Female Cat Spraying On Everything - At Wits End (long Story Involved).

[fromthevalley]

Okay so this is going to be a long story so I apologise. In the house, there are six cats:

Parents

Rogue - age unknown.

My Cats

Kaylee and Otter - 5 years old.
Athena, Artemis, and Apollo - 2 years old.

My cats and I used to live in a large, two story home that I rented. Kaylee and Otter came first, but after a period of negativity, they seemed indifferent to the trio. Long story short, my landlord decided to not pay the mortgage on the house, and I didn't find out about anything until the bank showed up to take pictures of the house and they told me what happened. Because of the suddenness and Kaylee's health problems, I had no money to try and get another place, so I moved back in with my parents. Instead of a large two floor home the cats had full access to, they are now down to one floor of a two floor home with a strange cat - their dog lives on the first floor, and the cats are not safe around him.

I hate it because the place is small. My room is 7'x7', my parents room is a little over twice that, and the laundry room and bathroom are roughly 15'x12'. That's all the space I have to work with. I have five litter boxes that I clean daily between the bathroom, laundry room, and my room - I know I need more, but my mom refuses to put one in her room, and has removed any I have put in there.

Besides my parents cat (Rogue) being a 'me, me, me' cat, there wasn't actually any issues settling in. This was in Sept. Roughly around March, Kaylee started aggressively attack Artemis - though Artie started by pouncing on Kaylee when her back was turned. However, it got to the point where Artie was just truly terrified of Kaylee, and Kaylee was just going after Artie for no reason. This was in April. Then Kaylee started going after Athena, who did absolutely nothing to Kaylee. I took Kaylee to get evaluated by my vet a few weeks ago, and besides her heart murmur, she was declared healthy. After some debating we started her on Xanax. However a few weeks ago, Athena peed on my bed twice. She was treated for a UTI, and was fine for about a week, then I caught her spraying on random places - the tub in the bathroom, the washing machine, a couple walls, and my dresser. She could be spraying in other places but I haven't caught her. I do clean the areas and use enzyme spray. She still uses the litter box to urinate and poop. I'm getting her into the vet as soon as I can, but he's difficult to get into. I try to interact with her more, and I'm using the stress/anxiety drops in their water.

So I guess I'm looking for advice until I get her into the vet?

(I am also trying very hard to get another place, but getting into and renting is extremely expensive and most wont allow five cats (unless it was like my former landlord who didn't care)).

 

[rubysmama]

Sorry you and your feline family are dealing with such big change in your lives. Unless Athena's UTI is back, the peeing is probably stress related. Make sure you are using an enzyme cleaner to clean up the pee, otherwise the urine smell will remain.

Here's some articles that might have some helpful suggestions for you. And I do hope you and your cats get a new place to live soon.

Inappropriate Peeing, Spraying, Toy Obsession And Leg And Hand Nipping
Spraying: When Your Cat Uses Urine To Mark Territory
How To Remove Cat Urine Odor From Your Home

 

[di and bob]

Cats absolutely HATE change and you have put yours through a rough period. It was absolutely not your fault but it still is a traumatic time for your cats. Moving to a much smaller space with five cats will involve territorial issues, change in the house and routine, and getting on each other's nerves because they are all upset and unsettled. After a big move it takes at least 6 months for everyone to settle down. With a aggressive resident cat and a unfriendly dog it may take a lot longer because they can smell and sense the other's presence and it keeps them nervous. As soon as you can I would save towards buying a cheap house to fix up and to call your own, they are out there. You might look into houses to rent outside of city limits, longer drive but usually more amenable to pets. After my move to another town with 4 cats, a smaller house and outside resident cats I went through almost exactly what you are going through. It took almost a year, but my Burt finally stopped spraying and got comfortable in his new home. A good enzyme cleaner is a must, waterproof mattress pad thrown over the bed and where they spray is good, and the purchase of several feet of clear plastic carpet runner worked well to keep them out of the places he liked to spray, corners of certain rooms and the patio door. Cut it to fit the space and turn it nub side up, it hurts their feet to walk on it and they won't go there to spray. It is easily removable and works. You might try keeping her in a small room with everything she needs for a while if at all possible, it might give her a sense of security to be away from everything fro a while. Just try to give her a lot of love and attention, yelling and punishment will only scare her and escalate the problem.
My heart goes out to you, I wish you well , I know how frustrating this can be. I know in time it WILL get better, she doesn't mean to be such a problem, she is more sensitive to change than the others and is acting out. I salute you for trying to find a way to help her, and a mild sedative, such as calming treats on Amazon might help. You might call and ask your vet if he doesn't find anything physically wrong. All the luck!.