Problems Preparing For New Baby

[mrsh]

Hello gang,

My first (human) child is due in a month. We’ve put the bassinet in our bedroom and made it a kitty free zone at night to prepare for the new arrival. So far it’s not going well.

One of our cats stealthily peed in the dog bed in the bedroom one morning when the litter robot was stuck mid-cycle and he didn’t have access to the litter box. We replaced the dog bed and he peed in the brand new one a few days later. Then we washed the new bed and he peed in it a third time, plus the wall, plus the shutters on the window, and the bed isn’t super absorbent so he stomped in the puddle and tracked pee paw prints all across the tiled house.

Both cats went to the vet today to rule out illness. The peeing isn’t a medical problem. There is no inappropriate urination anywhere else in the house. The vet said it’s either a super-strong attraction to the pheromones that I can’t seem to thoroughly clean, or someone is mad that their prior hangout is off limits and they’re doing it out of spite. Since they’ve come home from the vet today there’s been a lot of hissing at each other. God help me when the baby actually gets here.

The vet recommended Feliway. Does it work? Do I need the Classic, or Multicat, or both? What else can I do to ease the transition to a new family dynamic?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
If you don't have one already be sure and pick up an enzymatic cleaner.

Does it work? Do I need the Classic, or Multicat, or both? What else can I do to ease the transition to a new family dynamic?

Some cats don't react to feliway or it can actually make things worse plus there are third party fake feliway products ont he market. I actually ended up with Comfort Zone which works better for my guy.

Anyway, there are a lot of products available with a lot of different ingredients, such as casein, tryptophan, chamomile, valerian, and some people have had good results with CBD oil (be aware that there's plain hemp oil being sold as CBD.)

You can also utilize music which is known to help relax cats. There is an app called Relax My Cat, kusc.org and also MusicForCats.com

However, this whole thing sounds to me as though it has to do with this;

the litter robot was stuck mid-cycle and he didn’t have access to the litter box.

I would take a step back, breath, and try a couple of things; See about getting a new litter - there's one called Cat Attract, and obtain a couple more litter boxes. In the meanwhile, remove the dog bed and don't replace it until things are definitely back to normal.

Best of luck, and congrats on the new human baby.

 

[LTS3]

Those litter robot things are known to get stuck in a cycle Can you keep a regular litter box available so the cats have something to use in case the litter robot is stuck? Sweet talk the husband / partner to clean the litter box for you