Bathroom problems...

Ok, I'm sure this has been covered, but I need an answer quick! My husband is about ready to KILL our cat!! We've had her for almost 3 years and shes been great at using the litter box, even teaching our second cat how to.

But 3 months ago we had a stray cat that we adopted as an outside cat give birth to 5 kittens. Well now that its summer and the weather is so HOT I let the kittens inside during the hot of the day. Well, the cat in question has gotten used to them being around and doesn't seem to mind anymore, but she in the last few days has started peeing in our laundry basket (clean clothes) and pooping in our bathroom on the rugs!! Its like she wont come out from the back of the house while the kittens are inside, so she uses the restroom wherever she can find. Either that or she is aiming for my stuff because she is pissed! Everytime she has peed on cothing it has been mine!!

Please help me solve this, because as of right now my husband has sent her to the screened in porch.

In case you haven't already done this...you might consider buying a cheap little litter box for her while she's stuck in that particular part of the house (that and some food & water). It would at least be a quick temporary solution! Hope that helps!!

The absolute FIRST order of business is to have your kitty in to see her vet - you will want a complete examination including urinanalysis and if you haven't had blood pulled in a while, might not hurt to check out her functions there either.

Stress is a very funny thing in cats ... when severe stress is experienced by a cat, their system produces a very high-powered sugar-type agent that is sent into the bloodstream - this agent is absorbed by the muscles in the event they will need the quick burst of energy to either fight or to flee. This extra "sugar" stuff ends up in the kidneys to be flushed away, but it can cause a lot of problems while it is in there, specifically, it creates a hospitable environment for bacteria growth.

The kittens could be causing your cat more stress than you realize and her natural defense mechanism could be kicking in as a response - she may have a urinary tract infection from it.

Let the vet check her out first. If he gives her a clean bill of health and she is still eliminating inappropriately, then come back and let us know. We can steer you in the right direction for behavior modification.

While I am certainly NOT hoping your kitty is indeed sick, I do hope we find this is something easy to fix.

Yours,

~gf~

Well... if there is a litter box in the bathroom she will use it with no problem. I'm pretty sure she just doesn't want to come into the front of the house while the kittens are here. At night she uses the litter box in the front with no problem.

You asked for someone to help you solve this problem and I gave you my suggestion. It is up to you whether or not you feel it is necessary to take my advice and seek the professional opinion of your vet. The golden rule of solving behavior problems is ALWAYS eliminate the possibility of health issues FIRST. I feel badly for your kitty having to stay out on the porch when she is more comfortable inside with her family and was only trying to help you in your plea for assistance. Especially if it turns out that she is in fact suffering from a UTI, which, as I said, is a ~distinct~ possibility.

I sincerely hope you get to the bottom of this issue.

~gf~

Apparently I have offended you... I didn't mean to do so. I was simply adding to the facts of my problem for everyone to put together. I'm sorry that you felt I was disregarding your information. I'm planning to call my vet tomorrow, but I don't have to money to take her in right now... I'm barely paying for their cat food until I'm back to work in August. We are working soley with my husband paycheck.

You didn't offend me and please accept my sincere apologies if I came across as being snarky. However, it is extremely frustrating to me when someone calls out for help, I offer what I can to assist and they all but blow it off. I can't tell you how many times I have replied to various posts with exactly the same advice for exactly the same (or similar) problem and gotten every reason in the world why whatever I said couldn't possibly be the problem or that no funds were available to have a vet properly assess the symptoms.

Honestly, I wasn't intentionally lashing out at you in specific and I am sorry (truly I am) if I took out my frustrations in your thread.

Again, I sincerely hope you can find the cause of the problem so your little girl can come back inside with her people where she belongs.

Best of luck,

~gf~

My husband has gone to bed, so I let her back in. I opened the door to the bathroom and put one of our old litter boxes in there for her until we can figure out what is going on.

It is very common for cats to pee on certain objects, like a pile of clothes, when they have a urinary infection. It's their way of showing us that something is wrong. It took me a long time to recognize the symptoms in my cat, since she used the litterbox 95% of the time. The rare occasions that she didn't, I attributed to the litterbox being too dirty. When I finally took her in to the vet, she had blood in her urine.

My point is that just because she uses the litter box some of the time doesn't mean she is well. Do you have a good relationship with your vet? You might explain that you are concerned about your cat but that the visit will be a financial hardship. They might be able to arrange a payment schedule with you.

my vet doesn't do payments.. I tried that last month because my kitten broke his leg. It cost me $300 to get it fixed, thats why I don't have the money now.

Can you look into Care Credit? In the meantime, adding the second litter box is a good idea, and trying to help your cat remain as stress-free as possible will help as well. If you trust your vet, you might call and ask for advice over the phone. I know that mine is always willing to lend an ear and offer suggestions to keep a problem from getting worse.

This is my first visit and I don't know what I'm doing just yet. I have all kinds of kitty questions since I have just gotten my first kitten and she stresses me out daily!
She began using her litter box and has been for 4 or 5 days but just yesterday, pooped on our new bath mat, then trampled through it and left footprints all over the bathroom! (It was also the first time she has had diaherrea). Last night, when she woke me up scratching and biting me (her nightly ritual) I put her in the bathroom, and she pooped in the same spot (this time no bath mat). I feel bad about locking her in the bathroom so much because she cries , but I can't have her doing her business all over the house while I'm gone and I can't have her keeping me up every night at 4 am! I have to leave her alone alot right now (I'm working full-time for another 2 weeks), is she reacting this way because she is stressed? Will she get over the biting in the middle of the night? How can I help her get over it? I've only had her a week, am I expecting too much?