Help! Cat's Last Chance

Hey Guys,

I'm hoping someone will have some ideas for me. I have 2 littermates, Paige and Gracie, both females, both spayed, both front declawed, 4ish years old.
Paige has been inappropriately urinating for the past 3 years. She pees everywhere, frontdoor, closets, middle of the basement floor, bathroom, on laundry, on a rocker in my son's room etc.

We have 3 boxes, in separate parts of the room, 2 covered, 1 not covered, scoopable litter that gets scooped daily with cat attract addative.
I am getting fed up and my 8 month old is now crawling and I simply can't risk having a cat that pees on the floor around him when he could crawl right into her mess. Unsanitary to say the least!

Of course we have had her tested for a UTI and it came back clean the first time, this last time it came back with no UTI, but some crystals in her urine. The vet suggested wet cat food and cranberry extract, which is fine, and we are implementing.
Over the years we have tried... Feliway, Cat Attract, some homeopathic treatment our vet gave us where you had to get pellets in her mouth multiple times a day, which was next to impossible, we have confined her to a bathroom to re-train her, we have put aluminum foil on the spots she pees, we have recently started to try to get an antidepressant down her throat and are yet to actually get her to swallow a pill. Not to mention I really don't know if I am 100% ok with drugging a cat. Honestly I don't see how it could possibly work out for us, but, we're giving it a shot.

Emotionally she doesn't seem at all shy, skittish, or stressed. She is our little "dog" cat, she greets new people at the door and actually comes up to our 8 month old for a pat. (Brave or crazy, we don't know) Her sister Gracie is the more shy, reserved of the two. So, Paige is absolutely not being harrased by Gracie or anything. They actually get along well most of the time and if anyone was harassed it's Gracie, not Paige.

I don't want to sound too harsh, but, basically Paige has somewhere around 6 weeks to start getting her act together or we are going to have to either give her up or have her put down if no shelters will take her. I want to give her the best shot, so, I was hoping to get as many new ideas as possible from people that have been in this situation. I just can't keep wading around in cat pee, she is literally ruining the house and, as I said before, I can't have my 8 month old son running across her accidents while he crawls around.

Any help would be appreciated.

You need to have someone show you how to pill a cat. It takes two of us, but we can get it done very quickly.
And you need to give the antidepressant a chance. Ideally you don't want to give anyone any medication, but sometimes people and pets need medication. There are many stories on here about successful use of antidepressants in cats. It can take 4-6 weeks of daily treatment to get successful results.

I understand your frustration and concern - I raised three children and potty trained puppies.

I was going to suggest she be an outdoor cat, but she's declawed right? That's no good...maybe there is just too much going on in your home. Do you think she'd be happier in a home with no other cats? Maybe new carpet that doesn't smell like pee, but that's expensive and might not even work. I hope it works out ok.

I know some people will come and give you a hard time about the declaw. I won't give you any flack but that is most likely the cause. A lot of cats experience extreme pain in their paws as a side effect to the declaw procedure. Using a litter box probably hurts her so she is triing to find a soft place to go that does not hurt. I personally have never had to deal with this but I know members have here. They should be able to give you some ideas on types of litter that may not cause pain.

Please never declaw a cat again. Its a horrible thing. I won't go into detail but it is illegal in many places now for a reason. Also please don't give up on this kitty. You made the choice to have the surgery now you need to learn how to deal with it. It can be dealt with it just may take time and adjustments.

Other than that I don't think I can be of any real help but to help figure out the cause.

That may be the case for some other cats, but she was actually declawed after she started her pee issues. I don't know if it makes a difference in people's opinions, but, we did a laser declaw, which kills the nail at the cuticle, does not remove the first joint. I was assured by my vet that it would be a significantly less painful way to go.
I agree though, it would be a nice solution at this point to make her an outdoor cat if she still had her front claws. Even if she did, I don't know if I would feel ok with it anyway, we are near quite a few busy streets and in a neighborhood with many dogs.

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

I know some people will come and give you a hard time about the declaw. I won't give you any flack but that is most likely the cause. A lot of cats experience extreme pain in their paws as a side effect to the declaw procedure. Using a litter box probably hurts her so she is triing to find a soft place to go that does not hurt. I personally have never had to deal with this but I know members have here. They should be able to give you some ideas on types of litter that may not cause pain.

Please never declaw a cat again. Its a horrible thing. I won't go into detail but it is illegal in many places now for a reason. Also please don't give up on this kitty. You made the choice to have the surgery now you need to learn how to deal with it. It can be dealt with it just may take time and adjustments.

Other than that I don't think I can be of any real help but to help figure out the cause.

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No carpet, hardwood floors and we have had them sanded and resealed. The one rug we do have left is in the diningroom and for some reason has escaped the wrath of Paige. (knock on wood)

Originally Posted by Meowers

I was going to suggest she be an outdoor cat, but she's declawed right? That's no good...maybe there is just too much going on in your home. Do you think she'd be happier in a home with no other cats? Maybe new carpet that doesn't smell like pee, but that's expensive and might not even work. I hope it works out ok.

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She might be happier in a one cat, no kid home, but, there is a real stray cat problem in the area and I don't know of any shelter that's taking new cats, I called around after her last episode a few months ago. Not to mention what are the odds that someone would adopt a cat, as sweet as she is, who is known to have a pee problem?

Originally Posted by Meowers

I was going to suggest she be an outdoor cat, but she's declawed right? That's no good...maybe there is just too much going on in your home. Do you think she'd be happier in a home with no other cats? Maybe new carpet that doesn't smell like pee, but that's expensive and might not even work. I hope it works out ok.

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what about leash training her and taking her outside?
or maybe she doesnt like her litter? i have an older kitty that will pee outside the box if she does not like the litter (i had to learn this the hard way after i adopted her lol)

i realize youve had a hard time and youre VERY frustrated, but putting her down is harsh!!!

A cat enclosure might be an option. You can purchase various sizes pre made or use an enclosed dog run as a cat enclosure. Maybe put a cat door in to connect to the enclosure.

Sorry you are having trouble. I use this ( www.weecleaner.com )very good cleaner. Good luck.

I would try to get the antidepressant down her. My coworker was also reluctant to try the antidepressant treatment. She had three kids under the age of six and a two 7 year old cats. Only one of the cats was peeing on things, and it was always on the kids' belongings. She had the cat on medication for a month, and that solved the problem. She doesn't even need to give the medication anymore. I would think that since you feel you have exhausted your other choices, giving the medication a chance to work would be a reasonable thing to do. If you are unable to pill her, please talk to the vet about other forms of delivery--they may be able to give you a liquid version.

Liquid version! Great idea. The transdermal isn't really going to work with having to keep her away from my son, but liquid would be soo much easier to get her to take. Maybe I could even just mix it in some food! I'll ask my vet, thanks for the advice!

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

I would try to get the antidepressant down her. My coworker was also reluctant to try the antidepressant treatment. She had three kids under the age of six and a two 7 year old cats. Only one of the cats was peeing on things, and it was always on the kids' belongings. She had the cat on medication for a month, and that solved the problem. She doesn't even need to give the medication anymore. I would think that since you feel you have exhausted your other choices, giving the medication a chance to work would be a reasonable thing to do. If you are unable to pill her, please talk to the vet about other forms of delivery--they may be able to give you a liquid version.

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What brand (exact) of litter are you using and have tried in the past?

Has she *ever* consistently used the box?

Does she ever use the box now?

What happened when you confined her to a bathroom and for how long was she confined?

I agree to talk to your vet about finding a way to get antidepressants in her. What meds specifically are you trying/have you tried?

You can try pill pockets, sometimes covering the pill in butter works, or maybe crushing it & putting it in wet food (provided she eats wet food & will eat it all).

Have you gone through the house with a blacklight to ensure that you have identified all of her favorite spots, and have you then used an enzymatic cleaner to remove the scent from each and every place where she has peed?

I did not see you mention anything about this and am surprised that no one else has brought it up yet.

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. I swear, she was mad about being confined.

Originally Posted by mschauer

What brand (exact) of litter are you using and have tried in the past?

Has she *ever* consistently used the box?

Does she ever use the box now?

What happened when you confined her to a bathroom and for how long was she confined?

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Boy does all of this sound WAY too familiar... Except Frankie is now almost 10 years old! I've tried everything but drugs pretty much. Does your kitty have any good streaks? I bought a different brand of cat litter (my usual stuff was out) and she was NOT happy and was really letting me know with her non-use of the box. I switched it back ASAP and for the rest of the week she continued to use the floor instead. Now, for the past 2 weeks or so she's been good. I'm going to call a behaviourist for a phone consultation next week when I'm home. It's going to be $80 but that will also include free follow-up if I need it.

We are trying Amipr-something, sorry, don't have it in front of me. We have tried having my SO hold her while I open her mouth by rubbing her jaw, then I pop the pill in, hold her mouth shut and stroke her throat and she will not swallow the dang thing.
We have put it crushed up in wet food and tuna, which she will usually gobble down and she won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
I have dipped a pill in the tuna water that you get when you open a can of tuna and tried to hand feed it to her (this worked a long while ago with an antibiotic) and she will not be persuaded.
haven't tried pill pockets? what is a pill pocket? Do you mean making a pocket out of a piece of cheese or something? Haven't tried butter, but I will try that tonight.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I agree to talk to your vet about finding a way to get antidepressants in her. What meds specifically are you trying/have you tried?

You can try pill pockets, sometimes covering the pill in butter works, or maybe crushing it & putting it in wet food (provided she eats wet food & will eat it all).

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I forgot to mention it, but, yes I have. The only place it doesn't work well is the basement. The whole cement floor glows like you wouldn't believe and no it isn't all pee.

Originally Posted by RobertM

Have you gone through the house with a blacklight to ensure that you have identified all of her favorite spots, and have you then used an enzymatic cleaner to remove the scent from each and every place where she has peed?

I did not see you mention anything about this and am surprised that no one else has brought it up yet.

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Originally Posted by paigeandgracie

haven't tried pill pockets? what is a pill pocket? Do you mean making a pocket out of a piece of cheese or something? Haven't tried butter, but I will try that tonight.

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A "pill pocket" is something you can buy at a pet store and it is a treat that you put the pill in. My Oreo is horrible to pill but the pill pocket she just gobbles up. Here is a link to show you how it works: http://www.24hourpet.com/pill-pockets-c-123.html

Yeah, she has very good streaks, the longest was about 3 months. And the strangest things will set her off. I had to clean the house for a relative with allergies and therefor put her and her sister in the basement. They spend a good chunk of the summer down there anyway, probably because it stays cooler then the rest of the house. All thier litter and food is down there and they have a cat tree up to one of the windows. I didn't think it would be a problem and I can't have my uncle going to the ER because I can't get up all of the cat hair. Of course she goes on a cat pee rampage. How awful is it to have the house smell of cat pee when relatives come over.

Originally Posted by twstychik

Boy does all of this sound WAY too familiar... Except Frankie is now almost 10 years old! I've tried everything but drugs pretty much. Does your kitty have any good streaks? I bought a different brand of cat litter (my usual stuff was out) and she was NOT happy and was really letting me know with her non-use of the box. I switched it back ASAP and for the rest of the week she continued to use the floor instead. Now, for the past 2 weeks or so she's been good. I'm going to call a behaviourist for a phone consultation next week when I'm home. It's going to be $80 but that will also include free follow-up if I need it.

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