Issues with two cats

justme45

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I have two cats one is a male who is a year old, the other is a female who is about 8 months old. They both have been giving me trouble.
I will start with the male. He is very destructive. He knocks things over and breaks them. I have taken two lamps that were in my living and hidden them in a closet because he kept knocking them over and causing the bulbs in them to break. He has climbed on furniture to knock down pictures I had hanging on the walls. they also had to be hidden. He has chewed holes in the blinds in the living room to point that I had to replace them. He has clawed my couch so much that stuffing is coming out. He kept trying to get in the kitchen cabinets so i put locks on them. He is constantly getting into everything. I've tried playing with him and making sure he has toys to play with but he spends so much time being destructive.

The problem I am having with my female is that she constantly pees and poops on the floor. I have a litterbox for each cat and they are in seperate rooms. I reward her when i see her use her litterbox but she still goes on the floor. One things I have noticed is the male sometimes goes up to her while she is in the litterbox and bothers her, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it
Any advice would be appreciated.
 

larke

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Are either or both neutered? It makes a big difference to behavior if you do it, and if the female is bothered by the male when she's going, she'll associate the box with harrassment and not use it. You're going to have to control the male somehow if he is neutered, at least for another few months until he settles down (age-wise), but 'punishment' and yelling don't work on cats, but separation does.
 

wendyr

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If they are not neutered/spayed then get them done - this will likely solve a lot of your problems! Since we got all our kittens done (all three are about 9 months old), we have had NO out of litter box usage and all three of them (two boys and a girl) are much more mellow. Any destruction that does happen is collateral!

If they are fixed, however, I would get the girl cat to the vet to see if there is something wrong - going outside a litter box can sometimes be down to something medical. I know a lot of people also suggest Cat Attract additive for litter boxes as a way to get them to use it. As for the boy (if he is fixed) I agree - time will likely calm him down. Hopefully others have suggestions!
 
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justme45

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The male is neutered. The females is a stray that a friend of my mother's found and gave to me about two months ago. She has expressed concern as to whether or not the cat has ever been microchipped and has me reluctant to take her to a vet out of fear she will be taken away from me.
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by justme45

She has expressed concern as to whether or not the cat has ever been microchipped and has me reluctant to take her to a vet out of fear she will be taken away from me.
I'm sorry, but you really should take her to be scanned. Imagine she was your cat and ran away, wouldn't you want someone to get her scanned so you could have her back?

The girl needs to be checked for a UTI by the vet.

Your boy sounds like my cats, well somewhat, as they are a very active breed. I make sure I don't have anything out they can break, pictures are hung on the wall in a place they cannot climb to.

They have plenty of cat trees to scratch on and also their nails are clipped weekly.

Try spraying bitter apple on your blinds so he won't chew.

Many people with cats have child locks on the cabinets to keep them out


I play with my cats every day before and after work and, before bed for 20-30 minutes at a time. Using feather wands, DaBird or a laser pointer.
 

pebblesandmeow

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missymotus;2295085 said:
I'm sorry, but you really should take her to be scanned. Imagine she was your cat and ran away, wouldn't you want someone to get her scanned so you could have her back?

I agree...in addition to the fact that she needs to be checked out by a vet to rule out a bladder infection. One of my cats started peeing outside her litterbox, I mistakenly thought it was a behavioral issue when in fact it turned out she had a UTI. She was treated with some antibiotics and within a few days she was using her litterbox again.
 

larke

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Plus if you want another cat, there are thousands out there with no homes either, and you'd love them just as much. Some little child could be crying for yours now and it's not right to keep her if she has another home.
 

coaster

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Actually, it sounds like you're coping fairly well with your energetic, rambunctious male cat. A cat that age is still like a human child, full of mischief. Cat-proofing and re-direction are two common strategies. You're already doing some of the former. The re-direction means alternative outlets for what is, to you, destructiveness, but to him, a need to release his pent-up energy. So, keep doing what you're doing....just do more of it. Both the cat-proofing, and the re-direction. I think you should try playing with him more, using interactive wand-type toys that get him running around chasing "prey." That will be a lot of fun for the both of you.
 
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