cage training

Okay, I am taking advise from many and I'm going to confine Roxxie to a cage because of the peeing in the house. Now, can someone tell me what I am suppose to do? How long does she stay in there? All day? I need to put her food and water in there with her as well as her litterbox? If you don't know where this all came from check out my other post called getting out of control and you will know the whole history of this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated....

The cage should be big enough to have a litter box, food, water and a place to sleep. When you are not home and at night she should definately be in there, but have her out several times a day when you can watch her and play with her. Lots of playing and exerciseing is going to be very important. Keep her in there for at least 2 weeks till she is using the litter box in there consitantly. Then I would move up to like a bathroom and do the same thing, then maybe a bedroom (not the one she has had a problem in). Keep thing consitant and up beat, do not use this as a punishment, but instead as re-training. It is going to be hard for her but if you give her opportunity to suceed instead of fail it should go well. Keep every litter box that she has access to very clean, and continue to use the cat attract, and Feliway if you are not already. Good luck.

I am using cat attract and feliway. She has her box in there, her food water and her bed. I don't think she is very happy in there tho. I feel really sorry for her. I hope this does work.... because I don't know what else to try....

Just take it slow, and try to keep it positve for her, I know that is hard. Does she like catnip, could you sprinkle some in the cage for her.

Originally Posted by Ladie7

Okay, I am taking advise from many and I'm going to confine Roxxie to a cage because of the peeing in the house. Now, can someone tell me what I am suppose to do? How long does she stay in there? All day? I need to put her food and water in there with her as well as her litterbox? If you don't know where this all came from check out my other post called getting out of control and you will know the whole history of this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated....

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In every book i've read, they say to put a cat's food and water way the hell away from their litter box, you know, because of the sheer disgust of it all? Um, Cat's like humans, don't like to eat and pee and poop in the same spot. I don't know who gave you this advice, but hopefully you've asked a professional or a vet if you should lock your cat up. Will your cat now live in the cage? LOL, God help me....................................

She is just trying to use this to re-train the cat to use the litterbox or her husband is going to make her get rid of the cat. I have had to keep foster cats in kennels before (we are talking very large dog kennels) with no problems, and if it helps with her problem then more power to it.

My Festie had a problem pooing outside the box after a bad case of worms. I think what caused the problem, ironically, was her preferring a clean house! She did not want to use a stinky litter box, and the combo of her and Gar pooing after worm treatments caused a major stinky litterbox.

I also think she had diarrhea (again related to being wormed), and the noise of pooing disturbed her. I did witness her run from the litter box on several occasions. What resulted, was she would try to hold in her poo, then ended up going on the bedroom floors.

I locked Fest in a cage for several days. If I was not home, watching her, she was crated. I put Gar in with her most of the time, as they didn't like being separated. The litterbox was on the floor of the cage. There were 2 shelves, and food and water were on the top shelf.

The problem was resolved very quickly in Festus; I don't know if it would be so quick with most cats. But anyone who thinks it is cruel to retrain a cat is crazy, in my opinion. Festus' problem stemmed from her desire for cleanliness (of the litterbox). I do not think she was happy to mess all over the bedroom floors. I think she was horrified, and tried not to poo at all, and could not overcome the problem. Once she relearned to use the litterbox, and I was extrememly careful to keep all litterboxes clean, she had no further problems.

I think every cat should be allowed a chance to fulfill their nature, which is cleanliness. I think it is cruel to get rid of an animal, or not to intervene if it is messing all over the house. If a short time in a cage returns your cat to its natural state of cleanliness, what harm is caused? (Short time varying from days to weeks.)

Until adopting Sugartoes, the cage stayed open and available to my cats, and they continued to enter it, as I kept their food in the cage (safely away from the dog.) It was never a source of punishment or cruelty, simply a way to teach my beloved Festie that it is ok to use the litterbox.

I have not read your original thread, but I have also heard of success with Cat Attract Litter. Good luck to you and your cat!

I'm going to go ahead and suggest this cage- it's what I use for my rabbit. I had to keep a stray bengal in this cage to keep him separated from my cat Annabelle, who had been exposed to FeLv..

http://www.leithpetwerks.com/prodpag...rod_code=BA700

I think the size is very important. Most commerical cages sold in stores aren't even big enough for rabbits- let alone cats. This cage is big enough for everything, including room for the cat to play and move. It also folds up very easily and is easy to assemble.

48" is a good size for a cage.

I used the dog kennel for my 75lb dog for Milo when he first came to me because he had ear mites so bad and a bad case of roundworms and coccidia. Echo also used it when we weren't home and at night because Sturgis would play to rough with him and his heart couldn't take it. I also found the food and water dishes that hook to the cage door are great then the food is elevated of the floor of the kennel and can't be spilled.

My cage is 2 feet deep, almost 3 feet wide, and 3-1/2 feet tall. I think it is actually two large dog crates, wired together on top of each other. Then there are two wooden shelves added. This allows food and water to be on the top shelf, well away from the litter box on the floor.

I did not make it, it is something I got from my foster agency when I adopted ferals, to keep them in until they would stay at my house when set free. I felt very comfortable keeping cats in it when I was gone or at night as we slept. It worked for us, I hope it works for you.