My cat is on her ninth life

Hi! My cat Rajah was spayed and declawed a few months ago...since that time she has picked an area of the living room to urinate and do any other business she pleases. I have talked to her vet and he has informed me that she may have been traumatized by the surgery. I have done many different things to discourage her..( used products to deter her,moved her litter box, shampooed the carpet,many times) I am at my wits end and would appriciate any feed back on this subject

Thanks! Lorraine

Sadly, the amputation of a cat's toes often leads to behavior like you are describing. I'm sorry that your vet didn't warn you of the potential consequences of declawing.

Chances are pretty good that when she was recovering from the amputation, using the litter box was very painful to her feet. She then associated the litter box with pain and also learned that she could potty on the carpet without the pain.

I think you might need to take two approaches to solving the problem. First thing you need to do is help her recover from the trauma of the amputation of her toes. Try giving her Bach's Rescue Remedy daily until she calms down.

Second, buy a whole new litter box, fill it with a completely different kind of unscented litter, and put it (at least temporarily) in a different room from where the current box is. You want to make sure that nothing is the same as with the old box, because she is associating the old box with pain.

In the meantime, get a flourescent blacklight. Use it at night to find all old urine. Treat the urine with an enzymatic cleanser. Loosly cover the spots with sheets of aluminum foil while the enzymatic cleanser dries. Once dry, remove the foil and cover with a thick layer of baking soda. After one week, remove soda and sprinkle with a citrus scented carpet powder or spray with citrus scent. All of this will deter the cat from using the places she has peed upon in the past.

Also, see this old link for other ideas.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...iate+urination

Ummm Did you know she was going to be declawed at the same time as the spay, or was it done without your knowledge?

I would think that your vet is probably right, declawing causes lots of problems in alot of cats...

*smiles*
Ken

Lorraine - could you shred up old newspaper and put that in her box for litter? It might be softer on her paws.

Or even better then shredded newspaper is rabbit food. Yep, don't laugh, but those little green pellets seem to be acceptable to the poor kitties who got their claws taken off. It is soft enough to not hurt them, cheap enough to not be a problem to buy and the alfalfa masks the odor of when the cat does her business. As BH says, after her knuckles and claws were removed, using the litterbox was very painful for her. She has found a spot where she can go and not have to deal with the pain.