What is she trying to tell me?

jennyr

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Welcome Marilyn, and thank you Anne for introducing another much needed expert to help us with our problems.

Last September I took over my mother's 8 year old cat as my mother could no longer look after her and deal with my father's health problems. This cat, Cinders, was always a problem cat who peed indiscriminately around the house and who over the years has been the subject of many health and behaviour checks. She has always been an only indoor cat.

When I took her on I tried to retrain her, following another vet check. She was (and is still) confined to my bedroom with litter trays (cleaned every day), cat bed etc and seems quite happy there. I work and read in my room at times so she is not alone all day. She has a cushion on the windowsill, toys and my company at night when she sleeps on my pillow. My other cats are not happy at being shut out, but I had hoped that one day integration would be possible, and have introduced them one at a time to Cinders, with middling results. We had got so that she was Ok with all but one, Ellie, and sometimes I would let chosen cats sleep in the room with no ill results. For several months we had no litter box problems, and I had even taken to carrying Cinders downstairs sometimes in the evening, where she settled beside me on the sofa quite happily. SHe would always escape to 'her' room when she had had enough.

However, in the last few weeks, all has changed. For no apparent reason Cinders has started peeing on my bed, even on the pillow where she sleeps. I have twice has to change my sheets and pillow in the middle of the night, and now have a plastic mattress cover on the bed to protect it. Once again, the vet can find no problem but has put her on antibiotics just in case. I have banished all cats from the room in case they are upsetting her. I am at my wits' end and do not know what else to try. She does use her litter box as well, but it seems as if she is making a statement by peeing either on my pillow or right in the middle of the bed. But what is she trying to tell me?
 

mer636

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Pepe has started doing the same thing but he decided to pee on an overnight bag and also in a cardboard box with papers that he never bothered with until now. I was wondering he is on medication for a URTI as well as has eye creme and I was wondering if maybe it might be a side effect from the meds? He only started doing it after we gave him the meds unless he's doing ot to get back at us for making him take the meds?
 

thecatcoach

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I will answer Jennyranson's post first. Without knowing more, it sounds like she is not feeling as secure as she was. Perhaps this is due to the other cats being in her room. You are right to banish the other cats from the room. After she is using the litter boxes again on a consistent basis, reintroduce one cat only. When she is accepting of that cat, wait another month, maybe more, before reintroducing a second cat to her. Take it very slow...

Also, what are you using to clean up the urine with? All enzyme cleaners are not created equal! Make sure that you use a really good enzyme cleaner, or she will continue to target the same areas. And... I have to ask you... are you using dryer sheets when doing the laundry? They are known to trigger some cats.
Marilyn Krieger, CCBC
www.thecatcoach.com
 

coaster

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And you really need to soak the area with the cleaner, not just spray it. The cleaner needs to penetrate as far as the urine did. Then, it needs to stay damp 24 hours or longer before you rinse it out. The only way to tell for sure is with a black light.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Mer636

Pepe has started doing the same thing but he decided to pee on an overnight bag and also in a cardboard box with papers that he never bothered with until now.
my Chip's preferred inappropriate peeing spot is cardboard boxes... i've quit leaving them where he can do this, unless the box is small enough he can't 'get into position'. too bad - he also enjoys lying in them [as do the others] but he just can't be trusted. if there are no boxes around, he goes in his litterbox.
 
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jennyr

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Thank you for your response. Introducing one cat at a time since last September is basically what I was doing, and what I am now going to redo - Dushka stayed with Cinders and me last night with no problems. As to cleaning, I use Vanish Oxy version, Nature's Miracle and Ariel Enzyme cleaner and really soak the mattress and all laundry before washing it. I never use dryer sheets - I dry mostly outdoors in the sun.
 

thecatcoach

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One of those enzyme cleaners is not very good...
I recommend Anti-Icky Poo. As with all enzyme cleaners, you do have to let it dry naturally.
Marilyn Krieger, CCBC
www.thecatcoach.com
 
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