please help me cat people..

[Dar]

We live in a rural area and in November 2010 we had someone drop off a beautiful grey male tabby cat... he is SO lovable... and has a great personality. I thought he was dumped by a University student cause it happens all the time in December you will see ads on craigs list cat free to good home, cant take cat with me bla bla bla.... the same in April... its really sad.

So we thought he was just dumped by a student going home and could not find anyone to take care of him or maybe a family who for financial reasons could not take care of him. He is a great looking cat very healthy looking. Shiny coat great looking teeth, clean... so I knew he was someones pet. I know he is used to kids and dogs because of how he acts with my daughter and my own dogs.

fast forward to about 3 weeks ago.... <sniff sniff> whats that smell... why does the litter stink that bad it was just done. maybe time for a total dump not just a scoop out... so all 4 litter boxes got dumped and cleaned and filled with fresh litter.... the smell still persisted. As I was scooping the litter one day and Smoky.. the new addition peed on the carpet right in front of me. I figured it may have been because I was in his way and he really needed to go... cleaned the spot well and let it pass but kept my eye on the situation.

fast forward to this week... I have been so sick that I took most of the week off work. The cat box smell is do bad in my house now I want to gag.. so today hubby and I are taking the carpet up and lay hardwood down.... OMG GAG... the entire carpet is SOAKED with urine... all over the place...

I think he has been doing this since day 1 and this is the reason he was dumped.

Now my question... can this bad habit be broke? or is he doomed to be a peeing cat the rest of his days?

Thanks...

 

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
Dar, is he fixed? A few months ago my daughter and I brought home a male tabby kitten we found in the walmart parking lot. (Another favorite dumping place for unwanted animals, I think.) We are a family of cat lovers, we already had seven at home.

Thomas Brown got along great with all of the rest of our cats,dogs, and kids until he went through cat puberty and decided he needed to challenge our one other male cat for the top cat position. He began marking all over the house, especially the other cats favorite spots. And picking fights with every other fur kid. And this is the most laid back cat we have ever had.

He was so busy defending his kingdom that he didn't have time for his people either. So.........

He went in on Thursday and was neutered. It was the best $42.97 I have ever spent. We brought him home and he hid under the kid's bed on an old blanket, emerging this morning his old, lovey, dovey, sweet, tail tip sucking, rascally self.

His peeing all over might be why he was dumped, but I believe he is rehab-able. If he is not neutered I would start there.

Deb

 

[BlackBart]

I had a cat that did that, turned out it was a kidney infection.

 

[scbatz33]

He may have a urinary tract infection. Or crystals in his urine. I know of folks who had these types of issues with cats and it can cause them to urinate frequently, uncontrollably and not where they are supposed to. I'd have him checked out to make sure there are no health issues first. It is possible that if he's suffering from one of these problems, he is "acting out" as a way of asking for help. Males cats are prone to the crystal build up and it is harder for them to pass them since the urethra is so much smaller.

Once you find out if it's a medical issue or not, then you can find ways of dealing with the behavioral problem.

 

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
Good point! May very well be health related.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Other things that can help a bit (not sure why mine is doing it right now, she's an 'emotional' pee-er but I think this time it's medical; we're scheduling a vet visit today) Either way, these have helped a bit.

-Comfort Zone plug ins (horomone de-stresses felines and encourages good behavior)
-Cat attract cat litter (more hormones help encourage the cat to use the litter box)


Good luck! Hope the vet can give you an answer. Meantime, you puppy training mats around the litter box might be a good idea...

 

[Dar]

he IS fixed...

we have had him to the vet and all tests are normal...

we have 4 cats 3 males and 1 female all fixed...

when my daughter found him in the window we brought him into the basement incase he was sick and we went about posting ads all over asking if someone lost a cat... we call the SPCA and they had no reports of a missing cat but they did say this may have been the result of neighbor dispute... kitty peeing in moms flowers and then neighbor takes said cat and dumps it even though its not theirs... so we really searched for his owners. when no one came forward after 8 weeks we decided its time for a trip to the vet for the whole work up blood urine, everything and he came back in A-1 shape... healthy.. vet agreed he was someones pet and had regular vet care, was not chipped..

and now this.... we think because our other cats have smelled this guy not using the box, we think that the others have started peeing too

Hubby is still upstairs pulling carpet... and its BAD! we will have to seal the existing underlay with a shellac based sealer (which is 2" plank flooring the original from 150+ years ago) and then wait a few weeks to see who the offenders are... we are getting cameras today for the room... I may have no other choice but to put down the offenders... This is going to be an expensive fix. We know for sure its the computer room/office AND my daughters room... and maybe our room too... maybe the guest room... that need to be changed to hard wood...

 

[scbatz33]

can you not allow him to be an outdoor cat? Maybe he just doesn't care to be inside. We have a male who refuses to use the litter box. He goes outside. Granted, he and his sister are by nature our barn cats and have been coming in because of the winter, but he still will not use the litter box. She does. He won't.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
he wont go!.. I boot his butt out and he sits in the window and meows to get in... he does not care for outside at all... when we ignore him and he wonders he sits in the bed of the pick up and howls and gets the dogs barking...

I am also worried about the coyotes getting him... even though he is a PIA right now thats not right to make him prey

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Your poor floors.


We took in my sister's cat. She refused to pee in the litterbox - no medical problems - just mental?................she ended up being a barn/outdoor cat.


Thanks for taking him in, sorry he gifted you in this manner