When is enough, enough? Pet related

winery

I know I'm going to get flamed to high hell but I don't really care. 

I have 2 dogs and a cat.  Ever since the arrival of dog #2, who was not potty trained when we got him, the cat and the dog have literally been in a pissing contest in my house.

The cat has ruined 2 of MH's laptop bags and now we're going to have to replace the carpet on our basement stairs.

Every morning we're checking the carpets to see who peed where and I should buy stock in Nature's Miracle. 

We've done training with the dog, but he and the cat get into it, and this is what happens.  The cat is just mad, so no medical issues, blah blah blah. 

So when is enough, enough?  I absolutely refuse to be one of those people who keeps animals even though my house is starting to be ruined. 

I swear that I will get rid of all of them before I will live in a house that reeks of animal stuff.  Between 2 kids and the animals, I am reaching my limit with the amount of excrement I can deal with on a daily basis.

I'm seriously considering getting rid of the cat and/or dog #2. 

Dog #1 is a dream.

ali-1411

Why don't you keep them separated?  My dog and cats fight too, so the dog is crated at night.  Problem solved.

winery

ali-1411:

Why don't you keep them separated?  My dog and cats fight too, so the dog is crated at night.  Problem solved.

Nope.  The dog is crated when we're not here and all night and the cat peed in the family room last night.  Problem not solved.

 

suzymarie

I would do it now.

Honestly, have the cat put down.  No one else is going to want to adopt a cat that pees all over the place. 

This is coming from someone who has worked in breed rescue and is passionate about pets being for life.  But my sanity as a mother wins out over my pre-kid convictions any day. 

eclaires

I know next to nothing about cats [we have dogs], but can the cat be kept in a contained area at night?  Like a laundry room or something? 

I don't know, but I could never have cats and dogs, so I won't flame you if you decide to not have both anymore.  Full disclosure:  I loathe cats with a fiery passion.

Goose51504

eclaires:

I know next to nothing about cats [we have dogs], but can the cat be kept in a contained area at night?  Like a laundry room or something? 

I don't know, but I could never have cats and dogs, so I won't flame you if you decide to not have both anymore.  Full disclosure:  I loathe cats with a fiery passion.

This. My first reaction was, "get rid of the freaking cat," but I hate cats (deathly allergic and I just think they're hateful creatures).

As for the dog, how old is Murphy? Is there a reason he's not 100% potty trained yet? I know that's got to make it difficult, too. Would Madigan be heart broken if either (or both) animals disappeared? What about the boys?

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. Personally, I can only handle one animal at a time. Thank God our dog is older and PTed or I think I'd lose my mind.

winery

I agree with the one-star rating on this post.  It's never good to contemplate getting rid of an animal.

jen5-03

suzymarie:

I would do it now.

Honestly, have the cat put down.  No one else is going to want to adopt a cat that pees all over the place. 

This is coming from someone who has worked in breed rescue and is passionate about pets being for life.  But my sanity as a mother wins out over my pre-kid convictions any day. 

Even though the cat was fine before dog2 arrived??? Just put her down, after all, it's only a cat, right? Yeah.... hope you're not working in rescue now.

Get rid of Dog2. He's the one that disrupted the routine.  And now, he's trained and should be easy to find a home for.

AnnapolisLari

I would get rid of Murphy. He's the one who upset the apple cart, so to speak.

susan1017

jen5/03:

suzymarie:

I would do it now.

Honestly, have the cat put down.  No one else is going to want to adopt a cat that pees all over the place. 

This is coming from someone who has worked in breed rescue and is passionate about pets being for life.  But my sanity as a mother wins out over my pre-kid convictions any day. 

Even though the cat was fine before dog2 arrived??? Just put her down, after all, it's only a cat, right? Yeah.... hope you're not working in rescue now.

Get rid of Dog2. He's the one that disrupted the routine.  And now, he's trained and should be easy to find a home for.

I would agree with this but once a cat stops using a litter box is is next to IMPOSSIBLE to get them to use it again. We had a cat that started to pee all over the house when my sister went to college. It was a mean, 1/2 ferrel cat and my sister was the only one  who could get near her. we had to put her down. It was sad but the cat was miserable without my sister and she would not have been adopted out.  I love all animals but I am all for what is most humane and sometimes that is making the hard decison.

Sorry, Winey. What a touch situation.

wellfleet04

Yikes to putting the cat down!  It's not the cat's fault.  I would see about rehoming the second dog since the first dog and the cat were doing just fine until he came along.  Did you get him through a rescue or a breeder?  I'd start there--a rescue would require you to return him, I'd think, and a good breeder would also take him back. 

emilykristene2006

Sounds like a territorial thing. Are they both fixed?

melmax

We have 2 dogs, terrible dog issues. THey are both terriers...never again!

That said, we would never give them away, it's just not right IMO, and I deal with a lot of BS.

My older dog (who is 8) pees whenever MH comes home, and if god forbid he doesn't "greet" him right away, or put him immediately outside, he pees all over the place. If we don't put him outside every 2 hours, he pees. WHEN we crate him when we leave the house (so there's not pee all over the room) he pees AND poops in his crate. DISGUSTING. The other dog (age 4) is snappy and neurotic.  I have a love/hate relationship with them, they are a PITA and make my life so much harder on top of the 2 kids. But again, mh would never give them away, plain and simple and personally, even though most days I'd like to toss them out the window, I wouldn't feel comfortable giving them away either.

suzymarie

jen5/03:

suzymarie:

I would do it now.

Honestly, have the cat put down.  No one else is going to want to adopt a cat that pees all over the place. 

This is coming from someone who has worked in breed rescue and is passionate about pets being for life.  But my sanity as a mother wins out over my pre-kid convictions any day. 

Even though the cat was fine before dog2 arrived??? Just put her down, after all, it's only a cat, right? Yeah.... hope you're not working in rescue now.

Get rid of Dog2. He's the one that disrupted the routine.  And now, he's trained and should be easy to find a home for.

My understanding of cats is that once they start peeing in the house, they don't stop.  That was my reasoning.

You could try having dog #2 go on a doggy vacation to the kennel for a week and see if cat stops peeing.  But if the cat keeps peeing, the cat needs to go.

stacynikki

I think you have to do what is best for your family.  Then again I am not an animal lover.  I have a love/hate relationship with our dog (DH had him before me).  Most days I wish he'd run away especially because he is always growling at DS.  I know that he would never hurt DS and he's been given enough reason by DS to do so but he just growls.  We both have determined that we will never ever get another pet after this one moves on to a better place.  I'm tired of dog hair being in every inch of my house.  Not to metion the bad shape our backyard is in because he won't stop peeing on my flowers.  

amiamish

stacynikki:

I think you have to do what is best for your family.  Then again I am not an animal lover.  I have a love/hate relationship with our dog (DH had him before me).  Most days I wish he'd run away especially because he is always growling at DS.  I know that he would never hurt DS and he's been given enough reason by DS to do so but he just growls.  We both have determined that we will never ever get another pet after this one moves on to a better place.  I'm tired of dog hair being in every inch of my house.  Not to metion the bad shape our backyard is in because he won't stop peeing on my flowers.  

ditto this-minus the growling. I hate the pet hair everywhere and the back yard....either we have to pick up the poop or watch where we step. We've also agreed no pets after our dogs dies.

Good luck Winery! (I'd get rid of the cat, but that's cause I don't like cats.) Plus isn't the cat the only one peeing? Or is the the little dog AND the cat?

becoming_untied

Enough is enough NOW.  I vote to get rid of the newer dog that upset the household dynamics.

One of my cats peed all over the house when I had my first child.  It was medical and stress.  Once I fixed the medical problem (new food) he never pees outside his litter box anymore - unless I forget to clean it that day and then he goes right next to it.

Get rid of dog #2 and I hope it gets better soon.  I know how bad it sucks to clean up after those kinds of messes.  YUCK!

marchbaby

I definately would not put the cat down, before I did that i'd try re-homing her to a home without dogs.  Or find a home for the new dog, or even try boarding him for a few weeks to see if the cat problem clears up.

Another option would be to try medicating the cat.  I had a cat very stressed out when I had my first son, he was a very anxious cat already and I had gotten him from a shelter so I don't know his history.  Anyways, we put him on a kitty antidepressent type medication, amitryptaline, and it helped to calm him down.  They also have things called feliway plug ins that are supposed to emit a cat fermone that helps relax them.  They can be sensed by the cat but not smelled by the people in the house.

I am a total animal person (have worked in the veterinary industry for 15 years) but totally understand your frustration!   Something has to change for your sanity.  As I said if you want to try keeping them all try some medication, speak with a trainer etc.  Otherwise i'd try to re-home the newest dog.  I certainly would not put the cat to sleep, its not its fault there is a new dog in the house stressing it out!  And there are ways to retrain a cat to use a litter box, they even sell some sort of powder stuff to put in the litter box to attract them.  Or you could start with keeping the cat in the bathroom with a litter box, food water etc and see how she does.  Then if she's using the litter box in there slowly give her more space to roam.

DandelionMom

I'm late but I couldn't NOT chime in.  There are a lot of things to try before "getting rid" either of the animals

1. get a full medical work up including urinanalysis

2. consider putting kitty on prozac -- lots of cats are stress peers and they're good at masking stress until it comes to the peeing

3. try feliway plug ins -- they help destress cats

4. buy a couple extra boxes, try new litter (like cat attract litter), and make sure the boxes are in completely dog-free areas (the food and water need to be in dog-free areas too)

5. make sure you're cleaning the spots really well, read the directions on the enzyme cleaner, if you don't leave it on long enough it doesn't work

6. instead of putting the cat down, contact a rescue group, consider offering them a sizable donation and fostering the cat until it is placed

DandelionMom

 

My understanding of cats is that once they start peeing in the house, they don't stop.  That was my reasoning.

And this is not true.  I have a cat who had stress urinary issues and he's fine now.  It just took a little work to figure out how to solve the problem.