The story I am telling is familiar to many here. Others have faced this same problem. Here is a condensation of a very long journey that has not ended well.
Thirteen years ago we bought a full-bred Burmese female from a reputable breeder in Indiana. Peanut (one of her nicknames) was about 1 year old when we got her. According to the breeder (whom we trusted and had no reason to disbelieve), she had been sold as a kitten along with another Burmese kitten to a young couple who had no children at the time. The couple had had both cats declawed on all four paws. I know...an abominable act. The breeder said the couple were moving to a new apartment in which they were only allowed one animal according to the lease. They returned the little girl to the breeder, who listed her on her website. This is how we found out about Peanut. We traveled to Indiana and purchased her, bringing her home to Kentucky.
From the beginning, Peanut used the litter box, but she also went outside the litter box occasionally. For example, we had barely had her a week when in the middle of the night she climbed onto our bed and did a foul-smelling bowel movement right on top of the bedspread. We had other two other cats, who were not bothering her in anyway and liked her in fact. The middle of the night attack happened two more times before I contacted the breeder and asked for help and advice. She said that perhaps we ought to try isolating her in a room, giving her a time out for several days, allowing her to live, eat, and poop in isolation. We tried that and for a month or two it seemed to work. By that time, we began to think that Peanut was simply trying to get our attention. It wasn't always about food. She quit pooping on our bed, but continued to poop and pee outside the litter box. She did not do this all the time; in fact, there seemed to be several years where she did not do it at all. Whenever the behavior would start again, we would use the timeout method of dealing with her, and it would help. We loved her dearly (and still do), which is why we endured her behavior. My wife and I were in our 50's when we got her. We are now in our early 60's. We have had a wonderful family of cats. Peanut and her several adopted siblings (none else purebred anything at first) have always been cared for well.
For the next 13 years, we struggled to figure out how to deal with this, how to modify her behavior. We would find piles of poop behind heavy furniture that did not get moved often. She urinated on the carpet all around the wooden stand on which my 90 gallon aquarium sits, completely ruining the carpet. We did not know she had done this until some water leaked through a hose out of the tank and soaked the carpet. It was a disaster! She occasionally urinated on the kitchen counter, left us gifts of bowel movements in the kitchen sink and on the carpet--all for no apparent reason.
Finally, last Sunday morning I was sitting at my desk in my home office when I heard a rattling behind a large credenza that surely must weigh 600 lbs. It is not easy to move. Several months ago we found that she had left easily 9 bowel movements back there. We did not know until the smell became very apparent. Almost always her stools are hard, even though she voraciously would devour high quality soft food, which she had everyday. I knew immediately that Peanut was back there. I got my flashlight and looked. There she was sitting in her elimination position, only this time she was urinating. She was urinating on a finished wood floor that had cost us thousands to install just a few years ago. That was it! I said to my wife, and she heartily agreed, that we could no longer keep her. We had already tried giving her to an older lady who immediately loved her. This was back in the early spring, but after a few weeks Peanut began going outside the litter box in her apartment. We had agreed to take her back if it didn't work out for the woman.
Sunday afternoon, having exhausted all hopes of remedying the situation and helping Peanut change her behavior, we drove her to the no-kill shelter in Fayette Co. Kentucky and gave her up. My wife cried all the way home. We loved this little cat. Our grandchildren love her, and she loves them. But, we just cannot let one little five pound, adorable Burmese girl ruin our home.
This is a sad story. I wish someone could have helped us. Peanut had been to the vet several times to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with her. The last time was just a month ago. The vet pronounced her healthy with no problems whatsoever. How does a cat owner change this kind of behavior in their animal before it comes to this, where you have to give up the animal? This is the very last thing we wanted to do.
Sad in Kentucky
Thirteen years ago we bought a full-bred Burmese female from a reputable breeder in Indiana. Peanut (one of her nicknames) was about 1 year old when we got her. According to the breeder (whom we trusted and had no reason to disbelieve), she had been sold as a kitten along with another Burmese kitten to a young couple who had no children at the time. The couple had had both cats declawed on all four paws. I know...an abominable act. The breeder said the couple were moving to a new apartment in which they were only allowed one animal according to the lease. They returned the little girl to the breeder, who listed her on her website. This is how we found out about Peanut. We traveled to Indiana and purchased her, bringing her home to Kentucky.
From the beginning, Peanut used the litter box, but she also went outside the litter box occasionally. For example, we had barely had her a week when in the middle of the night she climbed onto our bed and did a foul-smelling bowel movement right on top of the bedspread. We had other two other cats, who were not bothering her in anyway and liked her in fact. The middle of the night attack happened two more times before I contacted the breeder and asked for help and advice. She said that perhaps we ought to try isolating her in a room, giving her a time out for several days, allowing her to live, eat, and poop in isolation. We tried that and for a month or two it seemed to work. By that time, we began to think that Peanut was simply trying to get our attention. It wasn't always about food. She quit pooping on our bed, but continued to poop and pee outside the litter box. She did not do this all the time; in fact, there seemed to be several years where she did not do it at all. Whenever the behavior would start again, we would use the timeout method of dealing with her, and it would help. We loved her dearly (and still do), which is why we endured her behavior. My wife and I were in our 50's when we got her. We are now in our early 60's. We have had a wonderful family of cats. Peanut and her several adopted siblings (none else purebred anything at first) have always been cared for well.
For the next 13 years, we struggled to figure out how to deal with this, how to modify her behavior. We would find piles of poop behind heavy furniture that did not get moved often. She urinated on the carpet all around the wooden stand on which my 90 gallon aquarium sits, completely ruining the carpet. We did not know she had done this until some water leaked through a hose out of the tank and soaked the carpet. It was a disaster! She occasionally urinated on the kitchen counter, left us gifts of bowel movements in the kitchen sink and on the carpet--all for no apparent reason.
Finally, last Sunday morning I was sitting at my desk in my home office when I heard a rattling behind a large credenza that surely must weigh 600 lbs. It is not easy to move. Several months ago we found that she had left easily 9 bowel movements back there. We did not know until the smell became very apparent. Almost always her stools are hard, even though she voraciously would devour high quality soft food, which she had everyday. I knew immediately that Peanut was back there. I got my flashlight and looked. There she was sitting in her elimination position, only this time she was urinating. She was urinating on a finished wood floor that had cost us thousands to install just a few years ago. That was it! I said to my wife, and she heartily agreed, that we could no longer keep her. We had already tried giving her to an older lady who immediately loved her. This was back in the early spring, but after a few weeks Peanut began going outside the litter box in her apartment. We had agreed to take her back if it didn't work out for the woman.
Sunday afternoon, having exhausted all hopes of remedying the situation and helping Peanut change her behavior, we drove her to the no-kill shelter in Fayette Co. Kentucky and gave her up. My wife cried all the way home. We loved this little cat. Our grandchildren love her, and she loves them. But, we just cannot let one little five pound, adorable Burmese girl ruin our home.
This is a sad story. I wish someone could have helped us. Peanut had been to the vet several times to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with her. The last time was just a month ago. The vet pronounced her healthy with no problems whatsoever. How does a cat owner change this kind of behavior in their animal before it comes to this, where you have to give up the animal? This is the very last thing we wanted to do.
Sad in Kentucky
