11/6 advise for older kitten - it was a UTI

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rhiannon and shadow (GA)

rhiannon and shadow (GA)

Member Since 2012
Hello everyone.

Has anyone dealt with a defiant cat peeing inappropriately?

My son got a maine coon, angora mix rescue female... named Amale, ( like tamale)
and he's a typical 22 year old college student, sleeps all morning, on the computer a Lot, and then goes off to school
or to play board games with some other likeminded students.

His cat has started peeing on his clothes, so he's making sure to not leave those on the floor anymore, and he went to class
today at 2pm returned at 6 pm.... grabbed some pizza and went back to sit with her....
and she jumped on the bed, and peed right in front of him on the blankets. ( fortunately not the mattress)

She is confined to the back two bedrooms and hall of the house because Shadow will attack her ( and I'm afraid Amale would figure
out she's younger and stronger)
I let him get a cat because he missed his cat so much and we thought he was moving out soon ( but he might not be )


She yells for him when he leaves or if she hears him talking to us in our part of the house.

Anyone have any suggestions, if she gets more defiant she may have to go in a very large dog crate I have, which I hate
to confine her more.

Circumstances aren't likely to change for the next 6 months, how do we make this better?
 
Re: 11/6 advise for older kitten - peeing inappropriately

have you tried the Feliway diffuser that you plug in? i got one maybe 5 days ago and can see less conflict between my cats already.

is the litterbox kept pretty clean?

always a possibility of a UTI. Punkin used to pee in front of me when he had a bladder infection.

have you tried using litter attractant? you can buy them at pet stores.

she's probably really lonely if she's alone most of the time. I wonder if working to introduce her and Shadow to each other would help the situation.
 
Re: 11/6 advise for older kitten - peeing inappropriately

Sorry that you are having kitten troubles!

I think it's worth making sure the kitten doesn't have a UTI, just in case.

But, I have heard a lot of cases where cats have been separated from other cats/separated from the rest of the house and started peeing to mark their territory. They can do that for a couple reasons - because they feel insecure about not having all the territory, and because they know there are other cats in the house, and they want those cats to smell them and know that some of the space belongs to them/some of the humans belong to them. It makes sense that she is peeing on your son's clothes/bed if she's trying to say "he's mine."

I totally understand your hesitation to introduce the kitten and Shadow, but I think it will help the situation a lot. I would start by feeding them meals or treats on opposite sides of a door where they can smell each other and associate each other's scent with something positive - eating. Do that for maybe a week. Then try introducing them with a screen or a baby gate or some barrier between them where they can see each other, but a fight can't break out, and feed them on opposite sides of that barrier for another week. Then, try letting the barrier down, feed them a few feet apart from each other, keep the barrier down, and see what happens after that. By that time, they should be familiar enough with each other that it won't be a total warzone. It may sound tedious, but it will work.

Introducing Billie and my civvie Brooklyn was a disaster because I had no idea how to go about it properly and just stuck them together. I talked to a cat behavior specialist, and she told me to start over and do what I suggested you do. They were off to a rough start because I messed up in the first place, but they ended up neutral toward each other, and now they are pretty much friends.

I just found a Jackson Galaxy video which says something similar but with a lot more info and other ideas too: http://jacksongalaxy.com/2014/07/08/cat ... -two-cats/

Good luck!!!
 
Re: 11/6 advise for older kitten - peeing inappropriately

Hi Rhiannon,
I don't have experience with your problem, but Deanna's suggestions sound like they will work. I'm sorry that the new kitty is insecure. She is probably lonely. I hope that she and Shadow will become friends.

Wishing you all a good weekend,

Ella & Rusty
 
Re: 11/6 advise for older kitten - peeing inappropriately

Josh had a cat previously, Phaedra, who was with us before Shadow.
Shadow would beat her up if she came around her. That was back when Shadow was the youngest addition.
Shadow never was neutral or even liked her. Phaedra passed a year and half ago.
Shadow is no longer allowed in the back half where Amale is. They each have half of the house.

Now that Shadow is almost 14, I know this young kitten would try to be dominant.
And I don't want Shadow to be anything but the alpha in this house.
She is alpha now, over the two droolers. ( I had to teach them that she was alpha)
also, I read that angora cats always want to be dominant and we do see that in Amale's personality.

I don't want Shadow to be stressed.
She has enough going on with FD, her hip, and now probably lymphoma which includes eating issues.



Maybe I'll take up at least a half hour reading time/play and go in the back with Amale ....
don't know where I will find another half hour though.....
 
Re: 11/6 advise for older kitten - peeing inappropriately

okay...
we ran her to vet today.
had to bring her home and get a urine sample which , yay, she cooperated within a few hours.
ran the sample out....
and yes....
uti.

have to run back out there tomorrow.... get antibiotic. found out right at closing by phone.


now ....
why would a cat ( less than 1 year old) get a uti? nailbite_smile


she has access to young again for dry..... but she prefers wet and we feed her wet food 4x a day or more.
And they are all the foods that Shadow has....
she eats a lot of ff chunky chicken.
 
I'm so glad you got her checked. Way to go! It's always good to rule out physical causes first. It might explain her vocalizing too, if she's been hurting.

punkin got bladder infections every Fall for about 8 years. The vet pointed out to me at one point that they happened in the fall. I have no idea why that would be, but i'm mentioning it, for what it's worth.

He always had dry food before he became diabetic. Prescription "easy on the bladder" dry food, of course. :roll: Once he was switched to canned food and I added water to his food, he didn't have any more bladder infections. Perhaps having her completely on wet and adding water would be sufficient to keep her from having any more infections. That's what I'd do.

If she gets Baytril (often given for bladder infections) double-check the dose. Too high of a dose can cause blindness in cats. I don't recall what the dose should be, but you can find it online. I'd also give her probiotics during the ABs, but you probably already know that.
 
Good to hear you have an answer. A C&S on the urine usually takes 3-5 days to determine the strain of bacteria, if any. Have you read the excellent post with feedback from Dr. Lisa on UTI's.
 
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