The Official HTF Cat Thread (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

Is she demanding to go outside? If not, why not keep her inside totally? Lots of bad things can happen outside.

 

[Stan]

Is she demanding to go outside? If not, why not keep her inside totally? Lots of bad things can happen outside.

No she doesn't demand to go out, but we've had some really warm weather so I was leaving the backdoor open and for the first time in years she decided to leave the house and tour the neighborhood.

I have since swapped out the glass for screens, so no longer keep the door open. She's definitely an indoor cat and I was pretty nervous when she spent her night out, so she doesn't go out again unless I'm out tanning or gardening and can watch her every move.

 

[Sam Posten]

Ze Frank delivers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKffm2uI4dk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[Stan]

Thank you Sam, that was really fun to watch.

 

[Sam Posten]

My pleasure.

 

[DaveF]

You have all forgotten me. I will sing the song of my people, until I die, alone.

 

[Sam Posten]

The cone of shame!!!!


ConeOfShame by Kadath, on Flickr

 

[ChristopherG]

Wow - they are getting big. Did you just get 'em fixed or something? That is Simone right?

 

[Sam Posten]

Yep spayed/neutered. That is simone and she is tiny compared to shultz, the cone makes her look bigger =) Cmon up and see em some time!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Fellow cat lovers here on HTF.

We have a total of 3 adult female cats in the house.

One of the 3 was adopted from the local ASPCA. Beautiful long-haired cat.
She was about 7 years old when adopted and the reason, I was told, she
was abandoned was because she had a difficult prior home life.

Well, now 5 years later, I think I discovered the real reason she was put
up for adoption...

She often urinates outside of the box. Been doing it from day one. Thing is,
she uses the litter box mostly, but at least three times a month, she urinates
outside of the box.

I have plastic down nearly everywhere, and fortunately, she seems to keep
to it when she doesn't want to use the litter box.

After so many years of this happening on and off, I have kind of ruled out
urinary infection. I would think if that was the case, she would not be using
the litter box at all.

I am assuming the reason she does this is because of the other female cats,
one of which she is extremely aggressive towards. There seems to be a
rivalry between the two females for my attention and when one gets near me,
the other gets aggravated.

There have been moments when I just wanted to return the female to the
ASPCA. But now she's 12, and as such, I doubt she would be adopted again.
I don't want to see any animal put to death. Another reason is that I really love
the animal and as such, I tolerate what is happening.

I have read Dave's comments about animal therapy. Not going to go there, but
I am hoping that works out for him. I just don't know what to do about this urination
problem, but am thankful that it's not happening more than a few times a month.

 

[Jay H]

Ron, have you tried a bunch of litter boxes, some cats do not like to share.. so having a lot of them might allow the cats to pick their fav. one...

Jay

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hi Jay!

Yes, I have two litter boxes for all the cats to share. One of them is located
in my office, where the affected female likes to hang out/sleep.

I suspect that one of the other cats is using the box from time to time which
may be the reason why she is retaliating by urinating on the plastic outside of it.

 

[Jay H]

Yeah, I would suspect that if it's not a UTI, that perhaps the solution would be to try to get the problem cat her own litter box, maybe try a litter box cover or something or perhaps just temperarily isolate the problem cat in her own space with her own litter box. If the urination issue goes away then it would lead me to think it was indeed a territory issue and now you can figure out how to solve it permanently.. If she still has issues being in isolation, then it might be something else.

Jay

 

[DaveF]

Sorry to hear about the problems, Ron. Some thoughts:First, make sure it's not UTI or illness related.The recommendation is to have one more litter box than cats, so four in your case. That way no can is ever physically blocked from from using it. This is impractical for many people.If a cat tends to urinate in a particular place, put a litter box there. We've done this with success. However, I don't have the secret yet for transitioning the cat out of that space. If a cat pees in a large empty space, like a basement, make the space more lived in. Put in spare furniture. Play with them in the space. Making it more of a "family" space can change their behavior. We've had some success with this. Watch the at. She may urinate at a regular time of the day, and give indications. My dash does this. If we pick up on this, well lead him down to the basement litterbox and coax him in (or pick him up and plunk him in). This has helped cut down on accidents. Look for signs of stray cats outside that are marking territory around your house. Inside cats can react to this, and persistently mark the inside of th house in response. A couple of approaches include: preventing the outside cat for intruding (fencing, landscaping, making it less attractive as a litterbox); also by walking your cat outside (harness and leash) so she can mark outside and make it her territory. Have more vertical space. Make sure the cats have ways to get up high, to watch, relax, and get out of the fray. Play with them individually, to help wear them out so their energy isn't spent antagonizing each other.

 

[Stan]

Hi Jay!

Yes, I have two litter boxes for all the cats to share. One of them is located
in my office, where the affected female likes to hang out/sleep.

I suspect that one of the other cats is using the box from time to time which
may be the reason why she is retaliating by urinating on the plastic outside of it.

Probably way to obvious, no insult meant, but you are keeping the litter boxes cleaned and refilled with fresh litter, especially with four cats?

My cat is the survivor of a brother/sister pair I got about 12 years ago. Kept two litter boxes at the time, but oddly, even to this day, nine years since her brother died, she's never used the "spare" litter box.

With only one now, I only clean the box out about twice a week, with a complete dump of everything and fresh litter about every two weeks. If I don't keep it clean she lets me know, and will pee on towels I use after a shower, a small pile of laundry, etc. (hey I'm a bachelor and can be a slob occasionally). Luckily she's never done it on carpet or furniture, always something I can wash, several times in very hot water with bleach, but in my case I think my dog and cat are the ones training me.

 

[DaveF]

Yep, that's a great point, Stan. Thats also helped us, keeping the litter boxes scooped at least daily. We've seen Dash sniff a litter box, leave it and head for a nice corner.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hey Guys!

Thanks for the offered advice.

Yes, absolutely, the litter boxes get cleaned not once
but twice daily. Once when I get up and before I go to sleep.

It would be a problem to add a third litter box. This is given
the problem of all the mess that goes along with it including
litter that gets tracked from their paws.

I suppose it's something I am going to have to deal with for
the rest of her adult life.

 

[Stan]

It would be a problem to add a third litter box. This is given
the problem of all the mess that goes along with it including
litter that gets tracked from their paws.

The tracking thing is definitely a major drawback, especially with four cats.

I've only got one, litter box is in the basement, so probably fifty feet or more before she comes back upstairs to join the household, but the litter will stick between her toes and I always find a little bit on the stairs and in the upper part of the house. Kind of disgusting, but life with a cat.

One really good thing is that my dog, a four year old black lab has never gone into the basement. Some mental thing, or who knows what, but she sees me go downstairs to take a shower, or watch TV, but she just doesn't get it. I don't know if she thinks I'm disappearing into a black hole or what her mind is doing. I've got five steps leading into my house that she has no problem with when I let her out, but the basement, no way.

It has actually worked out pretty well. Keep the kitty litter box in the basement, her own private space and don't have to worry about the dog sneaking downstairs for little "kitty snacks".

 

[Stan]

Posting way to much on this topic, but couldn't let this one go. Watching a repeat of Criminal Minds from January 2012, and Prentiss says something like this.

To paraphrase, "Olivia, she is the perfect woman, doesn't hog the covers and she poops in a box".

 

[Jay H]

I think the type of cat litter has a relationship to the tracking problems. Tidy Cat seems to be the worst cause they are small round balls of clay. I tried Cat's Pride and it seems a lot better because the liter is smaller (but perhaps more dust??).. I haven't tried any extensive tests and my cats don't seem to care what I have in the box...

Jay