Inappropriate Peeing

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
That is wonderful news! I really hope that things can continue to get better for both you & Frankie(ad of course, second best Wickett
). Keep us updated on Frankie's progress, please.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #22

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Well, we're still at once a day. Everymorning Wickett wakes me up around 3:30 (any ideas for stopping that?!) and I'll get up and close the bedroom door. Between then and when Frankie gets me up around an hour later is when she goes (in the same spot now) in the floor. My concern w/ a deterant like tinfoil or those pokey runners is that she'll just go somewhere else. Cleaning up ine puddle is so much better than 3 though. I'd still like to try the Feliway spray there but I have to find it here first. That's the most recent update.

I'd like to thank everyone again. You've all been wonderfull helpfull and it's so hard to find forums with such a sense of community like you have here. Thanks!
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
You can order the Feliway spray online. I know I saw it on amazon.com...but you can find it so many places online!

As far as Wickett waking you up in the night, you could try playing with him for 15-30 minutes(interactively) before bedtime. Maybe use a wand toy, or a laser light. I know some people with kittens buy jungle gyms & set them up in their bedrooms so the kitten can go play there. Maybe a cat tree? Some of those things are expensive, but they may be worth a try if you can afford them.

So, when you shut your bedroom door is when the last "accident" occurs? Maybe if you didn't shut your bedroom door, Frankie would be accident free! I know it has already been mentioned, but have you set up a litterbox right where she has her accident? You could just put it there at night. It might be worth a try(or another try)!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #24

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Putting the litter box where she' pees isn't an option. I have an alley kitchen and to put a box there would mean I couldn't open the fridge or a few drawers. I could definatley put it there at night though... think I'll try to tonight.

As for leaving the door open I could but then they would both be on the bed pawing at us both and mewing and generally being obnoxious until I get up and feed them.... and I can't see feeding them at 3:30am when I usually give them dry food before bed around 10pm.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #25

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Well, I've just made an interesting connection. The floors have been pee free since Thursday. EVery morning I get up and the floors are clean Frankie gets a treat. The interesting connection is that my boyfriend proposed thursday evening. It's something that I've been anxousely awaiting and I wonder if she sensed that in me. Anyway, 4 days so far and all is well.
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
First of all CONGRATS!!


Cats can sense our stress levels & react to them. When I get really stessed, my Lily gets stressed & meows a lot. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that things have been worked out for Frankie!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #27

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Well, we had a short lapse and she has always used the floor when ever we've gone away for the weekends. For that reason I used to put news paper down so the mess was easier to clean up. Well, we were getting ready to leave for thanksgiving w/ my honey's family and I was trying to decide if I should put paper up. After some thinking I realized it'd been at least a month since she'd had an accident. I decided that putting up paper would tell her it was ok to use the floor which is NOT the message I wanted to send so we left the house as it usually is when we're home except the radio was on for them. We were only gone one night (instead of the usual 2) but I was very pleasantly surprised to come home to clean floors. I'm afraid that my posting will break this good streak but **knock on wood** I think we may be past this peeing problem and I'm just so proud that I had to post.
 

cheylink

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
8,259
Purraise
102
Location
queens, new york
I did'nt read every page, but maybe an all natural litter. My friend Danielle uses this natural litter, chemical free, made from corn, and it smells like vanilla! Sometimes the chemicals are irritants to sensitive kitties.....I could find out the name if you like..?
 

katje

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2006
Messages
47
Purraise
1
Location
Belgium
I fear that it has been going on for too long...Although i would still try all the tricks suggested here, i know from another case which had been 3 years and more, that the behavioral therapist said it had been too long, tis become a habit thats nearly impossible to break. You also said you handreared her..maybe i missed this part in the post, but when did you say she stopped using the box? Or did she just never use the box for peeing? Coz then it might just be because she had no mom to learn from. The instinct to hide ones waste is there, but peeing is not considered that important to bury.They ll just not do it that closely to food and shelter.


Anycase, i wish you a lot of luck with this, because i know firsthand how exhausting it can be. I would, if i were you, contact a real feline behavioral therapist for this one, although maybe you can try our tricks first
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #30

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Originally Posted by cheylink

I did'nt read every page, but maybe an all natural litter. My friend Danielle uses this natural litter, chemical free, made from corn, and it smells like vanilla! Sometimes the chemicals are irritants to sensitive kitties.....I could find out the name if you like..?
Did you read the last page? I've tried the cat attrack litter and that seemed to move her in the right direction. I've slowely phased back to using all tidy cat (what I was using before) because the cat attrack didn't clump very well and she's been using the box all the time for more than the past month. She even used the box while we were gone overnight.

Originally Posted by Katje

I fear that it has been going on for too long...Although i would still try all the tricks suggested here, i know from another case which had been 3 years and more, that the behavioral therapist said it had been too long, tis become a habit thats nearly impossible to break. You also said you handreared her..maybe i missed this part in the post, but when did you say she stopped using the box? Or did she just never use the box for peeing? Coz then it might just be because she had no mom to learn from. The instinct to hide ones waste is there, but peeing is not considered that important to bury.They ll just not do it that closely to food and shelter.


Anycase, i wish you a lot of luck with this, because i know firsthand how exhausting it can be. I would, if i were you, contact a real feline behavioral therapist for this one, although maybe you can try our tricks first
I think I was a very good surrogate for her and the peeing wasn't a problem until she was at least 3 years old. I've tried all the tricks and I have no idea what happened but like I said above and in my update she's been very good with the litter box recently. I don't think it's ever too late when it's something behavioral and if I had to spend the rest of her life cleaning up pee I would. Hopefully though, that won't be the case.
 

katje

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2006
Messages
47
Purraise
1
Location
Belgium
I am glad to hear that
Too many cats end up in shelters because of this common problem. And I do hope she stays good, who knows, you might be able to instill a new habit in her. I dont think one should ever give up on his or her cat, but I did want to make clear that we have to stay realistic, and that some problems will probably never be solved. Let us hope yours is not one of them
 

tiffin

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Dec 1, 2006
Messages
1
Purraise
0
I feel for everyone on this thread. We have two cats. One from a rescue centre who has taken to weeing on the playroom mat or front door mat. She would happliy go outside before.

The smell is awful ( she is not even spraying!) . Its so hard not to get annoyed with her. She is such a lovely cat but I cant have her weeing where my children play. She will do it on their coats and their toys if they are left out.

Im going to try the olbas oil.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #33

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Good luck Tiffin. I know exactly what you mean about trying not to get annoyed. More than once I've wanted to swat her or do something else to "punish" her but I knew that wasn't the answer. When it was really bad (2-3 times a day) I would yell but I quickly learned that that just made her scared of me and that made me very sad. Keep reading here... there's lots of tips on how to break this habit and re-litter train your cat. I'd start by confining her to a room w/ a box if you can and see if she uses it then. It could also be the smell of the mats if they have rubber backing. I've heard that cat's find the rubber smell offensive and try to cover it w/ their urine.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #34

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Well, back for an update after more than a year and not much has changed. It goes in spurts. Recently I've upgraded the litter box... again and I've started taking her to it a few times a day. If she goes in the box she gets lots of treats and praise. She's goo 90% of the time. Durring the day and when we're home at night she's fine. She seems to be peeing on the floors after we've gone to bed and I suspect it's after I've closed the bedrrom door in the very early morning when Wickett wants to play and we're trying to sleep. I get up in the morning to what appears to be relatively fresh pee on the floor. I'm considering shutting her into a room at night to see what happens but I don't for 2 reasons. I don't want her to start peeing on carpet/clothes or anything other than the kitchen floor and I'm afraid that Wickett will have a fit if I separate them which means he'll be walking around howling all night.
 

gingersmom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Do you have only ONE litterbox? That's the jist I get from reading through this thread.

I have a couple of cats that prefer to only poop in one box and only pee in the other - have you tried adding a litterbox or two?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #36

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Originally Posted by GingersMom

Do you have only ONE litterbox? That's the jist I get from reading through this thread.

I have a couple of cats that prefer to only poop in one box and only pee in the other - have you tried adding a litterbox or two?
Nope, I've had as many as 4 at one time (for 2 cats) and the number of boxes doesn't seen to have any relation to her not using it.
 

gingersmom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Originally Posted by twstychik

Nope, I've had as many as 4 at one time (for 2 cats) and the number of boxes doesn't seen to have any relation to her not using it.
OK, just had to ask. I have no clue what to say, then.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #38

twstychik

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Originally Posted by GingersMom

OK, just had to ask. I have no clue what to say, then.
Ya, me either. But thanks for the thought.
 

cocoalily

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
1,816
Purraise
1
Location
MN
By no means am I an expert, but if you think Frankie might be peeing because you shut the door, which is in turn because Wicket's waking you up during the night, maybe you could try confining Wicket to a room during the night? (The seperation anxiety problem might make it unbearable, but at least you wouldn't have to worry about him peeing on the floor.)

Just a thought.
 

ldg

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Messages
41,310
Purraise
842
Location
Fighting for ferals in NW NJ!
I know you didn't like the Cat Attract litter because it didn't clump well - so what about using regular clumping litter with the Cat Attract additive? That seemed to help a while back....

And I have an interesting thought, though I don't know if it is either practical or whether or not it will work. That said..... they have cat doors that are activated by a collar the cat wears. Any way to put a cat door in your bedroom door so Frankie can come and go but Wickett can't?

Also, someone else with a litter box problem was just asking about a site hissy referred them to. Because it's a behaviorist, maybe it's worth the $80 to give it a shot? Here's a link: http://www.catpsych.com/352.html

You can try the retraining. We put Spooky in our guest bedroom when we'd gotten to our wit's end. I spent all day in there with her (I could work from home) - and she still started stress over-grooming, though others have had success by doing this.

We ended up using Elavil (amitryptaline). I know you've avoided using meds all these years, but keep it in the back of your mind. Many hate this idea - but it really helped us, and it's helped a lot of others. I know Spooky benefited from it. It is NOT effective as an anti-anxiety medication. Most people doctors actually prescribe it to help people get sleep. But our vet swears by it for litter box problems - and it worked for us. It causes cats to retain their urine. Spooky would do one huge pee a day - always in the box. It started working like almost RIGHT away - even though it does take two weeks to get fully into kitty's system. She did sleep a lot for the first few weeks. But for us, it gave everyone a much needed break. After that, she was back to her playful, loving self - just happier, no longer over-grooming, and no longer peeing out side the box. We kept her on it for 4 - 5 months, and weaned her off of it over a few weeks.

I'm really not sure why everyone is so against medications for kitties in situations like this. I agree - everything else should be tried first. But when you've done that - where do you turn? I know plenty of people on mood altering drugs - they're going to be on them the rest of their lives, and they're happier - more stable - people for it. I don't know why there is such a huge stigma against this option when it comes to pets.

I just know this has been going on for years with Frankie now. For Spooky, separating her to retrain her just stressed her even further. We had to do something to break the cycle. And it worked.

Just something to keep in mind.



Laurie
 
Top