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March 2012 Moms
Am I just prolonging the enivitable?
Ok, so for about the last year, our 6 year old cat has decided that she likes to pee on clothes and towels that are left on the floor. It has bugged me, but it is totally our fault so we have dealt with it and tried keeping things pickeed up. So the other night I came home and caught her about to pee on our sons "Cars: couch" Thankfully I caught her before she did. So that night when I went to bed, I realized that the crib had a pee smell to it, and that is where she sleeps all day. So DH and I talked and decided that we would have to get rid of her. Well last night she jumped into bed with us and I realized that she smelled. I thought it was strange for her to pee where she likes to sleep, and after last night I realized that it was her stinking up the crib. So this morning I bathed both of our cats, washed the crib blankets and sheets and all the towel that were in the bathroom and DH and I have decided that we would give it a few more days to see if she does anything. I am really hoping not cause we have had her for 6 years, but we really can not have a cat doing that when the baby comes. Hopefully we are making the right choice, I just really want to make sure we have done everything possible to see if she will change before we get rid of her.
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Re: Am I just prolonging the enivitable?
Have you taken her to the vet? Last summer one of our cats started peeing on all our dirty laundry and it turned out he had a very bad urinary tract infection and it was his way of telling us he needed attention. We got him medicine and now he's on this special food to prevent any more stones from forming and he hasn't peed on anything since.
Apparently cats have a super high tolerance for pain and little cues like this can help you figure out if they are in need of care.
"Go Phils"
Norah Elizabeth - 3.19.12
Have you had her checked to see if she has a bladder infection or even just incontinence? Or do you feel that the reasons she's peeing is territorial/vindictive? And do you clean out the litterbox every day? I would look at all of those things before giving her away.
Shut doors to any rooms you don't want her to pee in throughout the day and see if she chooses to go somewhere new just for the hell of it. Try a cat food designed for bladder health. Try a different kind of litterbox, too. We had a cat that would consitently pee directly outside of the litterbox, and we finally figured out that his torso was simply too long for the one we had. We switched to the igloo-shaped litterbox with stairs and the peeing stopped. (Unless H neglects the litterbox- but then I don't get mad at the cat, I get mad at H.)
I'd make changes in the house and give it a month.
How do you plan on stopping the cat from sleeping in the babies crib when the baby is here? That is so dangerous to allow her to do this now because she isn't going to understand the difference when the baby is here.
I echo what everyone else has already suggested.
However, I have a friend who has had a cat with no urinary tract issues who urinates on everything as a behavioral problem; this cat has been doing it as long as she's had her (which is about 10 years). I honestly don't think I could live with a pet that did that every day.... the cat would have to find a new home or become an outdoor only cat.
Agreed with the decision to get the kitty checked out. This is a no-brainer, but possibly worth bringing up-- cats peeing can also be due to hormonal changes, which occur less often if you get them spayed/neutered (not sure if this pertains to you, OP, but for future reference if anyone is thinking of getting a cat, too).
She could also be sensing the change in the dynamics (you being pregnant, bringing in lots of new smells, and you might even be giving her decreased attention-- I noticed my cats are much more AWish since being pregnant) and the peeing could be her version of letting you know she's displeased.
ETA: You didn't mention if your cat is strictly indoor or not. An indoor/outdoor cat has many more factors to consider. Normally it's more of a problem with male cats, but a stray entering the area or someone else moving nearby with an indoor/outdoor cat can cause cats to be different (along the lines of territorial on the part of either cat) and peeing can be ways to say either "I'm the dominant one" or "I am dominant of this space at least." Yay animals and their chemical boundaries......
You're prolonging the inevitable by:
1) allowing your cat to pee everywhere for a whole year
2) letting your cat sleep in the baby's crib
3) not bringing the cat to the vet once this started.
The cat is 6 years old (I'm assuming that you've had it since it was a kitten) and for the past 5 years it hasn't been peeing in the house. This seriously sounds more like a medical issue rather than a behavioral issue. It's sad that you've failed your cat and will probably have to rehome it because you waited until the last minute to "fix" these issues. I seriously hope you just don't open the door and let the cat go and you find either a rescue group that can work with you and find a decent and loving home for your cat.
If she just started this a year ago that means something happened at that time to cause this. Why did you wait until now to address it?
It could be very likely she has been suffering from some kind of medical issue all this time. Poor cat!
Assuming you've ruled out medical issues, curbing a cats urinating tendencies around the house is very hard given once the smell is there, they revisit it.
One of our cats started urinating around the house after DD#1 was born. We tried everything to get her to stop, short of having DD live somewhere else of course. The issue was, of course, the fact we brought DD home and she didn't like it. That wasn't going to change. After we had DD#2 and it continued, we decided we had to give her away. Thankfully, my ILs took her back to MN to live with them and their two cats. She has not urniated outside the box once since making the move (but hides when the girls come to visit).
I agree you should take her to the vet. My mom's cat had kidney stones and he was peeing on the floor, on whatever he could, even in front of us, but he was trying to tell us something was wrong. We had to put him on special food and he never had another problem. However, some cats have issues with little changes. Is there anything you changed last year that might upset her?
Also are you keeping the litter boxes clean? That can be a big issue for them! Also changing to a cat litter they don't like can upset them. My cat got upset over it when we changed to a different litter. She wouldn't use the little box, so she went on dirty towels. So we switched back and she has been happy ever since.
I have to disagree with the PPs who said that if it started all of a sudden it HAS to be a medical issue. The first step would definitely be to rule out a medical problem, but growing up we had a GREAT cat who did the same thing, except worse...
He was the most loving, sweet cat you could ask for but when he was about 8 he started by peeing/pooping in the potted houseplants instead of the litter box. I was younger at the time so I wasn't able to contribute any insight at the time (like trying new litters, putting out a second box, changing location of the box, etc) to my mom, but she did take him to the vet and the vet ruled out a medical problem and said he was just being "emotional" and offered to put him on an antidepressant. My mom is super cheap and didn't want to pay for the meds. The cat ended up choosing the couch as his second favorite pee spot and did it regularly. He was really attached to my mom and would sleep in between she and my dad at night. He even went so far as to poop on my dad's pillow a few times...
My mom couldn't withstand the peeing on the couch cushions so they made him an outside cat for the rest of his life
I think there could have been more things for them to try before taking it to that extreme but my parents were cheap and weren't that insightful when it came to the pets...
After you rule out a medical issue you might want to look into how you've been with her over the last year. Usually cats are very perceptive to changes in environment and this often changes their behavior.
That being said- You need to do a full check of your house for cat urine by using a black light. When you identify areas that have been marked/sprayed you need to use a special spray to fully and completely get rid of the smell- bleach will NOT do it. You need an odor neutralizer- you can get it at PetCo/Petsmart etc. Spray the stuff until you see no more urine marks- Cats can mark and continue to smell and remark areas if you don't fully neutralize the smell. It's the same thing with scratching. Remember it is a cat's natural instinct to spray and mark and YOU are the person who needs to teach them to not do that.
If the problem is behavioral then I would say modify your behavior- if it's medical hopefully the vet will be able to help you. If the issue isn't medical it would be a horrible shame for you to get rid of the cat because you were unable to take care it properly.
I am sorry but it bothers me when people automatically jump to getting rid of animals when it's determined that the animal owners were being irresponsible and the animal was just acting the way the animal does.
Please think about modify your behavior if the issue is not medical before you go give the cat away to a place like Humane Society etc- or at the very least if you are going to give the cat away be sure it goes to a no kill shelter- the cat shouldn't have to die because you couldn't do the right thing.