- Joined
- Jan 6, 2018
- Messages
- 1
- Purraise
- 0
We have a lot of cats because a family of feral cats showed up a few years ago and we couldn't find anyone to give them away to. We've finally gotten all the adults fixed, but by the time we did, we had four outdoor cats, two kittens whom we raised inside, and the housecat we had before the others arrived. Three of the outdoor cats are skittish around people and happy to live outside, but the fourth is very friendly and affectionate and keeps begging to be let in.
We have two problems, though, which may or may not be related. First, we keep finding puddles of urine, and occasionally piles of poop, where the kittens are going outside the litterbox. Occasionally, we even see them doing it. They also go IN the litterbox - we can't find a pattern of when they use the litterbox and when they don't. We have three litterboxes and clean them at least once a day even if they don't appear to have been used, so it seems unlikely that cleanliness is the problem. The litterboxes are all in the basement, where the cats don't spend much time. I've repeatedly suggested putting one upstairs, but my parents insist that they don't want to deal with the smell. I'm not sure which of these facts matters, but the kittens are 10 months old, are both male, are not yet fixed (they have an appointment for next week), and have been using the litterbox inconsistently for pretty much their whole lives, even though when they were small, they DID spend most of their time in the basement.
Meanwhile, the friendly outdoor cat (who is also male) sprays every time he comes in. I've heard this is related to whether the cat is neutered as a kitten? He was neutered, but at 18 months - he was nearly a year old when we met him, and it took a while to befriend him. I've also noticed that the indoor spraying started after the kittens were born, and that when he comes in, the more they crowd him, the more likely he is to spray. All that makes sense - I've always heard spraying is largely a territorial thing - but short of getting rid of all but one of the male cats, it's hard to see how to fix it.
My stepfather is reacting to this by ticking every box on the "Never do this" list. He rubs the kittens' noses in it, yells at them, pops their butts, and threatens to make them live outside. The outside cat hasn't been allowed inside in months - luckily we live in a warm climate, but I still hate having to lock him out, especially since sometimes he gets in fights when he's outside at night. When I object to any of this, I get told that "life isn't a fairy tale" and "this house isn't going to smell like cat piss", like I'm just suggesting that we should live with it. So really I have three problems. Does anyone know how to a) stop the indoor kittens from going outside the litterbox, b) stop the outdoor cat from spraying, at least when he's inside, and/or c) convince my parents to do the slightest bit of research before using counterproductive methods to discipline a cat?
We have two problems, though, which may or may not be related. First, we keep finding puddles of urine, and occasionally piles of poop, where the kittens are going outside the litterbox. Occasionally, we even see them doing it. They also go IN the litterbox - we can't find a pattern of when they use the litterbox and when they don't. We have three litterboxes and clean them at least once a day even if they don't appear to have been used, so it seems unlikely that cleanliness is the problem. The litterboxes are all in the basement, where the cats don't spend much time. I've repeatedly suggested putting one upstairs, but my parents insist that they don't want to deal with the smell. I'm not sure which of these facts matters, but the kittens are 10 months old, are both male, are not yet fixed (they have an appointment for next week), and have been using the litterbox inconsistently for pretty much their whole lives, even though when they were small, they DID spend most of their time in the basement.
Meanwhile, the friendly outdoor cat (who is also male) sprays every time he comes in. I've heard this is related to whether the cat is neutered as a kitten? He was neutered, but at 18 months - he was nearly a year old when we met him, and it took a while to befriend him. I've also noticed that the indoor spraying started after the kittens were born, and that when he comes in, the more they crowd him, the more likely he is to spray. All that makes sense - I've always heard spraying is largely a territorial thing - but short of getting rid of all but one of the male cats, it's hard to see how to fix it.
My stepfather is reacting to this by ticking every box on the "Never do this" list. He rubs the kittens' noses in it, yells at them, pops their butts, and threatens to make them live outside. The outside cat hasn't been allowed inside in months - luckily we live in a warm climate, but I still hate having to lock him out, especially since sometimes he gets in fights when he's outside at night. When I object to any of this, I get told that "life isn't a fairy tale" and "this house isn't going to smell like cat piss", like I'm just suggesting that we should live with it. So really I have three problems. Does anyone know how to a) stop the indoor kittens from going outside the litterbox, b) stop the outdoor cat from spraying, at least when he's inside, and/or c) convince my parents to do the slightest bit of research before using counterproductive methods to discipline a cat?
