I'm really hoping someone here has a new idea- because we're all out.
We wrote an e-mail to the local Humane Society- and their response is that they think this problem is behavioral and that we're probably just going to have to put him down. This isn't an acceptable solution to us- we're just not ok with putting down a cat that, in almost all ways, is a great, loving cat. Here is the story- as written by my wife in her e-mail to the Humane Society. Any and all suggestions are greatly, greatly appreciated- because if we can't fix this, we might just have to bring him back regardless of what we want to do...
First, let me tell you a bit about our cats: Missy is 21 yrs. old and I've had her since she was a newborn kitten.Pickles is 8 yrs. old and we got her when she was six weeks old from a family who was selling their kittens. Buddy is 10 yrs. old and we got him in Jan/Feb 2007 at your place (the local Humane Society). To introduce Missy and Pickles to Buddy, we had them separated, rubbed all three down with towels, leaving Buddy's towel out where Missy and Pickles could smell it and their towels where Buddy could smell it. Then we put Buddy into whatwe call the "general population", but it didn't work out very well. My husband had called quite a while back to return him, but we love him somuch, we kept him instead and have been trying to figure out how to control his improper elimination. His name at NAHS was Schnookums.
I'm not sure if we've done everything, but it almost seems like it. I'd like to go into more detail, in case we missed something that you can pickup on that we haven't. Buddy did have a unrinary tract infection when we first got him, but he was cleared with the vet after about a month or so (I don't remember exactly). He actually didn't have the elimination problem until after that. We can bring him to the vet again. We read last night(we've been doing tons of research trying to find more things to try) that someone had a cat who had diabetes and did the same thing. Getting him tested again for the urinary tract infection and the diabetes will at least rule it out.
We have four litter boxes throughout the house and used to use clay litter with a liner. We started using the clump litter with a liner, but later took out the liner. As of now, Buddy only has use of one litter box because he is again separated from the other two (explained below). He had a covered litter box, but urinated on the cover, which we took to mean that he preferred the open box. The box is positioned so there are three sides for him to leap out if he feels the need. I don't think it's in a noisy/high traffic area. The food/water bowls are on another side of the room, we keep the litter clean and the LitterMate out of the area.
We've tried tin foil, which only deters him as long as it's on the chairs. A couple of times he has actually removed the tin foil to urinate on the chair arm. As an interesting note, he only goes on chairs (recliner, two one-seater chairs in the basement, and both of our office chairs), he has yet to urinate on the couches/loveseats we have, although he has also gone on a laundry basket full of clean clothes and the cat bed we bought for him when we had to separate him from the other two. We've also made sure that his playtime is spent while we sit in the chairs with him, and given him treats on the chairs. We haven't been very successful finding citrus scents, so we tried Feliway. That hasn't been successful either. We've also tried CalmEase (?), a liquid you add to the water bowl. We could put his food bowl on one of the chairs, but he likes to urinate on two of the chairs we have in the basement. We do entertain, so I'm not too thrilled about leaving cat food all over the place, however, if you feel this is probably the answer, we will give it a shot.
We've had to separate Buddy from Missy and Pickles because he fights with them. Missy and Pickles aren't blameless in this, but he's the stronger of the three. We're worried he may injure one of them. Pickles has never been an outdoor cat and doesn't know how to protect herself and Missy has arthritis (vet diagnosis). We're worried that with him being a healthy, strong cat he could really hurt one of them.
From what we've noticed, I believe it's an environmental stress thing. It seems to me that he doesn't like other people coming over. We do take him out of the basement and put him in our office (the other two are put in ourbedroom) when we have people over. Both rooms always have a litter box and food/water bowls. We do this for their safety, but it's not like he's going to understand that. I think he's very territorial (with both areas of the house and with us). He seems to enjoy being with us alone in the basement. He purrs, rubs up against us, head butts us, and even drools when we're petting him (he doesn't drool other than when we pet him, I know this can bea sign of something wrong too). He's extremely affectionate, but doesn't like to share. He has urinated on both chairs two days in a row this week. This is a bit much even for him, so I don't know if it's getting worse or what. Also, last night while we were in the basement spending time with him, Pickles jumped over the baby gate. She immediately started hissing and growling, and Buddy immediately stopped purring. They eventually got into a fight.
He's not the only one to blame for the stress. Missy and Pickles just refuse to get along with him. I don't know if it's because he wants to be "top cat" or what, but if he's at the baby gate, both will occasionally walk up to it just to hiss at him. He'll just sit there and eventually they walkaway. I don't think any of his "accidents" have happened immediately after this, but it doesn't make for a stress-free environment for him.
If it is indeed environmental stress, what can we possibly do about it? We really adore him and would like to keep him, but is that what's best for Buddy? Would he be happier in another home? We don't know the answers and we don't want to make him miserable and stressed out. We want to make this work, we just don't know what to do. It's been very disheartening that he's urinated two days in a row, even though we've been giving him affection and treats on a daily basis.
We wrote an e-mail to the local Humane Society- and their response is that they think this problem is behavioral and that we're probably just going to have to put him down. This isn't an acceptable solution to us- we're just not ok with putting down a cat that, in almost all ways, is a great, loving cat. Here is the story- as written by my wife in her e-mail to the Humane Society. Any and all suggestions are greatly, greatly appreciated- because if we can't fix this, we might just have to bring him back regardless of what we want to do...
First, let me tell you a bit about our cats: Missy is 21 yrs. old and I've had her since she was a newborn kitten.Pickles is 8 yrs. old and we got her when she was six weeks old from a family who was selling their kittens. Buddy is 10 yrs. old and we got him in Jan/Feb 2007 at your place (the local Humane Society). To introduce Missy and Pickles to Buddy, we had them separated, rubbed all three down with towels, leaving Buddy's towel out where Missy and Pickles could smell it and their towels where Buddy could smell it. Then we put Buddy into whatwe call the "general population", but it didn't work out very well. My husband had called quite a while back to return him, but we love him somuch, we kept him instead and have been trying to figure out how to control his improper elimination. His name at NAHS was Schnookums.
I'm not sure if we've done everything, but it almost seems like it. I'd like to go into more detail, in case we missed something that you can pickup on that we haven't. Buddy did have a unrinary tract infection when we first got him, but he was cleared with the vet after about a month or so (I don't remember exactly). He actually didn't have the elimination problem until after that. We can bring him to the vet again. We read last night(we've been doing tons of research trying to find more things to try) that someone had a cat who had diabetes and did the same thing. Getting him tested again for the urinary tract infection and the diabetes will at least rule it out.
We have four litter boxes throughout the house and used to use clay litter with a liner. We started using the clump litter with a liner, but later took out the liner. As of now, Buddy only has use of one litter box because he is again separated from the other two (explained below). He had a covered litter box, but urinated on the cover, which we took to mean that he preferred the open box. The box is positioned so there are three sides for him to leap out if he feels the need. I don't think it's in a noisy/high traffic area. The food/water bowls are on another side of the room, we keep the litter clean and the LitterMate out of the area.
We've tried tin foil, which only deters him as long as it's on the chairs. A couple of times he has actually removed the tin foil to urinate on the chair arm. As an interesting note, he only goes on chairs (recliner, two one-seater chairs in the basement, and both of our office chairs), he has yet to urinate on the couches/loveseats we have, although he has also gone on a laundry basket full of clean clothes and the cat bed we bought for him when we had to separate him from the other two. We've also made sure that his playtime is spent while we sit in the chairs with him, and given him treats on the chairs. We haven't been very successful finding citrus scents, so we tried Feliway. That hasn't been successful either. We've also tried CalmEase (?), a liquid you add to the water bowl. We could put his food bowl on one of the chairs, but he likes to urinate on two of the chairs we have in the basement. We do entertain, so I'm not too thrilled about leaving cat food all over the place, however, if you feel this is probably the answer, we will give it a shot.
We've had to separate Buddy from Missy and Pickles because he fights with them. Missy and Pickles aren't blameless in this, but he's the stronger of the three. We're worried he may injure one of them. Pickles has never been an outdoor cat and doesn't know how to protect herself and Missy has arthritis (vet diagnosis). We're worried that with him being a healthy, strong cat he could really hurt one of them.
From what we've noticed, I believe it's an environmental stress thing. It seems to me that he doesn't like other people coming over. We do take him out of the basement and put him in our office (the other two are put in ourbedroom) when we have people over. Both rooms always have a litter box and food/water bowls. We do this for their safety, but it's not like he's going to understand that. I think he's very territorial (with both areas of the house and with us). He seems to enjoy being with us alone in the basement. He purrs, rubs up against us, head butts us, and even drools when we're petting him (he doesn't drool other than when we pet him, I know this can bea sign of something wrong too). He's extremely affectionate, but doesn't like to share. He has urinated on both chairs two days in a row this week. This is a bit much even for him, so I don't know if it's getting worse or what. Also, last night while we were in the basement spending time with him, Pickles jumped over the baby gate. She immediately started hissing and growling, and Buddy immediately stopped purring. They eventually got into a fight.
He's not the only one to blame for the stress. Missy and Pickles just refuse to get along with him. I don't know if it's because he wants to be "top cat" or what, but if he's at the baby gate, both will occasionally walk up to it just to hiss at him. He'll just sit there and eventually they walkaway. I don't think any of his "accidents" have happened immediately after this, but it doesn't make for a stress-free environment for him.
If it is indeed environmental stress, what can we possibly do about it? We really adore him and would like to keep him, but is that what's best for Buddy? Would he be happier in another home? We don't know the answers and we don't want to make him miserable and stressed out. We want to make this work, we just don't know what to do. It's been very disheartening that he's urinated two days in a row, even though we've been giving him affection and treats on a daily basis.