Hi all you kittylovers. I'm brand-new to this forum, and was really hoping to find a place like this. My human family numbers seven, and our cat family three. Simba and Nala are brother and sister who we adopted as 4-month-old, off-the-street kittens about two years ago. Star we couldn't resist adopting several months back when we saw her at a HS satellite at a local pet store -- she was about 13 months old then, and had already been weaned of a litter of 5 kittens she's had on the street. We have a couple of young boys in our home, and three very caring older girls, and the kitties have always had places to take refuge from the sometimes rambunctious boys.
Nala has always had litter issues. We didn't realize how bad (she'd peed on the couch a few times, and the occasional basket of clean laundry, thank goodness for OxyClean). But a few months ago I finally got to my spring cleaning and discovered so many areas she had been hitting that it's probably clear she was rarely peeing in her box. The vet checked her out, and she's fine. She got better (not perfect) when we started keeping her box scrupulously clean. But then we fell in love and adopted Star.
Star is younger and smaller, but seems to be a more dominant personality. As it happens she is also far friendlier than either Simba or Nala who have always been a little skittish. When Star came home we followed the Humane Societie's basic rules on introducing a new cat, and there was some suspicion among the cats, but no fighting; but Nala went back to not using the box to pee at all, even though Star was supplied with her own seperate box.
I found a Humane Society website that talked about intensive litter re-training, and re-introducing a cat to the household, and Nala is currently quarantined in a spare bathroom. She gets multiple daily visits and brief monitered time free in the house, but the rest of the time she's lonely; and still tends to soil any soft item - such as bedding - that we place with her. My fear is that she just doesn't have the temperament to live in a house with other cats -- even her own brother -- and young kids; but I'm afraid to "take her back" to the Humane Society. Who would want to adopt her. I could start taking the steps to re-introduce her to the house, but I spent months finding and cleaning dozens of places she had discovered to soil, and I can't handle that on top of family and caring for my "good" pets.
I would love to talk to someone with a similar story who has some advice and encouragement. I might like even more to find a home with someone without small children, who might have the time and patience to work with Nala. She's a very sweet cat, one-on-one, and a lovely tortoise-shell.
Can anyone help us?
Nala has always had litter issues. We didn't realize how bad (she'd peed on the couch a few times, and the occasional basket of clean laundry, thank goodness for OxyClean). But a few months ago I finally got to my spring cleaning and discovered so many areas she had been hitting that it's probably clear she was rarely peeing in her box. The vet checked her out, and she's fine. She got better (not perfect) when we started keeping her box scrupulously clean. But then we fell in love and adopted Star.
Star is younger and smaller, but seems to be a more dominant personality. As it happens she is also far friendlier than either Simba or Nala who have always been a little skittish. When Star came home we followed the Humane Societie's basic rules on introducing a new cat, and there was some suspicion among the cats, but no fighting; but Nala went back to not using the box to pee at all, even though Star was supplied with her own seperate box.
I found a Humane Society website that talked about intensive litter re-training, and re-introducing a cat to the household, and Nala is currently quarantined in a spare bathroom. She gets multiple daily visits and brief monitered time free in the house, but the rest of the time she's lonely; and still tends to soil any soft item - such as bedding - that we place with her. My fear is that she just doesn't have the temperament to live in a house with other cats -- even her own brother -- and young kids; but I'm afraid to "take her back" to the Humane Society. Who would want to adopt her. I could start taking the steps to re-introduce her to the house, but I spent months finding and cleaning dozens of places she had discovered to soil, and I can't handle that on top of family and caring for my "good" pets.
I would love to talk to someone with a similar story who has some advice and encouragement. I might like even more to find a home with someone without small children, who might have the time and patience to work with Nala. She's a very sweet cat, one-on-one, and a lovely tortoise-shell.
Can anyone help us?
