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2nd Trimester
SamJustice
member
Naughty kitties?
SamJustice
member
I have two male cats. One is three years old and the other will be one in a few months (they're actually father and son). I've had both since they were kittens, respectively, and I've never had any sort of potty issue with either aside from "Too sick to make it to the litterbox" type accidents.
In the past four days, I've cleaned up two poop piles from the kitchen floor, three from the bathroom floor (where the litterbox is), and five from the bathtub! FI has cleaned up one from the floor and two from the bathtub. This is all HIGHLY unusual for them! The litterbox is clean; I scoop it every day and put fresh litter in once a week. They'll use it for urinating, thank goodness. After FI gets home tonight, we're going to the store to pick up a second box to see if that helps.
Now, I was talking to friend about this. She seems to think that they are doing this because of the pregnancy and that they're trying to assert dominance over the baby. Could this be true? They have both really become super clingy to me since before I got even POAS and have been fairly interested in the baby (like, sleeping on my stomach or playfully swatting back when the baby kicks at them).
Has anyone else had to deal with this? What did you do to fix everything? Getting rid of them simply isn't an option so I'm willing to try pretty much anything.
February 19, 2010- BFP!
March 14, 2010- M/C
January 17, 2011- BFP!
April 26th, 2011- It's a boy! Due September 20, 2011
May 2, 2011- Confirmed Gastroschisis
August 7, 2011- Labor begins
August 12, 2011- Max is born
October 4, 2011- Max comes home!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Naughty kitties?
I generally post on the pets board but I thought I'd offer some tips. To me it sounds like your cats are stressed or are otherwise unhappy. I doubt it is pregnancy related though. The fact that one is maturing could have something to do with it, especially if one or both are not neutered. So here are my suggestions: (1)Get them both neutered if they are not already. (2)Scoop the boxes every day with litter changes once a week. (3)Clean up all messes with an enzymatic cleaner such as natures miracle. In addition you can try getting extra boxes and cat attract litter which will get them to go in the right place. Get a feliway diffuser or try rescue remedy to reduce stress. Get a cat toy called "da bird" and play with them for 15 minutes to a half hour per day. Brush them daily if they enjoy it. Add cat posts or allow them to jump on shelves and higher places to increase vertical space and "territory". If necessary get museum putty to hold down breakables.Try to keep stray cats away from your property because they can spray your house and distress your indoor cats.
Good luck!
ETA I know you are doing some of these things already but these are just my general tips. And I forgot to add that vet visits may be warranted too because cats in pain or sick can show you in unusual ways sometimes. They are usually good at keeping illness hidden.
Do you have a child, in addition to being pregnant? Your cats can't "assert their dominance" (which is an outdated way of thinking to begin with, and when it is used, it refers to dogs, because the original "dominance theory" studies were studying dog behavior) over an unborn baby.
I agree with PP -- your cats are likely stressed. Did you change something in your home lately? Move furniture around, set up new furniture for the baby, etc.? Cats are creatures of strict habit, and the slightest change can stress them out.
I don't have any other children, LO will be the first. We haven't done anything around the house, except my mother has been staying with us on the couch. That does cause some tension around the house. And we did recently switch their food in an emergency (my mother was feeding and didn't tell us we were out of food and we don't get paid until tomorrow so we had to swing it and buy some crappy food they're not used to because it was cheaper).
And I actually asked my doctor about cleaning the litterbox. He said that as long as they are strictly indoors only (which they are) and as long as I wash my hands VERY well afterwards (which I do), then me and LO will be fine. If I ask FI to do it, it'll just sit until they actually have no other choice BUT to poop elsewhere.
So here's the plan: Tomorrow we'll get another box and switch back to their normal food. Monday, we'll call the vet to see what's up. Thanks for the advice laides!
There is absolutely no truth to that statement whatsoever.
You have been mis-informed. The parasite, toxoplasmosis, is not airborne, nor does it even produce spores. The oocysts are transmitted through ingestion, so she would have to touch the cat poop and then stick her hand in her mouth.
Correct, plus I believe that the cat also has to eat an infected mouse... further decreasing the chances of getting the disease. Urban legend.