What should we do?

Ok. I'm sure this could be a number of things. I (My names Mike) live with my Buddy and his friend, and recently my Fiancee (Kristin) moved in with me, about a month ago. With her she brought her cats (Their 3rd Move in 4 years); A 4 year old SH Calico (Maggie), A 4 year old SH All Black (Zelda), and a 3 year old SH Calico Brindle-like (Dakota aka: Turd). Well, recently, about a week ago we got a 2 month old kitten, LH Tabby (Jovi). So, probably about a week before we got Jovi, Maggie Peed on Kris' bed, we figured it was because she was mad that Kris took her off the bed because she was smothering her face, but after we got the Kitten, chaos has ensued. She still goes in her litter box, but in the past week she has; Pooped in Roomies Closet, Peed on same Roomies bed, Peed and Pooped on same roomies Couch, Peed on our bed while we were sleeping in it!, Peed on Kris' Couch and was caught about to poop on our bed. We have their litter boxes in the basement, theres 3 of them down there, and their food is down there.

Now could this be because there isnt enough boxes? Or because the Food is too close to the boxes? Or is it just because of the kitten? All 3 of the cats have been fighting since the kitten got here. So could it also be because she doesnt wanna go potty when the other cats are down there? I just don't know.

We have already decided, to get another box, and get the fine grain litter (Because Maggie seemed to like the litter in the kittens box more than hers) and to place the food in the kitchen away from the boxes. But if anyone has any other suggestions on what to do I'd love the feedback. Thanks so much for reading and your advice in advance.

Have a read over some of the old introduction threads, I'm sure you will get some good advice there.

Adding another litter tray, changing the litter, moving the boxes further away from the food are all good ideas, so you should try them. If it is impossible to have privacy where the littertrays are, try screening them from view (even from each other) or cover them. Some cats are fanatical about privacy.

However, it sounds like a stress response to me. Have you heard of/tried feliway? It is a happy feline pheremon that you use like a air freshener plug in (it doesn't have a smell to us).

In addition to your ideas and Satai's advice, I would suggest taking the cat to the vet to rule out health problems and making sure you have at least one litter box on each level of the house.

You could put 50 litter boxes all around and your cats are going to do this anyway. It's territorial behavior brought on by the moves as well as the new kitten. By relieving themselves, say, on your bed with you in it, is a message to the other cats "this is MINE". Leaving their scent in this way lets all the other kitties know who-owns-what and sometimes "who" as well. With so much upheaval in 4 yrs, some kind of indiscreet potty behavior is bound to happen in a multicat household.
I wouldn't place their food anywhere near their litter boxes. Others' "signatures" are floating around in the air and to a lower ranked cat in the pack, feeding time can be stressful when you're sensing the alpha cat nearby. Just remember, nervous tummies seek out carpet!

Thanks. I'll look into that feliway stuff and get a box on each floor.. I guess the only other option (aside from the vet which we are doing anyways) is to just wait till they all get comfortable with the new arrival and their new surroundings. Thanks, I'll let you all know what happens!

Originally Posted by Braxxis

Thanks. I'll look into that feliway stuff and get a box on each floor.. I guess the only other option (aside from the vet which we are doing anyways) is to just wait till they all get comfortable with the new arrival and their new surroundings. Thanks, I'll let you all know what happens!

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Please do! And don't be a stranger.

It could also be a jelousy thing too, you have all just started living together and thown a new kitty into the mix as well, puss could be marking you all , but the extra tray is a good idea and try putting it in a high sided box to add privacy it may help

Sigh... well.. more litter boxes, check. better litter, check. food moved, check. Still peeing/pooping.. checcccckkkk... so we came home today and i went upstairs to get out of my work clothes, and, i smelled rotten eggs. "What the heck is that?" I walk into my fiancees room and.. oooooohhhhh boy.. that smell... Maggie pooped.. again. On Kris' bed. so, ok, i go to tell her and take maggie. Maggie follows me back up after crying, so I open my door to finally change, and.. surprise daddy! I beat you inside, on the bed and I'm peeing! And i think she was mocking me, because the entire time, she was staring back at me. So we were thinking to get another box again, try the one with a cover on it to see if she just wants more privacy. Also gonna put it away from the other boxes on either the first or second floor. And now, we just gave Mags Drontal, because there was blood in the poop, so now she's prolly REALLY mad at us.

On the up side, Dakota and the Kitty have been playing since we got home! It's sooooooo cute. Well, we'll see what happens.

Did you take her to the vet yet?

I think she needs to go to the vet and get a check up Tell the vet exactly what is happening. She may have a UTI from the stress of the new family member. Did you buy some Feliway plug ins yet?

Also there should be one box per cat and one extra.

Hey, got an appointment with the vet for the kitty and for mags, They said it sounded like stress though. We are gonna order some feliway on friday when we have monies. Shes been good the past 2 days though so that's good. We'll see what the vet says.

on a side note, does anyone know where i can buy online cat figurines/statues? I have been trying to find statues of cats that look like ours for Kris. I have already found one identical to Maggie and Zelda, but Dakota... i havent seen any "Brindle-like" statues.

Can't help you there - but what a neat idea.

Braxxis.... i think it may be a good idea for you to confine your cat that is peeing to one room. Make sure all the surfaces such as beds, and chairs and things like that are covered so that she can not pee on them. You may need to use plastic sheets.... If she is not showing any aggression towards the new kitten then it would be a good idea to bring the kitten in every now and then as well as the other cat so that they don't forget each others scents...

Make sure she has her own litter box and make a big fuss over her when she uses it properly. Also make sure she has food in the room with her and water. It would be best if she is in a room where you spend a lot of time....

It may be a mdeical problem, but if it isn't it could actually be that the place your're in used to have cats and she can smell their smell and is trying to re-establish herself as top-cat... OR she is trying to establish herself as top cat in the new house.

Possible she may even be feeling jealous of you....

But the blood in the poop is worrying so it may very well be medical. Can you check the litter box to see if there is any blood in the pee?

Might be hard to check if you use the fine clumping type....

Is she scratching around a lot more in the sand then usual???

If so, it's probably UTI.

Brindle in cats is called Tortoiseshell.

I don't know of a particular place to get them but I always see cat figurines at flea markets and estate or garage sales.

You could search ebay too, but be careful because half of what they call tortoiseshell is not actually tortoiseshell at all. Some aren't even close and many are Calico. But there are a LOT of them on there so I am sure you could find something.

Oh and about your actual problem, you may want to take a urine sample in if you possibly can but it has to be taken in within a few hours after the cat goes. So what I do when I need a sample, is leave the cat in the bathroom with a clean empty litterbox. Use the same litterbox she is used to going in. Most likely the cat will go in that box even without litter in it. Keep checking on her to see when she goes. And if she ends up not using the box in this case then she will probably go on the floor which it is only really a problem if you have carpeting int he bathroom. Then try this in the laundry room instead or something similar. Confine her to a crate.

If you don't get a sample the vet can get it out of the cat my squeezing the right spot or by needle. But I always like to make it as easy as possible if I can.

i havent seen any "Brindle-like" statues.

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I'm not sure if these sites will have what you're wanting, but thought I'd share them with you.
http://www.artglass-pottery.com/cat_figurines-pg_2.htm
http://www.martialartsgear.com/Decor...Figurines.html
http://www.best-cat-art.com/cat-figurines.html

Ive been to those sites but thank you though. The cats are all getting along now, and the only thing the vet did was give Maggie de-wormer, but shes still peeing and poopin on stuff, but now its confined to only Kristins Bed and the fouton downstairs. We did keep her in a seperate room for over a week, but that didnt work. ::shrugs:: we're going to make another vet appointment anyways, Don't know why she's doing it.

Brax-

You have a lot of cats. Do you just put them together without isolating the new one cat first? If you do, that can easily stress out the resident cats and cause this behavior.

The kitties are not "mocking you" they are seeking comfort. It sounds like crowded conditions and cats are very territorial. When they pee and poop on soft items that smell like "us" their scent, combined with our scent tends to calm them down.

Be sure that you have plenty of cat ramps, cat shelves, cat condos so the cats can get up off the floor away from the others' scents and find refuge. It doesn't matter if the house is five stories, the scent of each cat stays on the ground and creates territorial disputes.

I would be looking into CD's that have harp music on them. Sally Fletcher is a good choice http://www.heavenlyharpist.com/harp-cd.htm

Harp music quickly calms an agitated or stressed cat. You don't need to blast it on the player, they have great hearing

Invest in feliway comfort zone room diffusers, make sure you have at least one litter pan for each cat (ideally two) I use the smaller kiddy pools (I have 17 cats) they stop a lot of the territorial behavior because there is so much area for them to soil in.

Also be sure that you get the pooped and peed items clean by using an enzyme break-down www.urine-off.com or www.zero-odor.com are good products. If you don't break down the odor the cat will return about every three days to refresh it, and soon the other cats will be going on top of the scent.

Have feeding trays (I use cookie sheets) this way they aren't pushing each other off of the feeding bowls and causing later territory wars.

Good luck-