Help me decide what to do.....urinating problems.

newcat_girl · Aug 16, 2005

We've recently acquired 2 grown cats (about 6 years old) who are brother and sister. When we first brought them home - they were fine and stayed under the bed for majority of the time. They have used their litter box and I was extremely happy it seemed the transition went well. Until....the 3rd week - they (not sure which one) began to urinate and poop where ever they felt. My whole family room smells of cat urine.

The final straw was finding cat urine in my son's toy box. I have now temporarly placed the cats in the laundry room with the proper amount of food, water and the litter box. (Which is clean with new feline pine.) There is plenty of room - but now I don't know how to get them to use the box.

What steps should I "allow them" to come out? It now appears they are soo stressed because of the move - the boy hissed at my son. (Who wasn't even bothering with him.) To make matters worse - these cats come from a non-English speaking household and I feel that just adds to the stressfulness of the move.

Any advice?

elizwithcat · Aug 16, 2005

Originally Posted by NewCat_girl

We've recently acquired 2 grown cats (about 6 years old) who are brother and sister. When we first brought them home - they were fine and stayed under the bed for majority of the time. They have used their litter box and I was extremely happy it seemed the transition went well. Until....the 3rd week - they (not sure which one) began to urinate and poop where ever they felt. My whole family room smells of cat urine.

The final straw was finding cat urine in my son's toy box. I have now temporarly placed the cats in the laundry room with the proper amount of food, water and the litter box. (Which is clean with new feline pine.) There is plenty of room - but now I don't know how to get them to use the box.

What steps should I "allow them" to come out? It now appears they are soo stressed because of the move - the boy hissed at my son. (Who wasn't even bothering with him.) To make matters worse - these cats come from a non-English speaking household and I feel that just adds to the stressfulness of the move.

Any advice?

First of all, when a cat starts to poop or pee outside a litterbox, they need to go to a vet immediately because they could have developed a physical problem due to the stress of the move.
Secondly, the rule is the two cats would need 3 litter boxes (1 for each cat plus 1).
And thirdly, not all cats will use feline pine. It's different from conventional litters and some cats plain refuse to use it.
You should definetly make a vet appointment for them and then go from there.

newcat_girl · Aug 16, 2005

Thanks for the advice. Where I got them - they were use to using one litter box and only used feline pine. I just continued to do what the previous owners have done.

What kind of physcial problem could the stress create?

cyberkitten · Aug 16, 2005

I agree wiith the above. Rule of thumb is always one litter box per cat plus one. And cats need to have easy access to their boxes and the boxes should not be near where the cats eat. Also when you clean the area the kitties urinated on, do not use Chlorox or Javex- it smells alot like urine to the kitties and they detect where to go based on scent.

Cats are very easily stressed and can develop uti (urinary tract infections which might make urinated painful and they might associate the litter box with pain so are seeking a new place to urinate. But a vet trip is the first thing on your kitties' agenda.

elizwithcat · Aug 16, 2005

Originally Posted by NewCat_girl

Thanks for the advice. Where I got them - they were use to using one litter box and only used feline pine. I just continued to do what the previous owners have done.

What kind of physcial problem could the stress create?

Well, if they used feline pine before,then it's probably safe to assume that is not what is causing the problem. My cats refuse to use feline pine, so, I wasn't sure if that what is wrong with your cats. As for stress causing problems, it could be cystits or it could be UTI. Ususally, first thing to do is to rule out physical problems by taking cats to a vet. My cat was also peeing all over the place and I had to change his diet to Waltham's SO (after I took him to a vet to examine what was wrong with him, he was prescribed that food). And he stopped peeing everywhere so far. He was also on anti-anxiety meds but I stopped that and he isn't peeing everywhere, so I think it's the food that helped him.

Help me decide what to do.....urinating problems.

newcat_girl

TCS Member

Thread starter

elizwithcat

TCS Member

newcat_girl

TCS Member

Thread starter

cyberkitten

TCS Member

elizwithcat

TCS Member

Latest Posts

Connect with us