I have put this in the behaviour forum because the little monster concerned has been to the vet because of this, there is no UTI and he's in great health.
Yes it's Sonic, our new 3 1/2 month old oriental kitten. All was fine for the first couple of days, using the litterbox for pee and poo with no problems, and then one night he urinated on Nate and our bed while we were asleep. Of course we took him straight to the vet the next day in case the stress of a new home had brought on a UTI, the vet has ruled this out as a cause.
Despite heavy use of enzyme cleaner he has done it several times, always when we are asleep in bed, never at any other time. And this morning Nate found that he had also urinated (Sonic that is, not Nate
) in the laundry bin where we keep our clean undies. As he was putting everything in the washing machine, he also discovered a nugget of poo.
Also as I was on my way to work it dawned on me that a whiff of cat-pee smell was following me around and realised that he'd also urinated on my jeans (I was a bit groggy this morning and I think I have become so used to the smell of kitten wee that I just don't notice it any more, why oh why didn't I notice before leaving the house, I am so embarrassed, I am the crazy cat lady with the crazy cat wee perfume!!)
As you can see I am managing to retain a good sense of humour and am able to laugh about this, I love the little horror to bits, but we have to find a way to help him get back into appropriate toileting behaviour before we all lose our marbles and deplete world stocks of enzyme cleaner
So to recap:
Sonic, 3 months old oriental kitten, not neutered (can't get it done before 6 months old in London), no UTI or other health issue, bouncing active lovebug little kitten, still very much adored despite his new nickname 'widdlecat'.
At the moment because we are going through introductions, Radar is confined to the sitting room (a large room) while we are out, and Sonic to the bedroom. They each have a litterbox in their respective rooms. Litterboxes scooped when we notice they've been used. We praise Sonic and give him a treat when he comes out of the litterbox after using it, and he does still use it most of the time. We put him in the litterbox and make digging motions in the litter before we go to bed to encourage him to use it last thing at night, but he just hops out and goes 5 minutes later on the bed.
If I catch him squatting on the bed, I say a calm quiet No, pick him up and put him in the litterbox, then praise him and give him cuddles when he's done. To those of you who know me I hope it goes without saying that there is no question of us 'punishing' him, we're not like that, it's not as if he's doing it on purpose he's a little baby, and it would in any case be completely counter-productive. Just wanted to make that clear, we are dealing with it very calmly and showing him loads of love.
So I am thinking that:
Tonight I will have to go over the bedroom with a fine tooth comb and more enzyme cleaner to make sure I haven't missed anything. I will get a black-light at the earliest opportunity to make sure that I have got every trace.
Put his litterbox somewhere more private in case that is an issue for him, maybe I'll screen it off with a cardboard box to see if that helps.
Buy another litterbox for Sonic (lord only knows where I'm going to put it in the bedroom but we will work something out!) in case he prefers to pee and poo in different areas.
Try gradually switching over to 'cat attract' litter or similar, at the moment he's using Cat's Best (I think that's the same stuff as World's Best) which is what his breeder uses.
Does anyone think it would be a good idea to confine him to the bathroom (with litterbox, food, water, toys, bed) while we are out, rather than the bedroom, at least until he gets back into good habits. That way we can easily clean up any messes that happen while we are not around, and praise him each time he gets it right when we are home with him. Our bathroom is small, but bigger than a dog-crate would be, and is kitten-safe.
Any suggestions would be more than welcome.
And to put everyone's minds at rest (because I have seen enough threads where the OP brings up the threat), although this is a very frustrating thing for us to be going through, we love little Sonic and would rather cover the entire house in plastic sheeting than even consider re-homing him - that is NOT EVER going to enter our heads. That which you tame, you are responsible for forever. I woke up this morning with the little lad curled up asleep on my neck
Yes it's Sonic, our new 3 1/2 month old oriental kitten. All was fine for the first couple of days, using the litterbox for pee and poo with no problems, and then one night he urinated on Nate and our bed while we were asleep. Of course we took him straight to the vet the next day in case the stress of a new home had brought on a UTI, the vet has ruled this out as a cause.
Despite heavy use of enzyme cleaner he has done it several times, always when we are asleep in bed, never at any other time. And this morning Nate found that he had also urinated (Sonic that is, not Nate
Also as I was on my way to work it dawned on me that a whiff of cat-pee smell was following me around and realised that he'd also urinated on my jeans (I was a bit groggy this morning and I think I have become so used to the smell of kitten wee that I just don't notice it any more, why oh why didn't I notice before leaving the house, I am so embarrassed, I am the crazy cat lady with the crazy cat wee perfume!!)
As you can see I am managing to retain a good sense of humour and am able to laugh about this, I love the little horror to bits, but we have to find a way to help him get back into appropriate toileting behaviour before we all lose our marbles and deplete world stocks of enzyme cleaner
So to recap:
Sonic, 3 months old oriental kitten, not neutered (can't get it done before 6 months old in London), no UTI or other health issue, bouncing active lovebug little kitten, still very much adored despite his new nickname 'widdlecat'.
At the moment because we are going through introductions, Radar is confined to the sitting room (a large room) while we are out, and Sonic to the bedroom. They each have a litterbox in their respective rooms. Litterboxes scooped when we notice they've been used. We praise Sonic and give him a treat when he comes out of the litterbox after using it, and he does still use it most of the time. We put him in the litterbox and make digging motions in the litter before we go to bed to encourage him to use it last thing at night, but he just hops out and goes 5 minutes later on the bed.
If I catch him squatting on the bed, I say a calm quiet No, pick him up and put him in the litterbox, then praise him and give him cuddles when he's done. To those of you who know me I hope it goes without saying that there is no question of us 'punishing' him, we're not like that, it's not as if he's doing it on purpose he's a little baby, and it would in any case be completely counter-productive. Just wanted to make that clear, we are dealing with it very calmly and showing him loads of love.
So I am thinking that:
Tonight I will have to go over the bedroom with a fine tooth comb and more enzyme cleaner to make sure I haven't missed anything. I will get a black-light at the earliest opportunity to make sure that I have got every trace.
Put his litterbox somewhere more private in case that is an issue for him, maybe I'll screen it off with a cardboard box to see if that helps.
Buy another litterbox for Sonic (lord only knows where I'm going to put it in the bedroom but we will work something out!) in case he prefers to pee and poo in different areas.
Try gradually switching over to 'cat attract' litter or similar, at the moment he's using Cat's Best (I think that's the same stuff as World's Best) which is what his breeder uses.
Does anyone think it would be a good idea to confine him to the bathroom (with litterbox, food, water, toys, bed) while we are out, rather than the bedroom, at least until he gets back into good habits. That way we can easily clean up any messes that happen while we are not around, and praise him each time he gets it right when we are home with him. Our bathroom is small, but bigger than a dog-crate would be, and is kitten-safe.
Any suggestions would be more than welcome.
And to put everyone's minds at rest (because I have seen enough threads where the OP brings up the threat), although this is a very frustrating thing for us to be going through, we love little Sonic and would rather cover the entire house in plastic sheeting than even consider re-homing him - that is NOT EVER going to enter our heads. That which you tame, you are responsible for forever. I woke up this morning with the little lad curled up asleep on my neck
