Inappropriate Elimination

Hi all... please forgive the very long post.... I just want you to know where we've been and what we've tried.  I need help!!

I have an 8 year old long hair calico - her name is Tootie.  Her 3 mates are 6-7 years old and they have all been together since they were babies.  She raised the next two who are about 9 mos younger than her and the 4th little guy showed up about 6 mos after that.  For the last 5 years we have been in a very large home and their 4 litterboxes were out in the garage (they are all totally indoor cats).  

This cat has not had hair on her belly for a couple years.  We noticed that there were wet spots when cleaning the boxes, but she at one point in time weighed over 15 pounds and our baby boy kitty weighs in around 20 lbs.  We just figured our litter boxes weren't always big enough for their hineys.

Now in December we had a major life change.  My husband decided that he didn't want to be a family anymore, so we have relocated.  There is no longer a husband and we didn't bring the 2 dogs.  Now these cats have never had a major issue with each other and none of them particularly liked the dogs but they didn't hate them.  Lets just say they didn't snuggle.  The cats however do snuggle.  Tootie likes the chubby boy, but you can find them all in a furpile at some point every day.

Once we got into this tiny little house I noticed straight away that there was an issue.  She was spraying all over my brand new dressers.  I also noticed that her puddles often were tinted red.

I snatched her up and took her to the vet.  My vet did a few stupid things totaling $500 and then he retired right in the middle of her "treatment".  So I went to the new vet that was buying him out.  The new vet started over and said "I have no idea why he would do that - we need to do this".... So we start over.  Literally over $2000 later (now keep in mind, I am getting divorced and don't have a real job yet because I've been married to a man that wouldn't let me work) I have a cat that is "stone free" - thank you surgery.

Fast forward 8 weeks to today.  Over the last 8 weeks, I have tried every kind of litter box you can imagine except a dome one.  I have tried clay littler, pine litter, paper litter, potting soil (vet recommended that), and the infamous cat attract litter in the pretty red bag.  This morning she was peeing on the bathroom door facing the litterbox.  She is at least now peeing on the tile floor most of the time.

Yes she could be angry about the change in living circumstances but I can't fix that.  She's not aggressive to the other cats or anyone else.  My brother did move in with me, but that was 4 weeks ago and all this was still occurring then and her behavior has not changed in the last 4 weeks.

Now she does vertical pee.  I have seen things that says this is spraying.  I don't know.  I have NEVER seen her pee squatting - ever.  Even when she was in the litter box - she vertical peed.  We actually use a very tall box so that when she does pee, it doesn't go on the floor (the box isn't the issue - there is a low box with the same litter next to it).

I currently have 3 litter boxes in my house.  I seriously cannot put any more boxes in my house without making my landlord angry.  I'm nearly positive that isn't the problem tho.  I have tried just about every box/litter combination that I can.  Right now I am using the red bag cat attract as well as the long hair stuff also by him and then feline pine (which they have had 1 litter box of since we rescued them all).

The vet has ruled out any issues (although he does want me to bring her back for a $150 office visit / urinary ph retest)...  He is not going to provide me with any prescription medications.  He did however say that he would help me locate a college "cat psychologist".  

Oh - the hair on her belly has begun to grow back since her surgery.  She's not obsessively licking anymore!  And we do have a major flea problem.  I have been here since March. The cats have always been on prevention - we did not have a flea problem at our old house.  Everyone was on prevention and Orkin came every 2 mos to spray inside and out.  The previous renters had dogs and apparently fleas.  I swear every day the problem gets worse.  Just yesterday I covered my house with diatomaceous earth.  Like all of it.  I covered the cats as well.  Yes its food grade and everything I've read said that it was safe as long as we didn't breath the dust.  Luckily I inherited the leather furniture instead of the cloth stuff.  I don't think the fleas are an issue - but I'm putting it all out there.

Lastly I did try putting her in a crate to "retrain" her to the litterbox.  When I came home the litter box was tumped over and she had poo all stuck in her fur.  I'll do this again if someone tells me how properly - but I'm not looking forward to combing that out again!  That "retraining" lasted about 8 hours.

So - thats it - I think.  Please help!!

Your cat has been through a lot.  I would first get a couple of feliway diffusers to put throughout the house.  Also look into composure calming treats or composure liquid max.  It might help to destress the cat a bit.  Also remember that your level of stress and reaction to the peeing can set the cat off.  If you are stressed and upset, then the cats will be too.  I know it is hard and you have been through a lot, but try to remain as calm as possible when dealing with the cats.

It sounds like your cat may be "elevator butt" peeing.  Here is a link that shows a litter box that you can make out of a rubbermaid container http://petprojectblog.com/archives/cats/make-your-own-cat-litter-box/comment-page-1/

Also here is an article on litterbox issues as well as a few videos

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-solve-litterbox-problems-in-cats-the-ultimate-guide

I agree above with the Feliway diffuser - Feliway works WONDERFULLY. There is also a Feliway spray you can buy to spray it directly onto her favorite spots to lay (or spots to urinate, if you want to try that). 

Cats tend to act out when they are stressed. My mom's tortie-calico, Tristan, urinates on the bed spread right in front of my mom when something happens she doesn't like. It's their messy and unfortunate way of communicating with us. As long as their is no blood in the urine, she isn't urinating too frequently (i.e. in and out of the box constantly peeing very tiny amounts), and her water intake hasn't changed: I would call it a safe bet that this is completely behavioral. That being said if ANY of those symptoms pop up it is time to take poor Tootie back to the Vet!

Like the person above me stated - it is important to try to stay calm. They do pick up on your stress and some cats can even get random inflammation of their bladder from stress causing a false UTI!

Buy some Nature's Miracle to use to clean all of the areas she normally sprays. It will remove the smell her nose can detect telling her she has urinated there before.

If you want to give re-training a shot again, to see if that's the issue, I would put her in a small room and not a crate. It has to be a room with no carpet or rugs: Like a bathroom or a walk in closet with hard wood floor. Nothing soft she can pee on. All that goes in that room is ONE bed for her, food and water, maybe a toy and her litter box. Make sure everything is separated so she knows which spot is for sleeping, for eating and for eliminating. I had to retrain a 5 month old kitten once who randomly decided he wasn't going to use his box anymore. This trick worked after 4 days.

Good luck and sorry you have to deal with this! I hope your girl feels better!