We love our stray. Now what?

I might have mentioned Sabine at some point, but the jest is this. Sabine has been a part of our kitty family ever since we moved into this house -- about 8 or so months ago. We rent here and she essentially "came with the house"

At first she wasn't too sure of us, but now, she adores us and we her. For some time, we let her come in, chill from the heat, and relax from the other stray animals and neighborhood dogs. We tried good and hard to get her to use a litter box and would leave her alone in the house (with a box) for short periods of time (think 30 minutes) to see if she would use the box.

However, after about 6 months of trying, she never did. Now we have Lola, a 3 month old kitten. Sabine has been inside (under STRICT supervision with us) with Lola for short periods of time. It's incredibly hot outside and we feel awful for Sabine. But they are never in a room alone together.

We have found Sabine to have peed 2x inside since getting Lola. I know this is a sign that she's telling Lola this is "her" place but we cannot have that as we just rent here and it's all hardwood floors (ancient floors, not treated to protect them at all).

We'd really love to have Sabine inside with Lola. For a couple of reason. Lola needs a playmate and it's cute when they are inside together. We will also be moving in the next 6 or so months and we really want to take Sabine with us so we know she is safe and cared for. And Sabine is such a cuddle bug, I know she was someone's kitty at some point. I also know she's been fixed because her ear has been "tipped".

Now here is the dilema. We want to take Sabine to the vet but we don't have a car. When we do, it's sort of like a rental. We use the rail often with Lola and would prefer to do that with Sabine (as car rental is $9/hour), however, she has no track record of being able to hold her pee -- to be blunt. We cannot afford to be in the car and her have an accident or the same on public transit.

I know there are methods to train a kitty to use a box. But I want to know if this is even a good idea. And how do we transport her without the risk of an accident?

I'm so overwhelmed by this process but want the best for Sabine, truly I do. We want to rescue her, and can foot the vet bill to a reasonable extent, but cannot afford getting pee out of a car and fined for it. Or deal with the consequences on transit.

Ideas?

We have a kitty that evacuates everything when crated and in the car within the first 10-15 mintues of the drive.

We use a large crate and line it with several doggie weewee pads. Gary drives, and I sit in the back with Shelly. I open the crate, roll up the first layer of weewee pad and remove it and put it in the garbage back I bring with us. But if you must use public transport, as uncomfortable as it may be, you can just change the weewee pad at the vet office.

As to keeping her inside and using a litter box, this can be done.

When you bring her inside full time, it's actually best to give her her own room at first - if you have a large bathroom, a guest bedroom - any room that can be closed off for a week or two while she adjusts.

If you can afford Feliway spray (amazon probably has a reasonable price) and Bach's Rescue Remedy for Pets (flower essences), I'd invest in both.

I don't know what the area outside is that she's used to using - but if it's leafy cover, grab some dry leaves, and set them on top of the litter boxes. If it's dirt, buy some organic potting soil (no additives) and put a light layer over the top of the litter. Many cats that have been living outside do not like to pee and poop in the same litter box, so she needs two in her room. Also, if you can afford, at least for a little while, to use Dr. Elsely's Cat Attract litter, I would use that as her litter. It is very effective.

Also, use tall side but non-covered litter boxes, and I'd get large ones. Many of us just purchase the cheap sterilite storage boxes you can buy cheap at like Walmart or wherever, and cut down one of the shorter sides so it's easy to get in and out. But this helps prevent going over the edge of the box by accident.

Also, any place she's gone outside of the box must be treated with an enzyme cleaner. I know the wood is untreated, and the urine and the enzyme cleaner may ruin it (if the urine didn't ruin it already. Unfortunately - you may have to sand it down and restain or finish it to whatever it looked like before. But an enzyme cleaner is the only thing that will work LONG TERM to remove the smell (to the sensitive nose of a cat). Ammonia-based house cleaners make it worse. There are home-made remedies that include hydrogen peroxide and baking soda or vinegar - these only work short term, as they do not break down the urea that causes the smell to come back over time.

But this kitty really ought to see a vet before she's allowed to interact further with your kitty. She needs to be treated with Revolution (or another topical) to treat her for internal and external parasites (round worm is common as are fleas or ticks), and she needs a check-up to make sure she's not sick.

Any other questions, please ask! And I expect others will have more ideas for you.

Thank you for wanting to adopt and help this kitty!

Lola and Sabine never really get terribly close. They mostly just chase each other in the same room, it's cute. We are very careful. Believe me. I try my best to make both kitties as happy as possible.

We have a small, but comfortable, (historic) house that we rent. So we need to be really careful. Our bathroom is tiny. Not really sure if it would be good for a full grown cat.

I think we will start slowly investing in as many of the appropriate things as possible and than it won't be so overwhelming and than, when the right time strikes, go ahead.

We were going to adopt another kitty for Lola -- we can tell she's really craving a playmate -- since adoption fees are half right now at the humane society. But Sabine is in our hearts and she's a doll, we love her to bits.

Any other suggestions would be great -- particularly when it comes to travelling (getting to/from vet). We have 2 soft carriers and carriers are really expensive so I am not sure investing in a new one is in our budget right now -- on top of everything else.

We are good people and just want to do what is best -- for everyone and every kitty.

You can still use the doggie weewee pads in the soft carrier! She may not be comfortable until you get there and can change it - but it won't stain a rental car or the seat of any public transportation.

You need at least one more litter pan ideally, two would be best. I wouldn's suggest adopting or bringing anymore kittens or cats into your home- or you will have a real pee war going on. Ask yourself this- how clean is the litter pan really? It might be clean enough for you, but not for your cats.

LDG gave you some great advice and I second all of it and will add only one thing. When she pees on the floor, sprinkle some litter over it, sweep it all up, and put it in her litter box. Then the box will smell like her pee and she will know where to go.

It probably wouldn't hurt her to spend a couple of days in the bathroom, just to get her used to the litter box.

Sabine Chose well, I know this will all work out.

Thanks everyone for your kind suggestions.

Just for clarification, we will not be proceeding with adopting a kitty from humane society if we feel this will work out. The half price adoptions goes through to October, so I think we're set.

I'm exhausted right now, so I will be back at some point tomorrow to update.

Take care everyone and thanks again

Originally Posted by otto

When she pees on the floor, sprinkle some litter over it, sweep it all up, and put it in her litter box. Then the box will smell like her pee and she will know where to go.

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Like Hissy said, its good to have at least two litter pans at different places.
Even well behaving cats often prefer to have some choice, also shortening the queue... It becomes double important with cats you cant rely on.

One as clean you can possibly manage it.
One somewhat used. Many cats do prefer to use a litter pan where they can smell it IS the litter pan.
(only a little. NO cat likes a heavily soiled litter.).

Others do prefer clean pans.

This way you are safeguarding all variations.


Good luck!

Oh, regarding litter pans - Lola currently has 2 (1 big, 1 smaller) and when we bring in another kitty, we'll get another one. They say it's wise to have one more pan than you have cats.

And I clean it daily. I mean, I get the "dust" out of it (since she uses Feline Pine). And than generally 2x a week, the litter is refreshed and I clean the entire box -- with soap and water. And if Lola poos, one of us gets it usually within 10 minutes. It's cute when we do as well - Lola trys playing with the scoop as we scoop it out. Than she goes in the box and starts playing with the litter again.

And since we use Feline Pine, I don't imagine it would soak up the smell of urine on a floor well. If it were to, wouldn't it just turn to dust when the urine hits the pellets?

Whatever it turns to when you put it over the pee, doesn't matter, just sweep it up and get it in the box so she knows what it's for.

Where is she pooping?

Originally Posted by otto

Whatever it turns to when you put it over the pee, doesn't matter, just sweep it up and get it in the box so she knows what it's for.

Where is she pooping?

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Otto's rigiht - whatever it turns to, whatever you need to use, even if a spoon, scoop it and put it in the litter box for her. I forgot about this, even though we just did this for Charlie. The first thing he did inside was have diarrhea. We scooped some up with a spoon and put it in the box and cleaned up the rest.

He "got it" immediately, and hasn't had an accident outside the box since.

I gotta say though, don't be surprised if she doesn't like Feline Pine... A lot of cats don't... And frankly that is not a litter I would litter train with it... The surface is just too different for them, and the scent can be too much for some cats too.
My cats are religious about their litter usage.... Even if the box is dirty, they will do the sacrifice of using it - but when I changet to Feline Pine I had problems, BIG problems with my girl Lucky - she started peeing outside of the box, and took me a log time to solve the issue.

I HIGHLY recommend you get her boxes with Cat Attact Litter instead. Your chances of success will be much much higher.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, again!

On the topic of litter and all... we need to atleast try Feline Pine first. Lola, being so little (she turns 3 months today!), gets into everything. While we do not encourage Lola to eat the litter or anything close to that, if she were to, it is not toxic.

I will look into Cat Attract though and see if it is as well. But we do not live in a huge house and Lola is everywhere :-) So it would be hard to seperate the two.

Right now, Sabine is mostly outdoors (and thus, uses the potty in whatever capicity completely outdoors). She only comes in with strict supervision since we have Lola and we do not know Sabine's history too well. Before we got Lola, she would come in for extended periods and that was when we learned she would not use a box. Prior to getting Lola, we had traditional/common litter in her box (something like Tidy Cats or the like). But since getting Lola, we have used Feline Pine and everything has been ok in regards to Lola.

Our bathroom is uber tiny. While the house is big enough for 2 kitties, we just want to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible for all participants.

There is a Cat Attract for kittens - called - you guessed it - Kitten Attract!

They are both more expensive than regular litter.

But another litter safe for kittens to ingest is The World's Best Cat Litter - it doesn't have that pine smell that turns off so many cats. When you're ready to bring in Sabine FT, you may want to give that a try if Kitten Attract is too expensive.

Put a litter box outdoors for Sabine, in a quiet place where you know she will find it. Again, if she's peed or pooped when inside, put it in that outside box.

Once she is accustomed to using the outside box, start gradually mixing the pine litter into the clay litter so she can get used to it.

I agree though, many cats won't use the pine. When I tried it once, years ago, my then cats tried to eat it.