour things here, because the couch is ruined now - I'll never get that smell out of it - also, I know from experience she'll pee there again and again now! And I just don't have the money to buy a new couch!

Earlier this year, she has already ruined another couch (guest bed) in the cat room, when she continued peeing onto it until I had no other choice but to dispose the seat. I have bought a new mattress which I covered with synthetic leather and a blanket, so I can easily clean it in case there are further accidents.

The peeing problem has been very bad with her in the spring (she also soiled a little carpet in the cat room, but easily to wash), and I eventually found out she had a bladder infection and struvite crystals, and after a treatment the problem almost disappeared.

There have been some further accidents in the week after Lily's arrival, Luna has peed on the little cotton carpets in the hall (I can live with that because they can be washed), but she more or less stopped doing that after I placed one of the litter boxes in the hall.

AND NOW THIS! This has been really the worst place for such an accident! I was so happy last year when I moved into the bigger appartment and got the second-hand couch and furniture from my sister! And now it's ruined, or at least it will be when she's doing that again (I hope I'll be able to get the worst smell out of it this time!).

I have to admit, my first reaction was "I have to give her up now, she went too far this time!" I'm feeling very bad for this now, and it's the very first time I ever thought that, no matter how much peeing stress I already had with Luna! But I have such a lot of bad things to deal with at the moment, the job loss and a couple of other things, and this was really too much this morning! I tell you, I was crying my eyes out for the next hour, and still feel miserable.

Of course I love her dearly and could never give her up, but I have to find ways to live with that. So what did I do? Bought rubber sheets for the couch and two big sofa plaids, all in all for more than 65 Euro (which is a lot for me as an unemployed) , and I have to try to get some urin from her again - because of course I have to make sure she's not sick again!

But I can't help but still being mad at her. The living room door is closed now btw, at least until the wet spot has dried and the couch is covered with the rubber and the plaids. Luna and Lily aren't happy with that situation, especially since their favourite sleeping place is in there - but I have no other choice at the moment. I can't risk she's doing it again before the couch is covered!

Kirsten

[popcornbird]

Oh no! Poor Luna doesn't understand, but I would be upset too. This is one of the reasons my mom doesn't like having cats in the house. She can't stand having an animal peeing in the house, even if its once in years, and unfortunately, it happens, even to cats who are good with their litter box. I wish you the best of luck in solving the problem, and hope you can clean your sofa successfully! Try sprinkling baking soda all over it, and vaccuum after two days...........or wash the cushion first, then pour baking soda on it, and vaccuum after its dry. That's the best advice I can give you, but I'm sure the cat mom's can give more.

[K & L]

Have you had her checked by a vet to make sure there's no medical reasons she's doing this?

[Kirsten]

Baking soda sounds like a good idea, popcornbird, I'll try that (because I'm afraid Febrèze won't work).

K&L, so far I didn't take her to the vet. I have to get some urine from her first to have it checked for struvite crystals. Since she already had them in the past, it's very likely she's having these problems again.

Kirsten

[jazzcat]

I'm so sorry. I know how things can build up and then something like this can be a breaking point. I hope Luna is okay but I wouldn't be surprised if the stress of meeting Lily might have brought on a medical problem.

As for the sofa, have you ever tried Nature's Miracle to remove the urine stain and smell? I'm not sure if it is sold outside the US but it could be ordered online. I couldn't live without it with my 11 year old dog Disney who's bladder can't hold as much as it use to. If I'm gone for more than 8 hours she sometimes uses a spot on the living room carpet to urinate. The Nature's Miracle removes the smell because it breaks down the enzyme in urine (or something like that). I know it works on cat pee too because I used it on a chair cushion last year that was completely hosed down by a cat. The smell and the stain were totally gone after 3 cleanings with Nature's Miracle.

Just a suggestion to help your sofa. Hope it helps and hope everything works out okay.

[jenluckenbach]

Let's see if I can remember everything I want to say:
1) definitely have her checked medically. Crystals are something that usually require a special diet FOREVER in order for them to not return. Has she been on prescription food?
2) get a product that is an enzyme cleaner specially for cat urine. Soak, and I mean SOAK the pee spot and allow it to dry. If you can borrow a machine that extracts water (like a bissell little green clean machine, or full sized carpet cleaner with upholstry attachments) use it on the spot after the enzyme cleaner has has a time to work.
3) The rubber bed sheets to cover the furniture is EXACTLY what my vet suggested to me in case of further accidents (as you know I am combatting a bit of a peeing problem myself).
4) if it is not medical (but I'll bet you it is) you may have to do like I am doing and confine her to a small room for about 2 weeks to retrain her about the box.
5) when you brought Lilly in, did you add another litter box? And even if you now have 2, you may need 3. (I have read many time to have 1 MORE litter box than you have cat)
6) and most important, GOOD LUCK !

[Kirsten]

Jazzcat, that Nature's Miracle sounds good, but I never heard about it here before! Will try to order something like that online because I'm sure this isn't the last accident!

Jen, I also think it's medical again, even though she's still on a prescription diet... But she's also eating from Lily's bowls now, + the stress after Lily's arrival...

I hope I don't have to keep her seperated to retrain her, that would break her heart - and also mine.

I didn't add another box after Lily's arrival because she had three already! They were all in the cat room and when Lily first slept in the cat room during her first days here, Luna peed into the hall. After that incident, I placed one of the boxes in the hall which she is mostly using now. Even though I'm cleaning the boxes at least twice a day, it may not have matched her hygienic standards because later today, she pooped onto the floor in the hall. After that, I gave her box a very intense cleaning. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are struvite crystals again.

BTW, did you make any progress with your peeing problem?

Kirsten

[Edwina's Secretary]

Do try the enzyme cleaner before you give up on the sofa. I got some for cleaning the dining room and it really works.

Let me know if you have trouble finding it. There is a store by me that sells it and I can send it to you. Different brand, same thing.

[Russian Blue]

I'm so sorry to hear about Luna! Everyone has given you excellent advice and I hope it will help you. The Nature's Miracle is an excellent product. Here's a link:

Nature's Miracle

As everyone said, first find out if it is medically related. From my research on struvite crystals, it is recommended that cats who have continuing problems should be fed a high meat diet. Do you feed her strictly dried or mixed can and dry food? Maybe you might want to consider a raw diet, since meat protein is shown to be a natural urine acidifier. You might want to talk to your vet about this. Or you can look into providing an all meat canned diet that is available in pet stores.

If this problem is not medically related, you might want to talk to your vet about putting Luna on a low dose behavioural drugs to combat Luna's stress at certain times. Also a Feliway plug in wouldn't be a bad idea either to help calm Luna's nerves.

Best wishes going your way.

[Kirsten]

Thanks a lot, Edwina's Secretary, that would be nice - just in case I cannot find it somewhere else!

Russian Blue, thanks for the link! Right now it's not working but I'll try again tomorrow!

Luna is eating both canned and dry food. She already had to be on a Hill's Indoors diet because otherwise she constipates. I'm mixing it with Hill's s/d which I have been given after the struvite crystals have been detected last time. I will talk to my vet about further options just in case it's medical-related again.

I just made a tough decision: To get some urine from Luna, she has to stay in the cat room tonight - with an empty litter box which she will hopefully use!

Guess I won't get much sleep tonight because both of my cats are freaking out over this situation: Luna is scratching the door from one side and Lily (who has only the hall and my bedroom tonight since the living room has to stay closed till the sofa can be covered) is crying in front of the cat room door because she doesn't want to be seperated from Luna. It breaks my heart!

Kirsten

[jenluckenbach]

1) you can put shredded wax paper in the box. It will not absorb urine, but will give her something to scratch around in.
2) Little Kim had urine crystal inspite of being on the c/d food. The vet told me to allow her NOTHING else to eat. no treats, nothing and then retest her. It worked, so be careful to give Luna only the prescription food. The vet said, for a cat with this problem, even a little bit of something else could be harmful.

[moosmom]

Nature's Miracle works wonders!! My cat Casey (RB, 2002) had a UTI a couple of years ago and peed not only on my bed, but on my comforter. I bought a bottle of the stuff a soaked the spot with it. I then turned on my box fan to help dry it and the odor was gone!!

Don't give up on your kitty, Kirsten. I know you've got alot going on right now. But it could be Luna is telling you something. It may very well be she has another UTI. It's not uncommon. I'd get her to the vet again. My vet told me that some cats are more susceptible to UTI's. And cheap food doesn't help. When Casey got his UTI, I had changed from Science Diet to a cheaper brand and BINGO, a UTI showed up. Ask your vet about this.

Another product that's great is Nok-Out. It's about $30 for a gallon and can be ordered online, but also gets rid of the odor. Since money is tight, Nature's Miracle is your best bet.

Good luck, hon. Please keep us posted on the situation.

[NoahsMommy]

I'm so sorry she's started up again. I hope she's OK and this can get worked out with the retraining.

Do you think it would help Luna and Lily to allow Lily into Luna's room?

[Felicia's Mom]

I am sorry this is happening. Good Luck.

[bisi.cat]

Oh I am so sorry to hear, because everything seemed to turn out so very well with Luna and Lily...
I also think that it is a medical problem and I do hope your vet will help!!!

I've read that you can place aluminium foil over the couch, that will keep the cats away and you can give them access to the living room again...and maybe placing one of the litterboxes close to the couch may be helpful as well...
I hope that it isn't a behavioural problem with Luna, because it is would be so hard to deal with it for you right now...
Whatever it is I hope Luna will recover quickly and you'll enjoy your little "Katzenglueck" again!!!

Thinking of you, Luna and Baby Lily,

Sabine