Hi friends,
We moved into a new 2 bedroom apartment about 3 weeks ago. Everything seemed fine, Bruce handled the move pretty well. For the first week, I isolated him in the 2nd bedroom - put his food, water, toys, scratching posts, and litter box in there with him. We would "visit" him in his room and play with him every day for that first week.
During the second week, we opened up the rest of the apartment to him. He seemed to fit right in...lounging on the sofa and the dining room chairs, peeking out the windows of the balcony, hanging out with me whenever I was in the kitchen.
That same week, I decided to take him out for a walk. (At our old residence, I would take him out on the leash/harness at least once a week). We just did 1 small lap around the swimming pool, which is just outside of our unit. There was another cat, who was freely roaming around the pool too. When Bruce saw the other cat, he panicked and made a run for it. I scooped him up and took him back inside the apartment. When I took Bruce back inside the apartment after the encounter, he immediately ran into our bedroom and peed on our bed. I figured this was due to him feeling extremely territorial after running into that other cat. No big deal, I totally understood why he did it. It probably wasn't a good idea to take him out for a walk as soon as I did, I should have waited at least 1 month after the move.
The next day, he peed on an empty suitcase that was in the 2nd bedroom. And a couple days later, he peed on our bed again! After this 2nd incident with our bed, we decided that he wouldn't be allowed into our bedroom (at least until we know he won't pee on our bed again). When we go to bed at night, we close the door; when we leave the house, we close the door. (I left the bedroom door open by accident yesterday, and he peed on the bed AGAIN!!!)
At this point, I'm really frustrated and upset. He was totally fine that first week after the move. But ever since that night when I took him for a walk and he encountered that other cat, he's been trying to pee on our bed any chance he gets! He's using his litter box daily, which is still in the 2nd bedroom... But if I leave our bedroom door open for one second he runs in there and tries to pop a squat!
Currently, Bruce is wearing a SENTRY Calming Collar that I bought for him, and he's been wearing it for 3 days so far. I'm planning on buying another litter box for him too, in an effort to give him more "territory." Other than these 2 things, I can't think of what else I can do for Bruce.
Am I doing something wrong? Does Bruce just need time to calm down/de-stress? Should I move the litter box? What other ideas/suggestions do you have for me and Bruce?
We moved into a new 2 bedroom apartment about 3 weeks ago. Everything seemed fine, Bruce handled the move pretty well. For the first week, I isolated him in the 2nd bedroom - put his food, water, toys, scratching posts, and litter box in there with him. We would "visit" him in his room and play with him every day for that first week.
During the second week, we opened up the rest of the apartment to him. He seemed to fit right in...lounging on the sofa and the dining room chairs, peeking out the windows of the balcony, hanging out with me whenever I was in the kitchen.
That same week, I decided to take him out for a walk. (At our old residence, I would take him out on the leash/harness at least once a week). We just did 1 small lap around the swimming pool, which is just outside of our unit. There was another cat, who was freely roaming around the pool too. When Bruce saw the other cat, he panicked and made a run for it. I scooped him up and took him back inside the apartment. When I took Bruce back inside the apartment after the encounter, he immediately ran into our bedroom and peed on our bed. I figured this was due to him feeling extremely territorial after running into that other cat. No big deal, I totally understood why he did it. It probably wasn't a good idea to take him out for a walk as soon as I did, I should have waited at least 1 month after the move.
The next day, he peed on an empty suitcase that was in the 2nd bedroom. And a couple days later, he peed on our bed again! After this 2nd incident with our bed, we decided that he wouldn't be allowed into our bedroom (at least until we know he won't pee on our bed again). When we go to bed at night, we close the door; when we leave the house, we close the door. (I left the bedroom door open by accident yesterday, and he peed on the bed AGAIN!!!)
At this point, I'm really frustrated and upset. He was totally fine that first week after the move. But ever since that night when I took him for a walk and he encountered that other cat, he's been trying to pee on our bed any chance he gets! He's using his litter box daily, which is still in the 2nd bedroom... But if I leave our bedroom door open for one second he runs in there and tries to pop a squat!
Currently, Bruce is wearing a SENTRY Calming Collar that I bought for him, and he's been wearing it for 3 days so far. I'm planning on buying another litter box for him too, in an effort to give him more "territory." Other than these 2 things, I can't think of what else I can do for Bruce.
Am I doing something wrong? Does Bruce just need time to calm down/de-stress? Should I move the litter box? What other ideas/suggestions do you have for me and Bruce?
