I am a cat and I would like to know

Beavs

Beavs

Cathlete
what my owner can do to convince me to stop peeing on the carpet and how she can remove my horrendous odor. She has tried all kinds of products and methods including Nature's so called Miracle, vinegar, Feliway....etc. I am going to get evicted from my house soon if I can't get my act together as my owner does not like living in a dirty, smelly home so please, send me any advice. And no, I don't have any urinary tract, bladder issues because she has already had that checked out. It just turns out that I am a bratty (neutered) male cat (though semi loveable).
Thanks and Meow
 
I had a similar problem with my cat about 6 or 8 years ago. He would even squat and go between the cushion and arm of a chair;( . I finally realized that he had bladder stones and needed surgery, the poor little guy. He was in pain and cats really aren't ones to complain so I didn't realize the distress he was in--I just thought he had developed a bad habit. Anyway, he's been fine all these years since his surgery. He's on a moderate PH cat food and I have his urine checked about every 6 months.
 
I had a cat that used to poop just outside the litter box and he would only do that when he was not getting enough attention. It was so frustrating but when I got the balance right of him getting enough attention he stopped. I hope that helps.
Lisa
 
Yes, I've had a couple of kitties with this problem - and the culprit was urinary tract stones for them too. They had their urine checked, went on antibiotics even though no infection was visible in the analysis - and then went in for ultrasounds. That was the only way to see what the issue was. Luckily, giving them prednisone (sp?), fluids under the skin, and changing their food to one that altered the urine's ph did the trick.

I've also had a kitty that didn't have stone issues that did this and it was due to stress (caused by what, i'll never know). Kitty prozac (amitriptilene/elavil) for 2 months did the trick.

Good luck and don't give up on Kitty yet :)


arancini
 
Dear cat,
I am a female cat who likes to pee on fabric. If mom had carpet, I might pee on that (but she's too smart for me, and has wood floors, which work much better for her, since cats inevitably throw up once in a while).

She tried different cat litters : I actually liked the "cat attract" stuff, and used it, but for some reason, she stopped using it (note from mom: "Cat Attract"--which you can buy as a litter, or as an additive to add to litter--worked well, but it is rather expensive, since there was no way to keep the other cats out of it, so I went through a lot of it. If Mandy were my only cat, or one of two, I'd probably still use it).

Even though mom is a bit slow at times, she finally figured out that I don't like to pee in litter (I do my other business there, and we both agree that's a good idea). She got me my own cat pan, and a bunch of cheap bath towels (from some place called "Walmart") and it's all mine! She folds two 'pee pee towels' in half and puts them in the box, which makes it really easy for me to go on them, and cover up what I did (the towels cover it really well, just as good as her t-shirts and stuff!).

(Note to Beavs from Kathryn: unless you can permanently get the odor out of the carpet---which may take some professional help--your cat is very likely to return to the area and keep soiling it. The big problem is that the urine soaks all the way down through the carpet and the padding, and sometimes, unless the carpet is actually pulled back and a bacteria-based odor neutralizer is used to 'eat up' the odor-causing molecules, the odor will never be gone enough so that your cat can't smell it.

You could try putting a cat pan (or pans, if there are multiple areas) with Cat Attract in it in the area where he urinates, so he would use that instead, then gradually move the box to a better--for you--location.

Also, this may be a way of him marking territory, so hormone treatment might help---even though he is neutered, he may still feel somewhat 'manly.' Check with your vet on that.

How long did you try Feliway? They pretty much guarantee that it will work after a certain amount of time (but you have to be consistent with it).
 
Well, first, you need to visit the vet and make sure there are no physical problems.

Then, mom needs to RETRAIN you by keeping you in an enclosed area for some period of time, such as a small bathroom. You may need to live only here for several weeks. Here you will live in a peaceful, noncarpeted area with your toys, bed, food, water, and litter box. Soon you will remember that it is lovely to use the litter box for its intended purpose.

And see Kathyrn's point above about the cat returning to the same spot - you're probably going to have to replace the carpet. (Sorry.)

Good luck!
Marie

PS: This actually works. I have three cats and one offender (I think my female). I had to move them into the basement only for several months (don't worry, it's nice down there and we visited often) due to several incidents on a mattress (which had to be replaced). Now the cats have been reintegrated although they stay in the basement when home alone. Cats need time to "forget" their bad behaviors...
 
I had the same problem with one of my male (neutered) cats. He would pee and poop everywhere. It wasn't until I changed his diet to Nature's Variety (he eats twice a day, kibble and raw frozen food) and I also gave him Bach Flowers drops (Cherry Plum, Aspen and Rockrose). It did take a while (a couple of months) to get it under control.

I was told by my friend who is a naturopathic vet that cats are peeing because of anxiety and to mark their territory. So any change in living situation, getting scared by a dog or child, a new cat, or other family member moving in or out, or even a more anxious attitude from you because of stress could trigger the urinating. It is the cat's way of expressing agitation, not a personal message to you.

My friend recommended the change in diet (because most commercial diets contain some nasty stuff like meat by-products (everything that doesn't get approved for human consumption, preservatives, etc.) which could cause allergies or even anxieties.

There also is a really good book that I can recommend to any pet owner, it is called "The complete guide to natural health for cats and dogs" by Dr. Richard H. Pitcairn. There are also several pages addressing cat behavioral problems, like urinating. I think it is about $ 16 or $ 17, but it is so worth it!

Good luck with your cat, don't give up on him and evict him just yet!

Carola

Good luck
 
I will have to look into the book and some of the other advice so kindly offered. This cat has been to the vet and checked out. He had a urinary tract infection in the past and is now on a special diet. I think this is definately a territory marking issue and unfortutately I do not have to funds to change carpets on a cats whim, although clearly at this point I will needly to thoroughly shampoo the carpet. A friend suggested putting up a high baby gate to keep him out of the room so I guess this is my only option. He's been in our home for over a year with two other animals, who don't mark the carpets, and thus hasn't been exposed to much stress, unless you find laying around, getting rubbed, playing with bottlecaps, and eating kitty treats stressful. I like this cat but he's on a one way ticket to living in the bathroom.
 
My cat rebels by peeing on the carpet. The first time was when the family went on vacation (we had someonce come over to feed and scoop the sandbox). He finally went back to his usual (good) habits after we gave him lots of attention and were home as per our usual schedule for many weeks.

Then he started up again when a neighbor's tabby decided our deck was the perfect place for sunning herself. My Shadow is an indoor cat and he would sit and growl, but the tabby was oblivious. I guess peeing was his way of registering his objections or marking his territory. We chase off the tabby when we see her, but we can't be here 24/7.

I've put a sandbox in the livingroom, near the area he pees. I've placed aluminum foil on the carpet by the walls he pees next to. I've used Nature's Miracle, Zero Odor and Fabreze. It's getting tolerable again.

We have a vacation planned in July, wish us luck!

Diane
 
My brother had this problem and if it soaks through the capet and the pad and the flooring you are stuck with it. You would have to replace all to get it out. Can he jump the baby gate? I watched their cat jump the top and over. I've seen it jump into the crib. I use to have a cat many years ago that would jump up the counter and God knows how he made it to the top of the cabinets and he would lay there with one paw and his tail dangling. His name was fido I loved him so much he would sit next to me and scoop out popcorn and share it with me he loved popscicles and ice cream and I would toss a ball up off a wall and he would bat it to me and we would do that for hours one morning I heard a thud and I came out of the bathroom and he was dead It was devastating to me and I never owned another. I never paid for an autopsy to find out what happened. Thanks for letting me remember.

beth6395
 
If he has had a UTI in the past, he may associate the litter box with pain. Thus, he may need to be retrained and the only way to do that is to contain him until he is back to using the box. Gates just don't work for cats. I have a high gate in the kitchen to keep my industrious dog contained (he climbs over regular baby gates), and the cats have no problem whatsoever hopping over that thing.

Meanwhile, if you used Nature's Miracle (which I've found is the only product that actually works), did you get the cat version? The regular NM is for dog smells. Also, have you tried using an ultraviolet light to be sure you have sprayed every bit of it? You can get one of these at any pet store for under $10. If you have to keep the carpet, I would suggest using the light and saturating the area. I've heard it does take time to work.

Good luck!

Marie
 
I had the exact same problem with my two cats when we moved. We had them for one year before moving to a new house and never had problems -- they always used the cat pans. We moved to a new home and apparently (according to the vet), they became confused and suffered anxiety in the move and started peeing in my dining room. I tried everything -- putting the cat pan in the dining room, changing this and that, etc. (all of the stuff mentioned above) and nothing worked. The vet told me that even if you pull up the carpet and pad and replace it with new stuff, they still will go there because the concrete absorbed the smell and the cats can still smell it. My cats will use the cat pans if they are extremely clean, but they still use the dining room. We just shampoo the carpet constantly to keep the smell down. It's frustrating, but the only other thing would be to get rid of the cats and they are my two daughters and they would be devastated. We're just waiting for the girls to go off to college next year so they can take them with them and we can rip everything up and start over!
 
I doubt it. He never pees any where else but the box UNLESS he is left unattended, and has access to the living room. We had another area rug in another room that we could not completely block off and he peed on it until it was destroyed. If we ever move into a house with wall to wall carpeting he will be living in the basement.
 
I had this problem with my cat a few years ago (female, now 18yrs old). Her box was located in the basement. I moved it to the main floor and that solved it. She didn't like to climb the stairs anymore. Maybe your cat doesn't like where the box is anymore or has trouble getting to it, that sort of thing. I know male cats can be a little more stubborn and territorial, however. I also use and continue to use Cat Attract litter. In terms of odor, I was always very lucky to catch the accident pretty soon after it happened, soaked it up with vinegar and water solution, then sprayed lots of Petzyme on it.
 
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