First, let me apologize if this is in the wrong forum or been tackled before. There are so many different factors at play here that I wasn't sure where to post it and Googling hasn't provided much luck.
Second, I want to say that I am currently researching and contacting vets as I'm fairly certain that my cat will need an appointment to pinpoint what's going on. But...
ANY insight or help will be appreciated. I am at a total loss.
My cat, Jolie, is a seven-year old rescue. She was adopted about a year and a half ago. She's a very large cat (16lbs), very affectionate and was mostly well-behaved. Outside of the problems with my other cat (detailed below) she only misbehaved by getting on counters/surfaces that she shouldn't and needing to have her little butt wiped daily because of some litterbox residue that would get stuck there.
The other cat, three-year old BeeBee, is also a rescue that I've had since she was 8-weeks old. She was kind of just handed to me when I went to pick up a friend from work and one of his co-workers had found BeeBee in a wall. I decided to take her to a shelter. But, within minutes of being in the car, I'd named her. So that was that. She's my first cat and aside from some aggression issues (read that it was normal for rescues who had to be hand-weaned like she did) she's an extremely healthy and well-behaved cat. And when she wants to be, she can be very sweet. She's also significantly smaller at about 5lbs.
I bought a screen door, taped cardboard on the bottom half so one cat couldn't see to the other side and mounted it in a doorway in my apt. This separated the apt into two areas - the kitchen and living room had room for Jolie's food and litter while BeeBee's litterbox remained in the bathroom and she had full rein of the computer and bedroom. And then Jolie came home.
She had some issues at first, but they seemed to straighten out with some little tweaks. After she kept using the floor outside her litter box even when it was clean, I got a huge uncovered one and began cleaning it almost daily - poof. Problem solved. She kept throwing up and I changed her food. She still has an occasional hairball or whatnot but it's much rarer.
For a while, Jolie stayed in "her half" of the apt 24/7 while BeeBee had the other half. Gradually, I started letting Jolie roam a bit outside "her half" while I supervised but she'd still get put back in her half at night. Eventually, while they weren't ever "friends," the two cats seemed to tolerate each other and I would have the screen door open for Jolie to roam whenever I was home including overnight. As I mentioned, she's very affectionate and loves cuddling. I even got a few photos of the two of them hanging out near each other without conflict.
And then, not long ago and after months of progress, things started to get difficult. I don't know which came first (or if it matters) but I noticed her butt getting more difficult to clean. One morning she hopped on the bed and was so stinky that I had to bathe her. I had been (and still am) consistently cleaning her butt with baby wipes and brushing her on a daily basis, but I can't be there every time she hops out of the litterbox. I have still not seen any evidence of her sitting in the litter to go - the poo is always "normal" shaped and does not look squished. Took her to a vet. They cleaned her, gave her a courtesy shave, put some ointment on and did several tests. Everything checked out fine and she was easy to clean and smelled normal again.
But, she and BeeBee started hating on each other again. BeeBee kept up the hissing/growling that she did before but Jolie stopped ignoring it. One day, BeeBee was sitting in a windowsill when Jolie walked in, caught sight of her, walked over and started flicking her tail and making those chirpy, clicky noises that cats make when they're hunting. I shooed her to "her half" and closed the door till she seemed to calm down. But then, every time Jolie was out, she stalked BeeBee. BeeBee went from being passive aggressive to running and hiding when Jolie was around. Jolie, even though she is fed the same food as BeeBee, insisted on eating BeeBee's food even when her own bowl was full. Additionally, I noticed that BeeBee started covering her waste after she used the litterbox - something she'd never, ever done before. (I've not caught Jolie - or seen evidence of Jolie ever actually using BeeBee's litterbox.)
Then, Jolie starts peeing everywhere. Like, really everywhere. I noticed her doing it near the box of clean litter in the bathroom and "her half" of the apt started to stink. One morning, the an entire half of the stove was covered in pee. I've had to cover the kitchen counters in foil and remove all things nearby that she could use to hop up there.
I did a full clean of the entire apartment. Disinfected with typical household cleaner and used vinegar to de-stink some of the carpeted areas. Gave Jolie another bath. Her fur was growing back around her butt so I called the vet to get her in for another shave but his staff kept insisting she's have to be sedated and refused to price it for me. So I got my own pet razor and did it myself.
No dice. She's got NO fur back there and is more caked with poo than before. I work, and often, by the time I'm home, it's dried on and she's too sore for me to get it off. The peeing is worse. "Her half" reeks and she squatted to pee in the bathroom right as I was watching her the other day. I picked her up and set her down in front of her (recently cleaned) litterbox but she wouldn't even go in. After I physically picked her up and set her down inside it twice, she stayed and did her business there.
Today, I get home, let her out of "her half" (remember, she's ALWAYS kept in "her half" when I'm not home even when they were getting along better - because they never got along great) and one of the first things she did was made a beeline for BeeBee's food - even though, yet again, her own food bowl is plenty full. (BeeBee has always gotten a half can of wet food in the morning that Jolie does not. When I initially thought that that was the problem, I gave Jolie some wet food as well. She ignored it.)
I have no clue what to do outside of seeing a vet. The last vet visit wasn't all that long ago and nothing unusual was found. I don't know if I'm dealing with behavior issues, health issues or both. And I'm worried that at this point, my home is not a good home for her. She's such a sweet cat and loves curling up with her humans on a bed. But because of the recent peeing, I can't even let her do that. My comforter.. it is a mess. I'd hate to take a black light to the apt and see what else is soiled.
I got up to get a drink a moment ago and caught Jolie squatting next to her litterbox using the floor.
There's somewhat of a "master plan" in the works in which I will take BeeBee and go live with my boyfriend while the friend that helped adopt Jolie (and he loves her to death) takes over my apt and cares for her. I think the separation could help, but it can't happen for another few months due to finances.
Again, apologies if this was not posted in the correct area and also that it's so long but I'm worried that my cat might not be best suited to this home and don't know what to do to fix it, if anything.
Help?
Second, I want to say that I am currently researching and contacting vets as I'm fairly certain that my cat will need an appointment to pinpoint what's going on. But...
ANY insight or help will be appreciated. I am at a total loss.
My cat, Jolie, is a seven-year old rescue. She was adopted about a year and a half ago. She's a very large cat (16lbs), very affectionate and was mostly well-behaved. Outside of the problems with my other cat (detailed below) she only misbehaved by getting on counters/surfaces that she shouldn't and needing to have her little butt wiped daily because of some litterbox residue that would get stuck there.
The other cat, three-year old BeeBee, is also a rescue that I've had since she was 8-weeks old. She was kind of just handed to me when I went to pick up a friend from work and one of his co-workers had found BeeBee in a wall. I decided to take her to a shelter. But, within minutes of being in the car, I'd named her. So that was that. She's my first cat and aside from some aggression issues (read that it was normal for rescues who had to be hand-weaned like she did) she's an extremely healthy and well-behaved cat. And when she wants to be, she can be very sweet. She's also significantly smaller at about 5lbs.
I bought a screen door, taped cardboard on the bottom half so one cat couldn't see to the other side and mounted it in a doorway in my apt. This separated the apt into two areas - the kitchen and living room had room for Jolie's food and litter while BeeBee's litterbox remained in the bathroom and she had full rein of the computer and bedroom. And then Jolie came home.
She had some issues at first, but they seemed to straighten out with some little tweaks. After she kept using the floor outside her litter box even when it was clean, I got a huge uncovered one and began cleaning it almost daily - poof. Problem solved. She kept throwing up and I changed her food. She still has an occasional hairball or whatnot but it's much rarer.
For a while, Jolie stayed in "her half" of the apt 24/7 while BeeBee had the other half. Gradually, I started letting Jolie roam a bit outside "her half" while I supervised but she'd still get put back in her half at night. Eventually, while they weren't ever "friends," the two cats seemed to tolerate each other and I would have the screen door open for Jolie to roam whenever I was home including overnight. As I mentioned, she's very affectionate and loves cuddling. I even got a few photos of the two of them hanging out near each other without conflict.
And then, not long ago and after months of progress, things started to get difficult. I don't know which came first (or if it matters) but I noticed her butt getting more difficult to clean. One morning she hopped on the bed and was so stinky that I had to bathe her. I had been (and still am) consistently cleaning her butt with baby wipes and brushing her on a daily basis, but I can't be there every time she hops out of the litterbox. I have still not seen any evidence of her sitting in the litter to go - the poo is always "normal" shaped and does not look squished. Took her to a vet. They cleaned her, gave her a courtesy shave, put some ointment on and did several tests. Everything checked out fine and she was easy to clean and smelled normal again.
But, she and BeeBee started hating on each other again. BeeBee kept up the hissing/growling that she did before but Jolie stopped ignoring it. One day, BeeBee was sitting in a windowsill when Jolie walked in, caught sight of her, walked over and started flicking her tail and making those chirpy, clicky noises that cats make when they're hunting. I shooed her to "her half" and closed the door till she seemed to calm down. But then, every time Jolie was out, she stalked BeeBee. BeeBee went from being passive aggressive to running and hiding when Jolie was around. Jolie, even though she is fed the same food as BeeBee, insisted on eating BeeBee's food even when her own bowl was full. Additionally, I noticed that BeeBee started covering her waste after she used the litterbox - something she'd never, ever done before. (I've not caught Jolie - or seen evidence of Jolie ever actually using BeeBee's litterbox.)
Then, Jolie starts peeing everywhere. Like, really everywhere. I noticed her doing it near the box of clean litter in the bathroom and "her half" of the apt started to stink. One morning, the an entire half of the stove was covered in pee. I've had to cover the kitchen counters in foil and remove all things nearby that she could use to hop up there.
I did a full clean of the entire apartment. Disinfected with typical household cleaner and used vinegar to de-stink some of the carpeted areas. Gave Jolie another bath. Her fur was growing back around her butt so I called the vet to get her in for another shave but his staff kept insisting she's have to be sedated and refused to price it for me. So I got my own pet razor and did it myself.
No dice. She's got NO fur back there and is more caked with poo than before. I work, and often, by the time I'm home, it's dried on and she's too sore for me to get it off. The peeing is worse. "Her half" reeks and she squatted to pee in the bathroom right as I was watching her the other day. I picked her up and set her down in front of her (recently cleaned) litterbox but she wouldn't even go in. After I physically picked her up and set her down inside it twice, she stayed and did her business there.
Today, I get home, let her out of "her half" (remember, she's ALWAYS kept in "her half" when I'm not home even when they were getting along better - because they never got along great) and one of the first things she did was made a beeline for BeeBee's food - even though, yet again, her own food bowl is plenty full. (BeeBee has always gotten a half can of wet food in the morning that Jolie does not. When I initially thought that that was the problem, I gave Jolie some wet food as well. She ignored it.)
I have no clue what to do outside of seeing a vet. The last vet visit wasn't all that long ago and nothing unusual was found. I don't know if I'm dealing with behavior issues, health issues or both. And I'm worried that at this point, my home is not a good home for her. She's such a sweet cat and loves curling up with her humans on a bed. But because of the recent peeing, I can't even let her do that. My comforter.. it is a mess. I'd hate to take a black light to the apt and see what else is soiled.
I got up to get a drink a moment ago and caught Jolie squatting next to her litterbox using the floor.
There's somewhat of a "master plan" in the works in which I will take BeeBee and go live with my boyfriend while the friend that helped adopt Jolie (and he loves her to death) takes over my apt and cares for her. I think the separation could help, but it can't happen for another few months due to finances.
Again, apologies if this was not posted in the correct area and also that it's so long but I'm worried that my cat might not be best suited to this home and don't know what to do to fix it, if anything.
Help?
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