My cat has issues

Hi, I am hoping someone here can offer me advice. Please forgive the long post, I will try to keep it to only pertinent info.

My 9 y.o daughter has a cat, Patches. Patches was born from a mom and dad pair that my ex and I had. The mom and dad ended up running away (we lived in a rural area at the time) and so we kept two of the kittens and made them indoor only cats. Patches adopted my daughter, and followed her everywhere. It was the perfect relationship. The only thing is I have never in my life seen such an antisocial cat. Any time someone other than our immediate family came over, she would hide. One time I tried to bring her out of hiding to show her to a friend and she actually tore my shirt trying to get out of my arms so quickly.

Well, ex and I split, and we later moved in with my current boyfriend, who has an 8 y.o. cat. His cat is very friendly, and she actually brought Patches out of her shell. She became a bit more social and friendly. We moved in April to a bigger house, and acquired two more cats. (BTW we also have 2 dogs). Well Patches has always made it clear by hissing that she hates the other cats and the dogs, but she would retreat to my daughters room, and she was fine. A couple months ago, we moved my daughters from a queen size bed they shared, to a bunk bed, which had formerly been at their fathers house. Once the bunk bed got here, Patches claimed the top bunk and only comes down to eat and drink and then goes right back up.

Well she started peeing in the bed. I have tried everything I could think of other than going to the vet (money is real tight right now). I kind of figured the peeing was due to stress, from moving and having the other animals, and maybe because my ex has her brother, maybe when the bunk bed came to our house she could smell her brother and that's why she peed. Anyway, we were dealing with it.

Well now she has been pooping in the bed too. This is very upsetting to my daughter, as many times she has gone to go to bed, and found poop in her blankets. Well the other night, my daughter woke up in the middle of the night and found that SHE had been pooped on.

This a.m. I found that Patches pooped on the bottom bunk. This is the first time this has happened. It seems to be a progressive thing.

This cat is still very antisocial, and I have tried to socialize her, I have tried to put a litter box in the bedroom where she "hides", I don't know what else to do at this point. I have been constantly washing sheets and blankets, and it is getting tiresome. Plus, my daughter is upset and loves her cat but hates that she is doing this. When I brought up the fact that maybe we would have to give her away, my daughter started crying. I don't know what else I can do. I am afraid to make her an outside cat because she is so nervous I can't imagine what being outside would do to her, especially because we have several strays around here.

The other three cats are buddies, it is only this one cat that seems to have a problem.

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated!

There must be an odor on the bed that she recognizes. She probalby stays on the top bunck because she feels safer there from the other cats and the dogs.
Have you tried Feliway-it has a calming effect on cats.
Giving her away most likely will not solve the problem-who would take a cat that uses a bed as a bathroom??
I think that there are just too many dogs and cats in the household for her to adapt too. Plus the stress of moving-many new odors.
Also try this-instead of "comforting" the cat when it is scared you may be reinforcing that behavior. Act unconcerned when she is afraid..
Good luck.

Thank you. Would that Feliway be something I could get at the pet store? About how much does it cost?

Again, thanks.

Feliway is available at Petsmart and PetCo. I'm not entirely certain what the cost is but you can buy a spray or an infuser to plug in to an outlet which would seem ideal in yoru situation but they are more expensive. Maybe $20-30. Also the cleaning might not be getting out the scent completely, you need a cleaning product that breaks up the enzymes that the cats recongnize and leads to litter box issues. Nature's Miracle does this but it is mroe meant for carpets and other surfaces, not so much the bed. I know the product Zero Odor also has helped people with litter box problems and dosen't cause dermal problems in people or cats so could be sprayed on teh bed sheets and it is supposed to eliminate any trace of odor or scent the cat can pick up.

http://www.zeroodorpet.com
Petsmart - Feliway

Also you might consider a litter box next to the bed or somewhere near there that is private. You mentioned you have dogs. Maybe in teh current location she feels like the dogs my be a threat, particularly if they like to eat her poo (I know some dogs think its a great treat). Also with the other cats around she might need her own private litter box or two. She might feel easily ambushed by the other animals if she leaves the bed/room so maybe that bedroom can be turned into a private sanctuary for her, with food and litter and teh door closed. She might just be happier that way or at least until she is adjusted to the new surroundings/smells and slowly reintroduced to teh animals.