Help needed for rehoming

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Hello

I am looking for advice.

We have to rehome our dear cat Sirius (black tom moggy) who is 8 years old.

Despite having litter trays (one upstairs and one downstairs cleaned daily), for the last 4 years he has urinated and deficated in our home. We have been through 4 sofas and countless cushions, rugs etc. I have bought every treatment for cleaning and ?re-offending? that is on the market to no avail. I have persisted in keeping him but the time has come that this cannot continue.

He was chipped and neutered as a kitten, he has no medical problems and is the sweetest natured cat. He cuddles up to me in bed every night and has that glorious way of knowing when a member of the family is feeling down and will sit with them.

Tears are rolling down my face as I write this but we have reached the end of the line.

We live in SW London. Can anyone recommend a rehoming centre who would be prepared to take him? I can?t imagine there is much demand for a cat with these behavioural issues but the only other solution is too horrid to even contemplate.

Thank you for reading and if you can offer any advice I would be most grateful.

[scaredwhatsnext]

sorry i don't have any advice really other than having him checked out at your vets to see if theres some sort of reason why he is doing this .
Bumping this for you .

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Thank you for replying.

He has seen the vet many, many times and there is physically nothing wrong with him.

[Selks]

Have you seen a behaviourist? They might be able to offer some real solutions that might avoid him having to be rehomed.
The problem with rehoming him is I wonder whether anyone would take him on with these problems, so if you do rehome him make sure he goes to a rescue centre that has a policy of not putting them to sleep if they can't be rehomed. Sorry to say these upsetting things, but I felt that there is a need to be honest about it.

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Hi Selks

Yes we have. Believe me, after 4 years of this I have explored every avenue to try to keep him and sort this problem out.

It is only because I know there is nothing more that we can do that I am asking if anyone knows of a rehoming centre that can help.

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Just bumping in the hope that someone can recommend a rehoming centre near SW London. Thanks

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

So that's a loud, resounding "no" then?

Of all the cat rescue places that have been mentioned on other threads there is not one near SW London?

[DooinMeCleanin]

'I can?t imagine there is much demand for a cat with these behavioural issues but the only other solution is too horrid to even contemplate.' You'd be surprised, actually. There are some nutters who just sigh and get on with shit scooping!

It might be something you've tried already but have you thought of looking at his diet? IBS cat copes best with JWB White Fish of the evil Sceince Plan. Anything else and I wiping liquid shit from here, there and everywhere

I don't know much about cat rescue so I can't help you out there, but I imagine if you phone Cats Protection League they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

[ImeldaM]

Very sad, wish I had advice, have tolerated inappropriate soiling for years with my cat, only wee though, she always poos in right place.

Did consider for a while getting her an outdoor 'pen' of the sort that cat kennels use when it was really getting to me.

Have found it has got better for us since we restricted her access to areas of house that are easily cleaned

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Thanks for replies.

Have spoken to a few rescue places and even the ones with a "no put down" policy have said they don't have space and with these issues they wouldn't take him anyway.

We did buy a huge dog cage to put him in at night with basket, litter tray, food etc but after 2 weeks of listening to him cry all night couldn't bare hearing him so unhappy.

With a very heavy heart I think I'm going to have to go down the final path :(

[DooinMeCleanin]

I'm sorry but I think you are just looking for the easy way out and for someone to tell you that you are doing the right thing.

You're not doing the right thing. You're murdering your cat for a problem that is solveable. 8 year old cats don't just un-litter train themselves after four years of being clean, for no reason. They just don't.

You need to find out what is causing this and change it, which won't be easy, granted, but it is do-able.

First off double check again for any medical issues. Ask for blood tests etc. See a different vet if you have to.

Have you tried the various Feliways? All of them? Just because one doesn't work, doesn't mean another might not, sprays, diffusers, collars etc.

Get an enclosed litter tray so that the cat feels safe using it's litter. Maybe something has spooked him and he's now scared to go in the open.

Have you tried different kinds of litter? Mine won't use the paper-y stuff.

Make sure the litter tray is scrupulously clean at all times.

Contact a different cat behaviouralist. Some are better than others. Ask your vet for reccomendations or phone CPL and ask if they know of any.

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Do you honestly think this is the "easy" way out for me? I don't recall asking anybody to agree with me. I was asking for inside knowledge of local cat rescue as the ones I have spoken to are not able to help (including the CPL). There are countless threads on here with people berating other cat owners and telling them of this place or the other that will help. That is why I posted. To ask for help.

Lucky you that you have never had to deal with this particular situation. Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) you have listed I have done. We have spent literally thousands of pounds with the vet (we changed vets 2 years ago), behaviourists and different treatments to try at home.

Nothing has worked.

There is nothing physically wrong with him.

I did not come on here expecting compassion or understanding - this is an internet forum - I came for advice and as you are unable to provide any please do not attempt to start a fight by slinging accusations and insults at someone you know nothing about who is going through a particularly difficult time.

[DooinMeCleanin]

'Lucky you that you have never had to deal with this particular situation.' did you miss the part where I said my cat shits all over my house on a regular occassion? Always has and always will, due to IBS. Have you tried stopping an outdoor cat eating things it shouldn't?

I'm sorry if I was harsh but I can't even begin to understand how people can consider putting a healthy pet to sleep for the sake of nice things, my cat means a lot more to me than my sofa does. Get a leather sofa, it's wipe clean. Limit your cat to just a few rooms and make them as wipe clean as is possible. I can't stop my cat shitting. I have accepted that all I can do is manage the problem as best as possible.

Try rescues further away from you. Please don't have him pts.

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

No I didn't miss that part. Picking up faeces is no problem at all. I do it every morning (usually about 6 feet from the clean litter tray). Cat urine on the other hand is a completely different ballgame.

And I read the part where you said that

8 year old cats don't just un-litter train themselves after four years of being clean, for no reason. They just don't.

Well, this one DID and therefore this IS a situation you have not had to deal with.

Leather sofas - been through 3 in 3 years. Unfortunately cat urine does soak through leather, gets through the stitching and soaks into the foam.

Funny you should accuse me of loving my sofa more than my cat. We haven't had a sofa/arm chair/any soft furnishings in our house for over 6 months now.

My family cannot invite their friends to the house as it stinks.

I appreciate that you are an animal lover (as am I, if I wasn't I wouldn't have put up with this for over 4 years) but I am hiding this thread now as the last thing I need whilst dealing with this is unfair sweeping statements about being a "murderer".

[spinaltap]

I totally sympathise OP. I don't have any advice I'm afraid, but I know how you feel.

We have two cats who regularly spray all over the house. It's stress related because a neighbour's cat terrorises them. We have tried everything to stop them doing this, including seeing a behaviourist, but nothing works. We've been putting up with it for over a year now, but it's particularly difficult now we have a toddler getting his little hands into everything! I have to be constantly vigilant!

It has got to the point where we are seriously considering re-homing them but it's such a hard decision. The cats are stressed and unhappy, we are stressed and unhappy, but we still love them!

[WeNeedToTalkAboutSauvignon]

Thank you Spinal Tap.

I appreciate your empathy.

In the last few weeks I have heard many stories of cat owners who have gone through a similar experience.

If there is one thing I have learnt through the last couple of years on MN it is to not judge others.

"until you have walked a mile in their shoes....." blah blah blah

Don't really know why I looked back at this thread but I am glad I did. To those of you who still get to enjoy your pets, I implore you not to take them for granted. For those of us who don't...the pain is unimaginable. I wish you strength. Take care x