My cats are going outside the box again. We had been doing so well but now it's worse than ever!
We moved about 6 months ago, we are staying with my father-in-law while we wait for a pay out from my father's life insurance to buy a house. We hadn't planned on being here this long but the coroner and the insurance company have really been jerking us around. We (and the 10 cats) are living in the master suite, which is about 1000 square feet, there's a bedroom, a den area, and the bathroom. We have also built a 10' x 10' outdoor enclosure with a little tunnel that connects to one of the windows so they can come and go freely. We have also put up tons of floating shelves for them to play on since we don't really have the floor space to set up their jungle gym. Optimally I would like for them to have more room but we can't let them out into the main house because FIL's dog likes to chase and kill cats. FIL has no problem with the cats coming out but I really don't want to risk one of them being hurt so they stay in our "room" with the door shut.
When we first got here everything was great. But we have a baby on the way, so alot of things are changing. We don't have the nursery together yet but there are always boxes and packaging and things around as we buy everything we need so I'm sure the cats know something's up. The past 2 months or so someone (or more than one someone) has been going outside the box, either on the floor or the couch. I have cleaned the areas well, and at one point replaced the couch hoping that the odor being gone would stop the behavior but it didn't. The new couch is bad enough already that there is nothing more I can do besides burn it. We are getting a plastic garden bench this time instead of a couch. We have put down plastic carpet protecter everywhere they have been going but that hasn't helped either, other than it's easier to clean up. They just go (#1 and #2) right on the plastic.
We are using 6 of the rolling litterboxes and we've diligently been rolling them 2x a day. I know we should have more boxes but we are trying to compensate with the extra scoopings.
I have 3 neutered males, one spayed female, and six intact females. Five of the females are going to be fixed before baby comes. We had intended to do it sooner but have been putting it off to catch up on debt and prepare for the baby. The sixth female, who I have spoken about extensively here on TCS, I don't think will ever be able to get fixed. She's old and overweight and nothing seems to work to help trim her down, and she's been getting more excersice than ever because she really enjoys the outdoor enclosure. Despite her increased activity she's looking worse for wear these days and I don't imagine surgery would be very good for her at this point. Plus I'm pretty sure she's not the one going outside the box, because as I said she really enjoys the outdoors and spends 90% of her time out there. She comes in to eat usually once a day and then she's right back outside.
I am going to talk to DH about getting Feliway and Cat Attract, we gave those things up when we moved and everything was fine without them for a really long time. He is increasingly unhappy with the amount of money we spend on the cats' upkeep and since I am currently unemployed it's really his money now and not mine. When I worked I paid for everything cat related and I don't think he understood what a drain it was until it started coming out of his pocket. And the current issues are not helping his resentment towards them.
I'm hoping that fixing the remaining cats will help with this issue, although I do think it is being triggered by the changes that are amiss so I guess we'll see. Is there anything else I can try in the meantime? I am really sick of picking up pee and poop and at 7 months pregnant it's starting to get harder to even get down there to do it. I really don't want to have these issues with a baby in the house. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
We moved about 6 months ago, we are staying with my father-in-law while we wait for a pay out from my father's life insurance to buy a house. We hadn't planned on being here this long but the coroner and the insurance company have really been jerking us around. We (and the 10 cats) are living in the master suite, which is about 1000 square feet, there's a bedroom, a den area, and the bathroom. We have also built a 10' x 10' outdoor enclosure with a little tunnel that connects to one of the windows so they can come and go freely. We have also put up tons of floating shelves for them to play on since we don't really have the floor space to set up their jungle gym. Optimally I would like for them to have more room but we can't let them out into the main house because FIL's dog likes to chase and kill cats. FIL has no problem with the cats coming out but I really don't want to risk one of them being hurt so they stay in our "room" with the door shut.
When we first got here everything was great. But we have a baby on the way, so alot of things are changing. We don't have the nursery together yet but there are always boxes and packaging and things around as we buy everything we need so I'm sure the cats know something's up. The past 2 months or so someone (or more than one someone) has been going outside the box, either on the floor or the couch. I have cleaned the areas well, and at one point replaced the couch hoping that the odor being gone would stop the behavior but it didn't. The new couch is bad enough already that there is nothing more I can do besides burn it. We are getting a plastic garden bench this time instead of a couch. We have put down plastic carpet protecter everywhere they have been going but that hasn't helped either, other than it's easier to clean up. They just go (#1 and #2) right on the plastic.
We are using 6 of the rolling litterboxes and we've diligently been rolling them 2x a day. I know we should have more boxes but we are trying to compensate with the extra scoopings.
I have 3 neutered males, one spayed female, and six intact females. Five of the females are going to be fixed before baby comes. We had intended to do it sooner but have been putting it off to catch up on debt and prepare for the baby. The sixth female, who I have spoken about extensively here on TCS, I don't think will ever be able to get fixed. She's old and overweight and nothing seems to work to help trim her down, and she's been getting more excersice than ever because she really enjoys the outdoor enclosure. Despite her increased activity she's looking worse for wear these days and I don't imagine surgery would be very good for her at this point. Plus I'm pretty sure she's not the one going outside the box, because as I said she really enjoys the outdoors and spends 90% of her time out there. She comes in to eat usually once a day and then she's right back outside.
I am going to talk to DH about getting Feliway and Cat Attract, we gave those things up when we moved and everything was fine without them for a really long time. He is increasingly unhappy with the amount of money we spend on the cats' upkeep and since I am currently unemployed it's really his money now and not mine. When I worked I paid for everything cat related and I don't think he understood what a drain it was until it started coming out of his pocket. And the current issues are not helping his resentment towards them.
I'm hoping that fixing the remaining cats will help with this issue, although I do think it is being triggered by the changes that are amiss so I guess we'll see. Is there anything else I can try in the meantime? I am really sick of picking up pee and poop and at 7 months pregnant it's starting to get harder to even get down there to do it. I really don't want to have these issues with a baby in the house. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
