HELP HELP ... Old cat/new kittens question! (long, sorry!)

Hi! This is the first time I have posted here. I have been a cat owner and lover for years! I would REALLY appreciate some help!

We just "adopted" 3 kittens (about 6 months old). They are garage/outside kittens, however we just had them all spayed and neutered. We have been sorta babying them until they get their stitches out. We have occasionally let them in the house (daily, but not for very long periods of time) and our 12 yr. old cat just hisses at them and wants nothing to do with them. So we have just been letting them play and have been sort of (unintentionally) neglecting our old cat due to the new kittens and their surgery. Our older cat has NEVER been outside..ever!...and has been our indoor kitty since she was a baby.

Here's the problem...yesterday we found a wet spot on the carpet in the hallway....right out in the middle! We thought she just had an accident or perhaps even vomited and just blew it off. Even thought maybe one of the kittens did it and we didn't see it. Well, TODAY, we let the kittens in this morning for about 30 minutes and let them out when we left for my parents house at 9:00 a.m. and were gone all day until now (7 p.m.) and we come home and we find she has poopied on our bathroom floor! Yuck! Right out in the middle of the floor again! I felt SO bad!!!! No more baby kitties in the house again!

I immediately went to look at the litter box and it looks like it had been scooted up against the wall and it looks like she couldn't get in to go (long shot, I know!).

I WANT to believe that she just couldn't get in there, but I'm really suspecting that she is making some sort of statement to us. She has NEVER not used her litterbox....never a single accident in 12 yrs. (I know that sounds unbelievable, but it's true, she has been a great cat!).

What should I do??? Will this resolve do you think since I will NOT be letting the new kittens inside again??? Obviously it is upsetting to her anyway! Can cats be retrained to go in the litter box again???

Help help help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! And I apologize this was so long!

Thanks in advance,
Kristi and Phillip

Your older cat may be ill and the stress of two kittens in the home can bring that about by the cat not going in the litter pan. Your older cat should go and see the vet just to be safe.

There could be several reasons why your cat doesn't use the litter pan. Where it is placed, how much litter is in it, have you changed litter? You can add another box, add a bigger box. Make sure the boxes are kept clean.



Chances are too that your older cat might not reacting just to the kittens, but to the smell the kittens brought home with them that "vet smell" you can rub a little bit of cornstarch in the kitties fur to help overcome the smell, and put just a small amount of vanilla flavoring under you older cat's nose, just a tiny amount. But first and foremost take your older cat to the vet to be checked.

Hissing is a normal reaction for cats not used to each other. I would not penalize the kittens for this reaction from you other cat. I would put the kittens in another room separate from your older cat and introduce them gradually, rather than not allow the kittens the security and love they can find indoors.

First, let me say thank you to both. I guess perhaps I wasn't clear about these kittens, they are just barn cats that I am babying until they feel better from their surgeries. They were born outside and stay outside and can sleep in the garage at night if they so desire. We live on a farm and they are used to the outdoors and prefer the outdoors. We simply made a big mistake by allowing the kittens to come indoors and disrupt our old, indoor cat. My question was really ... how long can I expect it to take for my older cat to get over the trauma of me allowing those kittens inside for a bit. Our older cat is seen by the vet regularly and nothing physical is wrong with her. We believe she is just reacting to the little kittens being on her turf. We have no desire to make these kittens indoor cats because we don't want 4 cats in the house...too much to take care of!

As I have been sitting here, my older cat just came in and used the litter box...haha. Bless her heart! Perhaps it was just that she just couldn't get inside it to go!!!! haha.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the advice sooo much. This place is great!

Kristi