Hey guys, I have a series of questions and I know there aren't any real concrete answers but I'm curious to know what I -could- expect.
First the backstory:
I have a 10-year old cat, Stormy, I adopted the day after she was weaned (she was the size of a beanie baby!). For the first several years she was fine until a couple of years ago (around 2005) when she started peeing on things. It started with plastic bags and wrapping paper (the very first incident was Christmas morning) until it escalated to lots of chair cushions and our old dog's bed. We tried moving the litter box; got a second one. The vet didn't notice anything. At one point our old dog died and we adopted a puppy who tormented Stormy SENSELESSLY and the peeing (which had mostly disappeared) came back rapidly. I assumed maybe it was because her box and food was downstairs and that was the puppy's territory. I then moved her box and food into my room. Around the same time she was officially diagnosed with a UTI and given antibiotics. I don't know if it was the medicine and/or the moving of the stuff, but it worked and the peeing has completely stopped since the first time it happened three years previously. It's been about two years now since the move/medication and everything is just great.
Recently I've seen a precious 4 year-old cat at the same shelter we got Stormy from and am really considering the merits of adopting him but I have a lot of worries. My first worry is the fact that one assumption at my house is that Stormy's peeing incident was heightened by the appearance of a stray in our yard. I've also never adopted an older cat. I've only had kittens and was able to raise them and keep track of their behaviors.
So to summarize:
1.) Has anyone introduced a young male cat to an older female cat and had peeing problems? How did you deal with it?
2.) Are there actually any differences in bringing in an older cat than a younger one?
Sorry for the lengthy intro and story but I really want to think this over as my mom was at her wit's end when Stormy was getting bad and if there's even the slightest chance it could start up, I really need to forget the idea of adoption. :\\
First the backstory:
I have a 10-year old cat, Stormy, I adopted the day after she was weaned (she was the size of a beanie baby!). For the first several years she was fine until a couple of years ago (around 2005) when she started peeing on things. It started with plastic bags and wrapping paper (the very first incident was Christmas morning) until it escalated to lots of chair cushions and our old dog's bed. We tried moving the litter box; got a second one. The vet didn't notice anything. At one point our old dog died and we adopted a puppy who tormented Stormy SENSELESSLY and the peeing (which had mostly disappeared) came back rapidly. I assumed maybe it was because her box and food was downstairs and that was the puppy's territory. I then moved her box and food into my room. Around the same time she was officially diagnosed with a UTI and given antibiotics. I don't know if it was the medicine and/or the moving of the stuff, but it worked and the peeing has completely stopped since the first time it happened three years previously. It's been about two years now since the move/medication and everything is just great.
Recently I've seen a precious 4 year-old cat at the same shelter we got Stormy from and am really considering the merits of adopting him but I have a lot of worries. My first worry is the fact that one assumption at my house is that Stormy's peeing incident was heightened by the appearance of a stray in our yard. I've also never adopted an older cat. I've only had kittens and was able to raise them and keep track of their behaviors.
So to summarize:
1.) Has anyone introduced a young male cat to an older female cat and had peeing problems? How did you deal with it?
2.) Are there actually any differences in bringing in an older cat than a younger one?
Sorry for the lengthy intro and story but I really want to think this over as my mom was at her wit's end when Stormy was getting bad and if there's even the slightest chance it could start up, I really need to forget the idea of adoption. :\\