Cat problem/vent - way OT

W

winter2b

Cathlete
Hi all,

I am sorry, but I need to vent...and hopefully someone else has dealt with something similar that ca help me out! I apologize that this is a pretty gross topic, so if you're easily offended or whatever - you may not want to read on. I am at my wit's end with this stupid cat. About a year ago we found out that he has diabetes. He's about 12 years old, but don't know for sure because he was a stray when hubby got him. We discovered the diabetes because he started peeing on the carpet and just flooding his litterbox as well as eating and drinking ALL the time. So we have him on insulin 2x/day. He started on regular insulin, then we discovered that isn't effective for him so he's on some special cat insulin for $90 a bottle - which they said they've never had a cat who had to have more than 2 units 2x/day. Well we're up to 4 units 2x/day and I still don't think he's under control. We completely change the litterboxes 2 times a week and he STILL pees on the carpet. I am SOOOOO sick of shampooing carpet, changing litterboxes...going though all of this so this animal can continue to destroy our house. So then this weekend I went into the rec room and discovered that he had walked right past a clean litterbox to crap by the pool table...and then again to crap in the workout room. The urine was like a medical issue...and now I realize it's much deeper than medical issues. I don't know what to do...I love the cat - but what is the limit??? It's also hubby's cat, so I don't feel like I can lay down the law...but gee whiz... We're spending all kinds of money remodeling kitchen, bathroom, etc., but our house smells like cat p*ss. It's embarassing!!!!

Has anyone dealt with the cat situation? Is there any way to effectively clean and cover the smell? I have used nature's miracle by the gallons, and he still goes in the area... If anyone has anything to offer I would appreciate it!!! I apologize for this being so long...I just finished shampooing one of his areas and now it's time to move on to the rec room...and it's got me fuming!!!
 
My grandmother has a cat who refuses to use the litter box, and will actually do his business right in front of it, but not in it. She hasn't come up with a solution, as far as I know. Cats are pretty darned hard to train.

Is there any way you can confine the cat to a room that has tile or linoleum floors? Or maybe put him in the garage, if it doesn't get too hot in there. I know he's sick, but this sounds much more like a "stubborn" issue to me. I think as long as the room is "roomy," it shouldn't be a problem. Other than that, I haven't the foggiest idea of what to do. My cat is an outdoors kind of cat and doesn't even like to come in unless it's super freezing outside.

Good luck!
 
I feel your pain. I do. We had a cat once that we adopted. Her name (don't laugh) was Sorceres by the former owner. She was wicked, that was for sure. She didn't have medical issues, but missed her owner who needed to move to Germany and could not take her. I don't know, but I don't think she liked us very much or whatever. When we lived in a mobile home years ago, she would pee on the vents. Everytime the heat came on, so did the smell. I used vinegar, baking powder, pine oil,bleach, ammonia (think that brought out the smell more). You name it, I used it. It took about 6 months to get the smell to completely go away after we found a place for the cat at the SPCA. Lucky for us, she didn't go on the carpet, but still.
Anyhow, try all the things I listed and see what works best for you. We have wonderful dogs here now and a beautiful sweet cat, but when our dogs were puppies, they peed on the carpet. We now just have hardwood floor everywhere but our bedrooms as it was driving me mad too. I kept smelling pee because I think our dogs were getting excited when playing, they would pee or Speck who is the alpha dog would pee so Stinky wouldn't bother "her" area.

Good Luck!

Charlotte~~
 
I was just thinking about you !!:) :) If my cats miss the litter box ,they become my outside /garage kitty!! I have tons of mice so I have indoor and outdoor cats !!! The old fashioned way to get them to stop peeing in the house is Vinegar on the pee spot !!! Then the house smells like vinegar !!!! . Plus, boy that does sound like tons of money for a cat,which I hate to say it but will die anyway ... Talk to hubby ....Maybe you can get it a new home .Best luck.... Or if its his cat he could clean up the mess ... Then he will know how you feel }( }( ..And what a real exspense the cat is !!!!
 
Well, the issue may be that the cat is still smelling the urine in the carpet and therefore has trained herself to think this is where she is supposed to go.

If you can't replace the carpet, invest in a black light and Nature's Miracle for Cats, which is an AWESOME product and the only thing on the market which will get the smell all the way out. You need the black light because it only works if you get it ALL out.

The second (and more important) issue is you need to retrain the cat. That means she should live in a small space (like a spare bathroom or one of those larger cat houses) with her normal food, water, and litterbox with no other animals until she "forgets" about going elsewhere. It sounds mean, but it's a lot like crate-training your dog. She will probably need to live in that space for two-three weeks before it's safe to let her roam the house at large.

Cats are actually very easy to train; they're difficult to REtrain.

Anyway, good luck!! I hope it works out for you!

Marie
 
What kind of physical condition is the cat in? Is he sickly? Is he even close to eating and drinking the proper amounts, etc.?
 
<What kind of physical condition is the cat in? Is he sickly? Is he> <even close to eating and drinking the proper amounts, etc.?">

He has neuropathy so his hind legs are not very good - he can't scratch his ears himself or jump up more than couch level, but he hobbles around. He has a very good appetite and drinks like crazy, which is why I don't know if the diabetes is under control. We need another glucose curve to determine if that is better...another $200 or so. He has tooth issues and he appears to be getting cataracts or some eye issue, but he is so mentally with it - which is why we have a hard time with this. He's such a people cat...the little jerk. *sigh*
 
That is hard :( He seems to have a lot of things going on and with him still attacking the water bowl, my unedicated guess is that his diabetes may still *not* be under control.

Another thought - Have you asked your vet for an opinion on how to proceed? I remember when my mom was having major issues and contemplating treatment or euthenasia for our dog, Benny, she asked hte vet. He suggested that she treat at that time but was honest later and told her that on most days, Benny was probbaly more uncomfortable than he should reasonably be.

Good Luck
Christine
 
What type of insulin is he on? I have some patients that are on PZI insulin that require 6-7 units twice a day. It all depends on the cat. One other consideration is diet. Diabetic cats almost always do better on special diets (Purina DM or Hill's m/d) or even just feeding canned food instead of dry food sometimes helps. I have had a few cats who no longer require insulin once they are placed on a proper diet.

The housesoiling problems probably originated with the diabetes, but now seem to have become a pattern/habit. These are hard to deal with, but it certainly wouldn't be inhumane to make him a garage or outdoor kitty, as long as you could still give him his injections. Tough problem, I don't envy you. Good luck!
 
He is on the PZI and we have him on 5 units in the AM and 4 in the PM. The vet had suggested possibly using the special food, but the cat has also had a history of crystalization in the urine, so he's on special food for that. We used to have him on moist food, but it didn't seem to give him enough satiety (sp?) and he prefers the kibble, even with his bad teeth. It's a tough one... Hubby seems to like to just ignore the soiling situation and he doesn't like to talk about options or anything. First I'm going to get him back into the vet to talk about options...if they think the cat is suffering and not feeling well...I don't want to continue this. Sometimes I wonder if we're doing it for the cat or for us. Know what I mean? I appreciate everyone's thoughts!
 
OK....I believe I have the solution to getting rid of the cat pee smell. My cat has an anxiety disorder and every once in awhile(more often lately), he will spray on out carpet. Well I've tried the enzyme stuff and I believe I actually went through 2 gallons of it. It sort of worked but not enough to completly quench the smell.

So...a couple of months ago, my DH and I were watching Mythbusters(I think it's on the Discovery Channel), and they were attempting a myth that cola can get rid of the skunk spray smell. So they testing the myth against other household cleaner and it did a fair job. But the one that completly got rid of the smell was a mixture of peroxide, dish soap, and baking soda. So I thought that if it worked on skunk spray then there was a pretty good chance it would work on cat urine.I wasn't sure of the measurements so I just put in like 1 half cup of peroxide, around a teaspoon of dish soap(I think I used Dawn), and about another teaspoon of baking soda. I mixed the stuff together and poured it on the urine and it actually made the smell go away!!!! I used a paper towel or something to really work it in the carpet and I was floored!! NO more cat smell!!!

I found out though that you do need to make the mixture right before you use it, you can't make up a batch and let it sit because it won't work.

It's definately worth a try. I had nothing to lose and it totally worked for me and was much better than ripping up more carpet(which is what we had to do before I discovered "the mixture".

Carolyn
 
>He has neuropathy so his hind legs are not very good - he
>can't scratch his ears himself or jump up more than couch
>level, but he hobbles around.

Pick up some methylcobalamin (B12--but NOT cyanacobalamin). I have a diabetc cat who had bad neuropathy (he got to the point of walking on his "knees" and not being able to jump onto the sofa anymore. Then I read about methylcobalamin on a feline diabetes board. Give one tablet a day. It took about a month or so, but one day, Scooter jumped up on the sofa again, and he was walking on his "feet" (not toes, so it wasn't a 100% cure, but it reversed it.)

My vet didn't even know about it, and had said that neuropathy was irreversible. Not so!

The drinking alot sounds like the diabetes isn't under control.

For the "not using the pan" thing. First off, NEVER clean pee areas with ammonia: it smells like pee to a cat, and just encourages them to pee there more. YOu need a bacterial odor remover made to remove pet odor, like someone suggested. There's also one called "urine gone" and another called "zero odor."

If kitty has just one pan, get him another. He may prefer to do #2 in one and #1 somewhere else.

There is a litter (pricey) called "cat attract" that is supposed to smell very inticing (to pee in) to cats (but there is no noticeable odor to humans). It is also "softer." I used this when one of my cats (who was having kidney problems) started peeing where she shouldn't. It definitely attracts cats, as one of my other cats always wanted to roll in the bag! I got "Cat attract" at PetSmart. There is a booklet in every bag with a coupon for $1 off your next bag, so if you want to pick up 2, buy the first, take it out to the car and open it, and use the coupon for the second.

I've never had a glucose curve for Scooter (the vet said that it was a way of determining if glucose levels have been good over the long term). My vet just kept taking blood samples to figure out what dosage Scooter needs of insulin, until we hit the right amount. He's at 5 units, 2x/day now. The test is definitely NOT $200, more like $30 (?).

"Feliway" is a spray that is supposed to help cats return to their good pan habits. It comes in a spray that you have to use every day, or in an automatic dispenser that you plug in (kind of like a Glade plug-in, but no noticeable odor to humans).

Scooter had to have his two upper fangs removed, but he does just fine without them (at least after the vets figured out that was the problem. After $600 in bills for tests and x-rays! And him going off his food because he couldn't eat for over a week, and then having a feeding tube put in, etc. etc. x( I unfortunately took him in to see the "other" vet at my regular vet when he stopped eating, and this is what happened!

Scooter is a people cat, too. Especially a "mom" cat. And he's worth every penny (though I told him he has to stick around at least 4 more years to make up for his expensive vet bill!).
 
Another thought: maybe the "not-using-the-pan" problem is tied in to his neuropathy. It might be difficult for him to get in and out of the pan, so he finally just gave up. Finding a low-sided, easy-entry pan, or even changing his "pan" to a pile of towels in the garage could help. (And the methylcobalamin will definitely help with the neuropathy, but it takes a while).

By the way, I got my methylcobalamin from www.lifelinknet.com (Xobaline).

I don't agree with making him an outdoor cat. There are too many dangers outside for cats, especially those who didn't grow up outside and become "street smart": mean people, cars, other cats, dogs (a former neighbor of mine had outdoor cats, at least one was run over by a car, and one was ripped apart by a group of wandering dogs). With his neuropathy, your cat is an even easier target for any outside dangers.
 
There is this stuff called Liquid Enzymes, and I found it at an industrial supply store. It really is an enzyme that eats the bacteria in urine and that is what causes the odor. I learned about it years ago when I worked in house cleaning. Short of replacing carpet, this works the best I have found.
 
Good advice - as a last resort if nothing else works, you could always isolate him to a part of the house, so he is not crapping/peeing everywhere. I know that's sad to do, but if this really gets to you so much, you could start to resent him (I sometimes have these feelings when one of our cat just won't act right). Its a brief feeling, but always bothers me when I have it. Is there any possibility he's been misdiagnosed? His symptoms sound very extreme...
 
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