Peeing problem..."get rid of her!"

white cat lover

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Dang did Ophelia push the wrong button this time! She & I are in the doghouse. Before anyone wastes words reccomending I look at the Inapropriate Peeing Problems Answered thread, I already did.
I have been googling to see what else I can find as well. Ophelia has a 3:30pm appt. with the vet tomorrow(friday June 16). I have to try to get a urine sample, although I don't see that happening. Here's the story & what I've done so far:

Ophelia appeared to be peeing on the front of her box a few days ago. I thought it was nothing, she had sneezed there once that day(assumed it was sneeze). Now, today, my little sister showed me she peed on some things. Brianna's(lil sis) comforter, the duvet cover for the daybed, & Ophelia's fabric cube. All were near Brianna's bedding, which reeks of BO even to me, so I can understand why she peed there. The bedding is being washed right now. Brianna is sleeping in the family room with Ophelia(on the daybed). At this point, I do not know if Ophelia squatted when she peed or sprayed. I cleaned both litter boxes & dumped the litter(Feine Pine-3 days old). Ophelia may not have liked the FP, it was the first time I gave it to her, so that could be the problem. Ophelia has most of the basement to herself: she gets the family room, hallway, & stairway. My bedroom, Bri's bedroom, the office & the bathroom are off limits. Last week, my fosters, Damita & Chico came back home to live in the basement in the bathroom & office. That could be part of the problem. Ophelia is spayed & UTD on shots. She has one window & a window in a door to look out of, although the outside cats usually stay away from those. She is always talking & appears friendly when another cat is outside the window, I caught her playing(not aggression) throught the window with Sandy Paws yesterday.

1) Which do you think would work better: a Feliway diffuser or Feliway spray? I read that the spray can be applied directly to the urine spots to cause the cat to not want to mark there anymore. I found it on Amazon.com for $17 for the spray, a reasonable price. Does the dog D.A.P. work the same? I could borrow some of that from a friend & have it tonight.

2)What can I buy/make to spray that has a citrus scent that Ophie wouldn't like? I was thinking about spraying the daybed & some of the bedding there.

3)I put Tidy Cats w/ crystals in the litterbox. Ophelia had no problem using it previously, but everything I've read reccomends no-scent litter. Does it have any scent?

4)Ophelia has had loose stools on & off, & her stool sample came back negative for anything. Could that be related to spraying/urinating outside the box? I just had her to the vet but the vet found nothing wrong with her(this urination problem was unknown to me & was not addressed then).

5)Are there any other products that might help Ophelia? We are sort of trying to go cheap as we just had to pay for a $300 surgery for one of the dogs.

6)Brianna is sleeping in the family room, is it possible that Ophelia has interpreted this as an invasion of her territory?

7)Is it possible that Ophelia will mark Brianna? Should I make Brianna sleep elsewhere so she doesn't get peed on?


Just so you know, Ophelia has really pushed the limits. Not only is she "insane" as mom & dad put it, but she is cat aggressive. She attacks Lily, her & Twitch huff & puff at each other. She doesn't have contact with Damita & Chico at this point(other than under doors), but she knows they are there. She hisses at Damita, but loves Chico(Chico & Ophelia have similar personalities).

Dad is ready to have Ophelia euthanized. Mom isn't(she cried at the thought of it). Brianna really doesn't seem to care, but I think she has really gotten attached to Opehlia. Ophelia really likes Bri best(even over me). There is no way I can let Ophie get pts, I will find someplace for her, even if it is the garage or shop. I am willing to do anything I can to save her, she is a wonderful cat, IMO. She deserves a chance.

Keep your fingers crossed that Ophelia has a UTI or something medical!
 

kittylove1

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I think for this problem the feliway spray would work better. Now, PetsMart has it on sale and you wouldn't have to pay the shipping like you would if you bought it online. I just bought the diffuser and for the problem I've been having it worked absolutely fantastic. (my kitty was just being withdrawn and very,very skittish) So it does do what they claim - I'm assuming for peeing it will too. My kitty also was just diagnosed with crystals in his urine and thank God he wasn't doing what Ophelia is doing! But they just inserted a needle into his bladder and took the urine that way. They said it was easy because his bladder was full. So Ophelia would have to have a full one....
I sure hope things work out withOphelia...keep us posted!

Karen
 

puppycat

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well i certainly hope you can find a solution. How long has she been urinating outside the litter box? All those questions you posted could be possibilities. Its so hard to know exactly what it is. So I will just tell you what I experienced with my cat.

My fixed female cat of (at the time) 1 and a half years of age never had an accident or went anywhere other than her box. Me and boyfriend moved in with my brother. She was fine for several months. 2 to be exact. Then all of a sudden she peed on the towels that were on the shelves above her litter box. We didn't know what would cause her to do this. Also, I bought her a new litter box too, but she had been using it for a month. Anyway, we didn't think much of and chalked it up to a one time thing. a day or two later, she peed on my comforter and bedding. This bedding she was introduced to when we moved her to my brothers house. She had been sleeping on it for two months though. I had a down comforter on my day bed. goose feathers I believe it was and my pillow was the same way. She peed on that too. The first day she peed on the comforter. Then I stacked my pillow and some blankets on the floor next to my bed in my room, she peed on that a day or two later. My brother said she also peed on a pile of freshly cleaned clothes in his room. We knew we had to figure out what was wrong. I did not know why all of a sudden the behavior change. I took her to the vet to rule out infection which we did. nothing medically was wrong. they gave me a list of things that I could change that might be affecting her. At the time it seemed like silly things but I needed to do something. Most of the things were directed toward young kittens. But one of the items mentioned scheduled feedings. She is a free feed so I changed her feeding schedule to twice a day. Also, I put away the down comforter and pillow and didn't use it anymore. I also changed her cause I was feeding her cheap food that had red dye in it. I heard that was not good and could cause them to throw up. So I changed her to Iams. This all happened about the same time. It helped, she stopped peeing out of her litter box. I don't know if it was the food change, the schedule feeding, or the removal of the down feathers. But I think it was one of those if not a combination of all. I don't know if this will help you in anyway. Perhaps there is something about her litter. I know she has been using it but my cat experienced this "delayed" behavior after changes had already been made. In other words, her environment had been changed previously but she was showing signs of distress by peeing on things much later after the move and new environment, which isn't unusual. So don't rule out certain things just because she has been around it for a while. Again, I am sorry if this doesn't help you out. I know you prolly don't have much time to get her right but I pray she acts right soon. Good luck
 
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white cat lover

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puppycat, that was very helpful. I was in the process of ruling possibilities out that weren't "new" changes. The bedding isn't down, but that doesn't mean that she likes it. I didn't scoop her box tonight, someone else did, so I don't know if she peed or not. I am going to watch to see if she is peeing in there at all.

I will have to check out the price of the Feliway online. I will be in a town that I think has a petsmart, but not until the 29th of this month. I don't think I want to wait that long....

I guess I'll just have to wait to see what the vet says. Since Ophelia is such an...interesting cat, the vet might recocmend some drugs. Ophelia has aggression issues, & she actually tried to get me to put her on a "crack pot kitty" drug a few weeks ago. I figured as long as Ophelia wasn't doing any harm, I don't want to drug her. Now, it might be for her benefit..... I'll let you know what the vet says.
 
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Ophelia had an empty bladder when we got to the vet, but I made a point of checking her box before we left & it was empty. I don't know if she peed somewhere else, but I couldn't find anything. The vet told me she wanted to keep her & put her on crystals(a litter) until she got a urine sample. Ophelia still hadn't peed by noon on Saturday, so she is spending the weekend there. I told the vet of her aggression problems, so she is also monitoring that. The vet's practive is right on her homeplace, so she is there all the time. She is going to *try* to introduce another cat to Ophie throught the cage bars to see what she does.

I'll update when I have more info!
 
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