- Joined
- Jan 15, 2017
- Messages
- 45
- Purraise
- 11
All right, everybody, I have a problem here and I'm hoping you guys can help me solve it! I've never tried a cat-help forum before, but you guys seem super amazing so my fingers are crossed! So, here goes.
This is Belle. She was born around 2009, I believe. In 2010, her original owner put an ad up on Craigslist advertising her as a purebred persian with two purebred kittens. Since our persian had just died and she wanted a new one, my mom went to check out the cat. The place was a mess. Belle was left outside all the time to be chased by their dogs and children, as well as to be knocked up by some feral cat. Belle was covered in fleas, underfed. The original owner had "lost" the papers, but my mom bought her and her two kittens anyway. She took them home, scrubbed the flea dirt off of them (the water literally ran red), de-parasited... One of the babies ended up dying of malnutrition (Belle hadn't been given good nutrition whilst pregnant and her milk wasn't enough, it seems). The other we hand-fed for a few weeks (he's now a healthy short-hair cat -- not purebred after all, what a surprise!)
Anyway, so Belle's always had (understandable) trust issues. She doesn't seem to be afraid of humans, but generally just hates them. You cannot get near her to pick her up. Once you get within four feet, she'll run (two feet if you don't make eye contact). She never hid during the day, but hangs out around you, sleeping everywhere and anywhere. My mom figured that was fine. She's a beautiful cat and she had a rough early life and hey, we didn't need a cat to pet and snuggle (we had her baby and another cat for that).
The real problem was that she peed on the carpet, and in front of the litter box, and pooped near the front door. Believe me, my mom tried everything to fix this (she used to be a vet tech). We tried multiple litter boxes in different locations. Various types of litter. De-scenting her peeing areas. We took her to the vet (no issues, and certainly not one that would last years). Eventually, my mom just gave up. We couldn't re-adopt her in good faith to someone else and frankly, we loved her despite her destructive tendencies and demon glare (I mean, look at that fluff!).
Anyway, so fast forward to August 2016. I'm in college and I have my own cat, and my cat's kinda lonely. Meanwhile, Belle is in a large home with a child and a dog and her peeing/pooping continues to stress my mom and stepdad out. So I offered to take her -- win/win, right? My cat (Missy) has a playmate and my mom can have a laundry room not covered in paper towels! I hoped that maybe since my apartment was small (single bedroom, no roommates), maybe Belle would be less stressed and would stop peeing/pooping on the floor (if stress was the cause of it).
Well, it's now January 2017 and that theory seemed to be moot. I have two litter boxes and I keep them spotless (one's in my bedroom, one's in the laundry room). I've tried different litter materials as well. Once in a while, she'll go in the litter box. But the majority of the time, she poops in front of the litterbox and pees in front of my oven. She doesn't seem stressed at all. She sleeps all day, a few feet away from me, and plays all night. She enjoys looking out the window and chasing balls of her own hair. Sleeping with her face smushed into the corner is a favorite pastime, as well as laying spread-eagle, belly-up on the floor.
I just can't seem to change or prevent her behavior. It's hard to, say, pick her up when she's about to go and put her in the litterbox because I can't get near her (and besides, she usually does it while I'm asleep).
So, I'm kind of at my wit's end? I love her, and I won't give her up to anyone ever. She's beautiful. She doesn't cause any other destruction -- uses the scratching post. She gets along GREAT with Missy and they play together all night long. But I don't want to spend the next 6 years wiping up cat pee and picking up poop every single morning...
Literally any suggestion would be appreciated. I'm considering a Feliway diffuser, but I'm hesitant. My other cat behaves just fine and I don't want them to be so calm that they never play or do anything again.
Thank you sooooo much for your help, you guys!
This is Belle. She was born around 2009, I believe. In 2010, her original owner put an ad up on Craigslist advertising her as a purebred persian with two purebred kittens. Since our persian had just died and she wanted a new one, my mom went to check out the cat. The place was a mess. Belle was left outside all the time to be chased by their dogs and children, as well as to be knocked up by some feral cat. Belle was covered in fleas, underfed. The original owner had "lost" the papers, but my mom bought her and her two kittens anyway. She took them home, scrubbed the flea dirt off of them (the water literally ran red), de-parasited... One of the babies ended up dying of malnutrition (Belle hadn't been given good nutrition whilst pregnant and her milk wasn't enough, it seems). The other we hand-fed for a few weeks (he's now a healthy short-hair cat -- not purebred after all, what a surprise!)
Anyway, so Belle's always had (understandable) trust issues. She doesn't seem to be afraid of humans, but generally just hates them. You cannot get near her to pick her up. Once you get within four feet, she'll run (two feet if you don't make eye contact). She never hid during the day, but hangs out around you, sleeping everywhere and anywhere. My mom figured that was fine. She's a beautiful cat and she had a rough early life and hey, we didn't need a cat to pet and snuggle (we had her baby and another cat for that).
The real problem was that she peed on the carpet, and in front of the litter box, and pooped near the front door. Believe me, my mom tried everything to fix this (she used to be a vet tech). We tried multiple litter boxes in different locations. Various types of litter. De-scenting her peeing areas. We took her to the vet (no issues, and certainly not one that would last years). Eventually, my mom just gave up. We couldn't re-adopt her in good faith to someone else and frankly, we loved her despite her destructive tendencies and demon glare (I mean, look at that fluff!).
Anyway, so fast forward to August 2016. I'm in college and I have my own cat, and my cat's kinda lonely. Meanwhile, Belle is in a large home with a child and a dog and her peeing/pooping continues to stress my mom and stepdad out. So I offered to take her -- win/win, right? My cat (Missy) has a playmate and my mom can have a laundry room not covered in paper towels! I hoped that maybe since my apartment was small (single bedroom, no roommates), maybe Belle would be less stressed and would stop peeing/pooping on the floor (if stress was the cause of it).
Well, it's now January 2017 and that theory seemed to be moot. I have two litter boxes and I keep them spotless (one's in my bedroom, one's in the laundry room). I've tried different litter materials as well. Once in a while, she'll go in the litter box. But the majority of the time, she poops in front of the litterbox and pees in front of my oven. She doesn't seem stressed at all. She sleeps all day, a few feet away from me, and plays all night. She enjoys looking out the window and chasing balls of her own hair. Sleeping with her face smushed into the corner is a favorite pastime, as well as laying spread-eagle, belly-up on the floor.
I just can't seem to change or prevent her behavior. It's hard to, say, pick her up when she's about to go and put her in the litterbox because I can't get near her (and besides, she usually does it while I'm asleep).
So, I'm kind of at my wit's end? I love her, and I won't give her up to anyone ever. She's beautiful. She doesn't cause any other destruction -- uses the scratching post. She gets along GREAT with Missy and they play together all night long. But I don't want to spend the next 6 years wiping up cat pee and picking up poop every single morning...
Literally any suggestion would be appreciated. I'm considering a Feliway diffuser, but I'm hesitant. My other cat behaves just fine and I don't want them to be so calm that they never play or do anything again.
Thank you sooooo much for your help, you guys!
Last edited: