Help! Cat's Last Chance

Wow. In a weird sort of way its almost comforting that I am not the only person with this issue. I understand your frustration and your consideration of getting rid of or having the cat put down and have nearly reached the same point with Libbi. I wish I had something to say to help, but Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve been butting heads her on this for going on 11 years now. Mine both pees and poops outside her box when she does it though and has never consistently used her box.

My current answer is working to prevent urine everywhere, but is not really a viable long term solution and took a lot of trial and error to find. I hope the anti-depressants will work for Paige! But as I said, I understand and support if you have to make either of the extremely difficult decisions mentioned. Best of Luck!

Originally Posted by paigeandgracie

We currently are using scoopaway with the cat attract additive, which seems to work best. (she goes over and sniffs the cat attract as soon as we put it down, as wierd as that sounds) We have tried just about all the scoopable litters on the market. She has always used the box in addition to peeing outside it. She only pees outside the box every few days. The longest she has ever gone without having an accident is about 3ish months when we first moved to the new house. We were thrilled, thought we solved it. The apartment had wall to wall carpet and the house was all hardwood floor, so, we figured it was the carpet in the apartment. Or maybe some odor on the carpet from a previous owner that we couldn't smell, but she could. Then all of a sudden she's peeing by the front door and in random spots in the basement and it all started up again. That's the other thing with the antidepressant. Wouldn't moving add stress and therefor create worse bathroom habits?
When she was confined to the bathroom for a week she used only her box, but the first day she was allowed out into the real world she started right up, in new spots too, not just the old ones.

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If she always used the box while confined, I would suspect that the problem is that she wants a box all to herself. That is, she doesn't want to share one with her sister. Some cats are like that so I'm told.

I swear, she was mad about being confined.

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If she were peeing outside the box because she was "mad" about being confined she would have done it while she was confined. I really don't buy into the "They pee because they are mad about something" theory. That's us projecting human emotions onto them.

My vet taught me the way to give Zoey her medicine.

Have someone hold her parallel to the ground - I can't do by wrapping her up in a towel or blanket, she is too big and fast.
The second person (pill giver) puts their hand over the top of the cat's head, thumb and index finger on either side of the mouth (the pinky finger needs to betoward the back of the head).
The pill giver then lifts the nose, using the fingers gently in the side of the mouth, toward the ceiling, which automatically opens the mouth. Quickly throw the pill in the back of the throat, lower the head just enough to be able to close the mouth.
Rub the throat if necessary, but do not permit more than a very small opening in the mouth until the tongue comes out and cleans its nose.
Once the tongue comes out, the pill has been swallowed. Reward with a favorite treat.

cat diiapers

Please don't give her away or, God forbid, euthanize her for this.

A pill popper is a failsafe way to get a pill into a cat... once you have mastered the technique. The Cornell Feline Health Center has excellent videos showing exactly how to do a variety of pilling methods, here:

http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet/cats

To me it sounds like your cat may have had sporadic urinary problems over the years, that led to her initially peeing on the carpets in your old place and set up a habit. Then when you moved to the new place, she was fine for several months, until she got another UTI. (You've said they found crystals once.) It's possible that this has gone unnoticed at times, since UTIs can heal on their own and be very mild.

It does sound like you've ruled out stress-related causes. It sounds like a matter of an actual medical condition, combined with habit. I would put some extra water bowls around the house and keep her on a prescription urinary diet.

If you do have to give up, there's no need to put her down. Give her to a no-kill rescue group or find her an outdoor home (it's better to be a declawed cat living outdoors than not to live at all).

Have you tried a Feliway diffuser? That might help her calm down some. Also, she might prefer a covered litter box.

I'm not sure if this was mentioned, but making sure her box is IMMACULATE. I had a girl cat who would NOT go in a box that had any pee's or poo's in it. She would go directly beside, we cleaned it three times a day and that cured her....

Also you need a litter box on everyfloor perhaps, not just the basement. She shouldn't have to run when she needs to go, that could also be an easy fix.

I also put out several litter boxes so one was always close by. You can do this cheaply by getting plastic storage boxes and cut one side out. Then I consealed the box under those five dollar round wood tables from walmart and put a pretty piece of material over it. Pin one side of the cloth up for a door. Now there are decorative tables everywhere with a litter box under them. I scooped several times a day so there was no smell. Hope things get better.

Originally Posted by emmylou

find her an outdoor home (it's better to be a declawed cat living outdoors than not to live at all).

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This is not a good idea, as a declawed kitty she would have no way of protecting herself outdoors other then her teeth if chased by a dog she would most likely die a horrible death much much worse then being humanely pts.

I had the same problem on and off with Bootsie for about a year. It was just taking her a while to get used to all the changes in my life, and every time there would be a new change the problem would reoccur. Also, she definitely has a thing for going on rugs (I think it is the smell) so I just put plastic carpet saver all around their boxes (that way if she pees it is an easy clean-up). It was so frustrating though when she would find somewhere else to go. It seemed that every morning there was a new pee spot to clean up, I could always smell it, and had to turn off all the lights and search it out with a black light, then clean it up with the Get Serious Extractor, because it is the only thing that works.

I became very depressed during all of this, but I never for a moment considered giving her up or having her killed. That is a horrible thing to do to an animal who trusts you to take care of them and never put them in harm's way, and to whom you have made a commitment. Could you really live with yourself for doing this to a cat who seems to be happy at least?

The things that eventually worked for Bootsie were taking care of her UTI (which they sometimes found at the vet) by having her on the control food all the time. I have her on Royal Canin Control Formula. She only misses the box now during really stressful changes, like when I was watching a friend's cats, or dog in the house. But, when there aren't such stressful things going on in the house she does well.

I must say that although she seems fine around the baby, that the baby is probably the cause. It crawls around without much thought and it probably seems like an extremely dangerous creature to the cat. But, the cat will get used to the baby and vice versa. It will also help when the baby finds the cat a lot less interesting.

Originally Posted by Brokenheart

cat diiapers

Please don't give her away or, God forbid, euthanize her for this.

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While I completly agree with your plea to save this cat I doubt diapers are an answer. She already has a small child and any cat I know would hate wearing a diaper as much as being pilled. Not to mention that would then require the cat to be bathed on a regular basis.

Oh this is a tough situation. I would try more litterboxes and a really good enzyme cleaning of all the previous areas.

I have two cats and four boxes because the don't like to share

Just to throw this out there. Declawed cats are known to be more aggressive fighters and biters than non-declawed cats and many are successful as full time outdoors cats. They can still climb trees to get away from dogs and use their back claws and teeth for fighting... Just a thought.

Absolutely. I think the ability of declawed cats to defend themselves is underestimated.

This is not a good idea, as a declawed kitty she would have no way of protecting herself outdoors other then her teeth if chased by a dog she would most likely die a horrible death much much worse then being humanely pts.

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I strongly disagree with this. A cat living outdoors is likely to have many happy years. It's presumptive to think, if I can't take care of this cat, it's better off dead.

As for defending himself with only his teeth, I would like to introduce you to my cat, who though he has his claws never uses them -- he's a biter, and tough character.

Wow, thanks for all the ideas!

As far as putting her outside, it really isn't an option for us. If you ignore the dogs in the area (and there is a pit bull next door), we live in a urban area and there are cars. I don't know any cat, declawed or not that can win a fight with a busy street. I think it would be irresponsible.

I am simply putting my foot down when it comes to cat diapers. I don't even think I need to explain the implications of something like that. Baths, never being able to leave the house just in case she needs to be changed, the cost, diaper rashes, etc. If she was really really old and needed something like that for a month or two that's one thing, but, I am not diapering a cat for the next 15 years.

As far as the baby being the cause. This all started 2 years before the baby was born. Not to mention, he's staying, so, she's going to have to get over it.

I can certainly add more boxes. So, we'll try that. And we have just recently started her on wet food with a cranberry softgel pill mixed in. The vet said she didn't have a UTI because he didn't find any white or red blood cells, just some slight crystals and slightly concentrated urine. He didn't think it was the cause, but, I figure wet food instead of dry and some cranberry can't hurt. They both seem to really like it, actually.

One question about getting her to take the pills. What do people do if they, say, want to go somewhere for a long weekend? I can get a neighborhood kid to scoop and feed them, but, where am I going to find someone who knows how to pill a cat? Do people kennel them like a dog? Wouldn't that stress them out further?

Try getting another pet owner to do it -- you can have a reciprocal agreement to help them out in exchange. When I went away and my cat was having to be pilled, my sister filled in. I showed her how once, and she did it.

Crystals are a sign of urinary problems, even if there's no UTI. Cranberry and wet food are a good idea, but if the cat is still eating non-urinary diet dry food, they're probably not going to make enough difference. I'd strongly recommend switching to all urinary diet, whether it's wet or dry. There are commercial varieties, if you don't want to go the prescription food route. I would give it a real chance to work -- a two-month trial on urinary diet, exclusively. And putting new water bowls in different places, or getting a water fountain, will get her to drink more. The concentrated urine indicates she may not be taking in enough moisture.

If your area is unsafe for outdoor cats, then you just have to call around or advertise to other areas, like surrounding suburbs or country. There's likely a sanctuary or rescue group there that would be willing to take her.

There's a lot of really, really constructive advice here, so I hope it's helping! I don't have any advice, but I did notice something in your first post; you said that it wasn't sanitary to have a toddler and cat urine on the floor. As long as the cat is healthy (no blood in urine, no infection in the urinary tract), urine is actually absent of infections agents. Feces is quite a different matter, but urine is "clean". You can probably train your toddler to alert you to urine on the floor and to also stay out of it.

I have 2 cats on medication. When we go out of town, I hire one of our vet techs as a pet sitter while we are gone. They know how to pill a cat.

My technique for pilling a cat (which I've done with feral cats with success):

Have the medication ready to administer. Kneel on the floor with your ankles crossed under your bottom. Place the cat between your thighs with their heads facing away from your body. The cat cannot escape backwards or to the right or left. Assuming you are right handed: place your left hand on the top of their head with your fingers on one side of their mouth and your thumb on the other. Gently open their mouth with your left hand and insert the medicine with your right, coming at them from a slight angle (e.g. don't insert the meds from straight on). I use a pill gun. Once the pill is in their mouth, place your right hand quickly under their chin toward their neck and lift their heads, stroking the neck until they swallow. If you don't get it in the first time, they are still captive and you can try again.

When you are done, give them a treat for a reward and love on them for a long while afterwards. They'll eventually relate being pilled to being loved.

There's only 1 cat in my life that I've not been able to pill (with scars to prove it). He got his meds crushed up in vanilla ice cream or yogurt, both of which he loved.

Hi, I just wanted to add to all the wonderful advice that has been given here.

About the cat litter that you use, the Scoopaway, I wonder if the perfume it contains is displeasing to your cat. Also keeping the litter box as clean as possible is very important. As has been mentioned, some cats are extremely picky and won't go if the box isn't clean.

Another thing is when actually cleaning out the litter box, it's preferable not to use harsh chemicals like bleach because even once it's rinsed out, the cats can still smell it for a long time, and to them, their box just doesn't "smell" like their box anymore. It's best to use dish soap and hot water.

Personally, I use and love Nature's Miracle cat litter. It's corn based so it's completely natural and it has a pine odor to it that is pleasant. It's also flushable, which is wonderful, and you only have to completely change out the box about once a month (at least, that's what I do).

I also use Nature's Miracle brand for the pee & poop stains. Heh heh, not the litter itself of course. That stuff is *awesome* and worth it's weight in gold!!!

Just shake the bottle really well, pour *generously* unto stained area, if possible remove excess of the stain first by blotting, then work into the area vigorously with your fingers (I always wear rubber gloves for this part and that's it!! No need to do anything else! Just leave it alone! The treated area will dry by itself and the stain will be gone as well as the odor!

If treating an area because of urine or spraying, make sure to pour very generously so the Nature's Miracle can seep down all the way through to the padding under the carpet. This *will* eliminate the odor and they won't spray there again.

This product *really* works!! I tried quite a few products before trying this one. A gallon sized will run you about $30, but it is *well* worth it. I'm never without it.

I hope the anti-depressants help your baby! Hang in there!

Shanynne
Extreme Kitty Lover