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young cat bullying older cat = older cat peeing elsewhere

post #1 of 12
11/24/09 at 12:44pm
Thread Starter 
I'm at the end of my rope and I don't know what to do.

We recently combined households and my brothers younger cat is terrorizing my senior kitty. Every time the senior kitty goes to use the bathroom the young kitty chases her away. This has resulted in her peeing everywhere but her litter box.

We've tried moving the litter box, but the same thing occurs.

We've tried separating them, but it doesn't help.

Squirting with water nope.

It's been brought up that unless the senior kitty stops peeing we are going to have to get rid of her. I am absolutely devastated, I don't know what to do. I feel so bad for the senior kitty because all she does now is hide and walks around like she's afraid.

Please help.
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post #2 of 12
11/25/09 at 1:18am
When you said combined households, you are the one who moved in or the other way around? If the resident cat is the younger one, it is normal for him to react that way towards the older cat. Have you read the stickies regarding introducing cats? Please do, there are several tips you can try.
In the meantime, put the older cat's litter box in a place where only she can have access to it. You may have to keep her in a separate room until there is some tolerance between the two cats.
Squirting water does not help at all. It may even aggravate the situation.
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post #3 of 12
11/25/09 at 4:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yayi View Post
In the meantime, put the older cat's litter box in a place where only she can have access to it. You may have to keep her in a separate room until there is some tolerance between the two cats.
Squirting water does not help at all. It may even aggravate the situation.


The senior kitty is peeing outside the box because everytime she goes to use it, the younger one is harassing her..... so she pees where she can with no harassment

What the above poster has said is the best advice. Your two kitties are not getting along, and there are methods to try to help this. Please do check out the info on introducing two cats and I hope it helps.

Good luck.
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post #4 of 12
11/25/09 at 5:12am
Please don't even think about "getting rid of her". She is a senior cat and deserves love and care and peace with her own people in her older years. Her whole life has already been turned upside down, and now she is being harassed daily.

you need at least three litter boxes and each in different places.

In addition, please bring your senior cat to the vet for a check up. Stress can cause illness, including kidney disease, and urinary tract infections, and this cat has been under severe stress. She needs blood work and a urinalysis and compassion.

Get some feliway plug in diffusers to help with territorial issues and do not let the younger cat harass the older cat. When the young cat goes after the older cat, say NO firmly (do not shout)pick him up and shut him in the bathroom for a few minutes. Consistently, every time.

And when no one is there to supervise, give old cat her own safe place in a room with a window, water and litter box and the door shut so the other cat can't get to her.
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post #5 of 12
11/26/09 at 9:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
Please don't even think about "getting rid of her". She is a senior cat and deserves love and care and peace with her own people in her older years. Her whole life has already been turned upside down, and now she is being harassed daily.

you need at least three litter boxes and each in different places.

In addition, please bring your senior cat to the vet for a check up. Stress can cause illness, including kidney disease, and urinary tract infections, and this cat has been under severe stress. She needs blood work and a urinalysis and compassion.

Get some feliway plug in diffusers to help with territorial issues and do not let the younger cat harass the older cat. When the young cat goes after the older cat, say NO firmly (do not shout)pick him up and shut him in the bathroom for a few minutes. Consistently, every time.

And when no one is there to supervise, give old cat her own safe place in a room with a window, water and litter box and the door shut so the other cat can't get to her.
We would never get rid of her, I rescued her 5yrs ago.. As much as she frustrates me and I am at the end of my rope, I could never do that to her.

We did follow the protocols for introducing new cats to each other and for the first month in the house everything was dandy. But then all of a sudden they start fighting.

We do have 3 litter boxes, and we have tried putting them on different floors, but the problem is that the younger cat stalks the older cat no matter what.

We can't put her in a "safe" place..Because that would be something like the bathroom, which would end up stressing her out more.

She doesn't need to go to the vet, because we had her to the vet in July and she was perfectly healthy.

I take very good care of my kitties. There is absolutely no mistreatment toward them.

We do say "no" firmly and put the younger cat in the bathroom when she chases the older one.

So I guess we just tolerate the house smelling like cat urine.
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post #6 of 12
11/26/09 at 9:17pm
The fact that this cat was at the vet in July has no bearing on the current situation. That was almost five months ago. A senior cat's health can change very quickly.

This cat's whole world has been turned upside down and it's very likely her health has changed with it.

Stress can and does cause illness. Please bring her in for a check up, blood work to check kidney and other organ function, and a urinalysis to check for urinary infections, especially.

<edit> as I mentioned before Feliway plug in diffusers can help with territorial issues.
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post #7 of 12
11/26/09 at 9:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
Please don't even think about "getting rid of her". She is a senior cat and deserves love and care and peace with her own people in her older years. Her whole life has already been turned upside down, and now she is being harassed daily.

you need at least three litter boxes and each in different places.

In addition, please bring your senior cat to the vet for a check up. Stress can cause illness, including kidney disease, and urinary tract infections, and this cat has been under severe stress. She needs blood work and a urinalysis and compassion.

Get some feliway plug in diffusers to help with territorial issues and do not let the younger cat harass the older cat. When the young cat goes after the older cat, say NO firmly (do not shout)pick him up and shut him in the bathroom for a few minutes. Consistently, every time.

And when no one is there to supervise, give old cat her own safe place in a room with a window, water and litter box and the door shut so the other cat can't get to her.

| I'me pretty sure that was never the OP's intention. This trend of "Please take her to the vet RIGHT AWAY for stress" seems a little out of control. We must realize that a lot of the posters cant afford to take to the vet "RIGHT AWAY" for a behavioural problem. I would suggest supervison of the two kitties. If that's not viable, because of work or such, separate them in two different rooms while you're away, until you are confident that they can live with each other peacefully and with no stress
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post #8 of 12
11/26/09 at 9:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by temperpolk View Post
| I'me pretty sure that was never the OP's intention. This trend of "Please take her to the vet RIGHT AWAY for stress" seems a little out of control. We must realize that a lot of the posters cant afford to take to the vet "RIGHT AWAY" for a behavioural problem. I would suggest supervison of the two kitties. If that's not viable, because of work or such, separate them in two different rooms while you're away, until you are confident that they can live with each other peacefully and with no stress
In the first post it is mentioned
Quote:
It's been brought up that unless the senior kitty stops peeing we are going to have to get rid of her.
I did not say RIGHT AWAY, as you put it, however this is a senior cat with inappropriate urination. The kind of stress described can and will cause urinary tract problems (which is painful for the cat) and kidney failure in cats. There are obvious external reasons, yes, but if the senior cat is having health problems no "simple solution" is going to solve the problem.

So my advice remains that this cat should be seen by a vet, and the relevant tests run.

You will see that I also suggested the cats be separated, and recommended feliway plug in diffusers, but my advice was rejected.
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post #9 of 12
11/26/09 at 9:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
In the first post it is mentioned

I did not say RIGHT AWAY, as you put it, however this is a senior cat with inappropriate urination. The kind of stress described can and will cause urinary tract problems (which is painful for the cat) and kidney failure in cats. There are obvious external reasons, yes, but if the senior cat is having health problems no "simple solution" is going to solve the problem.

So my advice remains that this cat should be seen by a vet, and the relevant tests run.

You will see that I also suggested the cats be separated, and recommended feliway plug in diffusers, but my advice was rejected.
`
I'm sorry, but I seem to see so many hearfelt questions being answered by "take to the vet", which is of course the BEST ADVICE, but at times it sets me on edge. I'm pretty sure everyone who owns a cat and knows that something isn't quite right knows that the kittie needs to be take to the vet. But they are still asking herem even though they know that that's the answer they will get. I was thinking of setting up a Vet fund. I'm still thinking about the logistics...
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post #10 of 12
11/26/09 at 10:04pm
I understand how you feel but an internet forum is not, should not be, an "instead of" option in serious health matters, and in my opinion, this cat's health is in jeapordy.

I did offer some advice on the aspect of behavior and interaction between the two cats, too, but I have taken care of many senior cats and know how quickly their health status can deteriorate. I feel it would be irresponsible of me to not state my opinion on this matter.

In this case the original poster said nothing about inability to afford the vet. The OP said the cat had seen a vet in July, and was "perfectly healthy". I simply pointed out that perfectly healthy in July does not mean perfectly healthy five months later.
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post #11 of 12
11/26/09 at 10:17pm
Your opinion was a wise one. I too agree that a vet is the ultimate and BEST option, but I just pointing out that an internet forum will attract cat lovers who do not have the choice or afford a vet. Does anyone have any ideas on how to help out on a Vet fund?
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post #12 of 12
12/1/09 at 8:34am
I've read a lot of really good advice here. As far as the vet fund is concerned, Pet'sMart has an in-house vet usually and I know that they do a "puppy package" which is fairly cheap: You pay to start it, around $100 but it covers all the basics and getting her fixed and then it's about $35 a month or something with big discounts on vet visits! I would assume that they would have something similar for cats. Maybe you can check that out. If not, best you can do if you can't afford pet health insurance is to start taking out of every pay check and save at least about $35 a month for "just in case." Yearly shots can be found all over for fairly cheap but the average vet visit can really cost you! Whew. Especially if they're ill. :/
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