I just need to vent

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Stacym20

Member Since 2014
As if Buds numbers weren't enough to keep me at my wits end, one of my civies, Kiara, is pooing outside the litter box. She started doing this last year in September-ish. We were in the process of buying a new house and I knew the hubby would go beserk if it happened in the new house. I started her on some Fortiflora and thankfully it cleared up before I moved her to the new house. Granted at one point I didn't want to spend money on Fortiflora and I stopped giving it to her. She was fine for weeks and then Saturday morning she had a nasty bout of knock you out smelly diarrhea under the kitchen table. I had just started Fortiflora back up a day or 2 before. Does it take a few days to kick in? Sunday morning I found a surprise on the living room carpet, and this afternoon she went on the kitchen floor again. My husband doesn't know yet. He'd probably kick her out into the garage, and honestly, I'm about to do that myself. This wasn't supposed to be my cat. I was keeping her for a friend until she moved out of her parents home. I never let myself get attached to her, and well, while I can name something special that each one of my other cats does to warm my heart, this one does nothing for me. I think you can guess what happened next. The friend moved out of her parents home and took in a kitten and never took Kiara. I know it sounds terrible, but I don't want to put money into this cat. Hopefully the Fortiflora works again soon and this will no longer be an issue. I've also cut out all seafood in case it's a food allergy. I'm on the verge of tears almost all the time lately because of Bud and this isn't helping. Thanks for reading.
 
Oh dear. Kitties are SO stressful at times. :( I hear you. My civvie Monty also poos AND pees on the floor quite regularly and has done so for several years, but not consistently.

We really feel like our lives are ruled by cats at the moment.
 
For inappropriate elimination, always go to the vet and rule out any medical problems.

Here is a list I compiled previously. Some of the items may not apply.
***********************************************************************
You might try an integrated approach using multiple options from the list below on a consistent basis:

* start with crating, using a medium large crate (30" long is big enough for cat and a litter box) until progress. She probably won't go where she'd have to lie in it ... but if she does, something is wrong and it may be medical.

* tarps and newspapers may be easier on clean up if you don't crate her

* feeding on a schedule and then placing her in the litterbox (maybe in a crate) within 15-20 minutes after eating, until she goes, then praising and letting her out.

* Feliway/Comfort Zone - friendly facial pheromones which reduce stress and may reduce marking behavior. Cheapest prices are usually on the net (ex http://www.LambertVetSupply.com ) I've used it and it helps.

* Cat Attract litter - supposed to help attract cat to litter box

* rule out arthritis or constipation - pain causes box avoidance

* watch if the other cats ever attack her in the box and if so, you may need to keep her separated from them. I've got one the others attack, completely unprovoked.

* littebox should be 1.5 times length of cat, litter cleaned frequently, but avoid really strong smelling cleaners as cats may avoid them due to the scent.

* you've got to get residual odors out from areas which were 'nailed'. If you don't get those spots thoroughly cleaned, any residual odor may trigger using the spot again. Enzyme based products such as Nature's Miracle, are the most likely to have success. Carpet may need to be rolled back and treated on the back side, plus treating the pad separately (or replacing the pad). It can require repeated applications.

* regular play sessions of about 15 minutes to reduce stress and promote bond with you

* reward desirable behaviors - if you see her use the box, praise and treat her

* put unpleasant textures in places she has peed to encourage avoidance

* read some of this author's books: http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/ she's pretty good - ex "Starting from Scratch"

 
So after racking my brain for what was different, I remembered I opened a new bag of freeze dried chicken Friday night. From China... I didn't know when I ordered it that it was made in China. I wonder if that caused it. Really hoping I don't come home to a surprise today.
 
well.. were they freeze dried cooked or raw?
raw would be a sudden shock to one not used to it....


the other thing to check is her anal glands.... make sure they aren't painfully full.
 
Oh wow, I didn't realize there was a difference. I just assumed all freeze dried was cooked. Duh. I'll have to look at the package when I get home. That was just the one thing I could think of that changed that coincided with the time frame it started happening.

Anal glands could be a possibility, she has been scooting here and there. I think I will get her in for a general check up, I just can't fathom spending a ton on this cat, which I know sounds awful.
 
Well Kiara behaved but Bud didn't. 531 for PMPS. That's the highest ever. :( hopefully Kiara continues to behave and if she does, I'm marking it up to China treats and those will be going out to the raccoons I guess...
 
HMMM...

Monty has been peeing outside the box ever since he was very young. First he wanted to pee on the bath mat, so ever since then we've not left it down on the floor unless we're actively using it after a shower. Problem (temporarily) solved.

Then about a month later, he started peeing on our bed. He didn't ever spray, and he would only pee there if he already needed to pee. VERY inconvenient as we had to keep dry cleaning our big, heavy and expensive quilt. We also tried the enzyme cleaner to try to properly eliminate the residual smell. Eventually we had to close the bedroom at all times. Some nights, he would scrabble at our door and then he'd give up and we'd hear him in the litter box. It seemed his first choice was our bed but if he couldn't access it, he'd go in the box.

After about 3 months of having the door constantly shut, we tried again. He was perfect for a YEAR. But then he started peeing on the bed again. We don't know why. Nothing had changed.

We had him checked thoroughly at the vet. Nothing physically wrong. We have had Feliway going ever since (diffuser).

So we shut the door again and it's been shut ever since (3 years ago I think this is).

All was well until we noticed staining on the carpet in the dining area. Seems he had been peeing there. Not every time, but only when we weren't around to supervise him. Our routine is he has his breakfast at 6am and then he is shut in until he goes to the toilet. Once he does, he is let out with praise and a treat. Same thing at dinner. But sometimes, he will pee several hours early while we're asleep. That's always when he does it, overnight when we're not there. If we're around, he'll go in the box.

So he started only peeing in one corner of the dining room. We sprayed with stuff cats don't like the smell of, we sprayed with Feliway spray, we sprayed with enzyme stuff to get rid of the smell, we had the carpet professionally steamed and shampooed, we put sticky paper all around to deter him from going in that area. We even put ORANGE PEEL there as they're supposed to dislike the smell. Nothing worked. He just moved over to the next area along from the corner. For a while, he seemed to stop and we were pleased. But then we realised he'd been peeing in the study. UGH. So now THAT door had to be shut all the time also. Then he started peeing outside our bedroom door. That didn't last very long though.

Now he has moved over to a whole new area in the living room itself. This began after he peed in his own bed twice. The second time was after we washed it with enzyme cleaner and took it away for a week before putting it back. A few hours later, it was peed in. So now there are no beds either. Not that it's cold enough for them to want them right now. But since we moved the beds, he has now started peeing in the area where the beds WERE.

We suspect he just likes soft furnishings for toileting. I've read about that. We've tried putting soft things in the boxes, but Dweezil came along and scrabbled at them until they were out of the boxes. LOL. We cannot separate their boxes or the cats. We live in a modest 2 bedroom apartment where they cannot access our bedroom or the study due to the pee problems, so their areas are the living / dining room open space and the kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen is too narrow to fit their cat food or water in it. So the large bathroom has one area for their eating stuff and another area for their boxes. We also suspect this is not adequate for him as Dweezil pees in his box and poops in Monty's. But Monty pees and poops in his own box, so he probably feels like he doesn't have enough boxes. We don't want to have a box in the middle of the living room on the carpet. Also because Dweezil will use it too and he sometimes pees right over the side of the box (doesn't drop his butt down at all).

We tried having THREE boxes in the bathroom (which basically took up almost all the room and my partner couldn't brush her teeth without stepping in litter at times) but he still didn't want to use it. Back then, he was a bit worse in his resolve NOT to pee in the boxes. We would see him sniffing around his "areas" of carpet, so put him in the box. He would look supremely awkward and unhappy and jump out and run off. Then we'd put him back in, stroking and reassuring him. He would again jump out. And sometimes he would drop his butt and actually PRETEND to pee, but he wasn't really. He had no UTI issues at all, he was just sitting there waiting for it to seem long enough for us to think he'd peed. LOL. Then we'd have to go to bed and later we'd find he'd peed on the carpet. Luckily, he doesn't seem to do that anymore.

Even when he DID consistently use the boxes, he seemed to hate it, no matter what box, what litter or where the box was. He would step in, feet trying to rest on the edges of the box, do his thing and then literally SPRING out of it, litter flying everywhere, and run off. He never scrabbled or scraped or loitered in there like Dweezil does. We think because he's a rescue kitty and when we got him, he was kept in a cage and often slept in his litter box, he doesn't have that degree of separation. Maybe. Though lots of cats are rescue cats and don't toilet inappropriately. We also notice a few times when he's been very scared and has hidden, we've found him actually hiding IN his litter box. Like laying in there trying to hide. He's been physically fine, just scared.

Monty also poops on the carpet in the same areas as he pees. But it's ALWAYS just one or the other. He will often alternate weekly. One week he will pee a few nights (overnight as always) a week but always poop reliably in the box (even overnight), then the next week it switches to the opposite.

We are just hoping when we FINALLY move house (we've been trying to sell, find a new place and move for 3 years), it will help as we'll have more space for them both, more tiled areas for more litter boxes, and no existing pee stains and smells.

Talk about a vent!!!! LOL
 
LOL @monty_dweezil sometimes it just helps to vent! You've been more patient with Monty's bathroom habits than I'm sure most would, and for that you should be commended! My first civie Goobie liked my bathroom rugs for a while. I thought it was because I wasn't cleaning the litterbox as often as he would like as it seemed it would subside if I cleaned it more often. All the litter boxes I had were covered though and I started to wonder if his fat little butt (lol oxymoron) didn't have enough room. Sure enough, I got uncovered litter boxes and voilà, he started using the litter box faithfully again, thankfully!
 
HMMM. Yes, I know there IS a reason and a cause. My partner gets very exasperated whenever I say "I think it's because of..." blah, blah. She says to stop making excuses. I say they're NOT excuses, there ARE no excuses - but there ARE certainly reasons. For everything.

We tried a covered box once. It did not go down very well. LOL.

The boxes we use are big. The biggest you can get and also they are cleaned very frequently and do not smell (apart from Dweezy's apple cider pee sometimes still).

And YES, some people...well, my partner's mother's friend had three cats a few years ago. She'd had them for many years. One of them began peeing on the floor. It went on for six months and then she had the cat put to sleep because she hated having a dirty house. OMG. OMG. OMG.
 
Oh wow, I didn't realize there was a difference. I just assumed all freeze dried was cooked. Duh. I'll have to look at the package when I get home. That was just the one thing I could think of that changed that coincided with the time frame it started happening.

Anal glands could be a possibility, she has been scooting here and there. I think I will get her in for a general check up, I just can't fathom spending a ton on this cat, which I know sounds awful.

If it is anal glands, you could try applying a warm wet compress to the area for as long as the cat will tolerate it. It doesn't cost anything and can sometimes help loosen the clogged ducts.

P.S. Cats do not like warm compresses on their rear ends.
 
Dusty would pee on the bathroom rugs every now and then too, how strange, maybe the rubber has a certain smell that attracts them. I got rid of the rugs and every now and then he still pees in the bathroom tile. He doesn't do it very often so I don't discourage him because I'd rather have him pee on the tile than on the carpet.
 
When we first got our babies, Dweezy sometimes liked to pee in the bathroom sink. We thought this was the worst thing ever! Now, it'd be a DREAM if Monty did that!!! LOL
 
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