AIBU to expect 4 cats to stay in utility room/study?

[notaurewhatusername]

We have 4 cats that are causing major issues. They're constantly pooing and weeing all over the house, including in the bath. I'm 14 weeks pregnant and worried about having a baby crawling around cat mess.

The utility room and study combined are the size of 2 bedrooms and have a cat flap, so they'd still have plenty of space and outdoor access. They've had their jabs to go outside.

DH lets them roam freely 24/7, even when we're not home. I want them confined to that room, maybe let out for a couple hours in the evening under supervision.

DH loves them but they're completely uncontrollable. The mess is disgusting and I'm at my wit's end. AIBU to insist on this compromise? I'm not a cat person but I think it's reasonable. DH won't budge and it's really getting me down.

How would you handle this? Am I being unfair to the cats?

I agree with the PPs who say you have too many cats.
It’s not just the dirty litter trays that are the problem here. The cats are clearly marking their territory, because the poos keep moving. I don’t think the litter trays will fix this, at the very least you need to be letting all 4 cats outside as often as they want to. They will then have the chance to mark their territory there, rather than in the house. Be prepared to rehome some of them if the issue persists.

I have 4 cats (well 5, but one is fully outside) and the only one who ever has accidents is my old 16 year old. And even then it's because he perches on the edge and sometimes wees out.

I don't fully change our litter trays every day but they never have any poo left in them. They get completely cleaned out 3 times a week. Depending on use.

Do you have carpets? As I think that's a major no if they've peed. Youll never be able to rid the smell. We have hard floors in every room, kids included.

Mine all go out apart from one who chooses to spend all her time in our utility room apart from an evening cuddle.

Two of th poo outstide so we don't need five litter trays

The cats should go outside. `Not in litter tray. Outside in the garden. And not all over the house and the floor. It sounds like they are not trained to the trays or when they are all over the house they can't always get to the trays.

It just isn't normal for 4 cats to be doing that all over a house. Open the back door wide and let them out.

The litter trays are actually potentially harmful for you. Cats carry a virus which can damage unborn babies.

Litter should be scooped out any time anything is in it but how many trays do you have for 4 cats? And should be fully changed when there is too much in terms of wet patches etc. With 4 cats I'd fully change daily. But if they go to the loo outside it would be so much better.

Toxoplasmosis is a parasite carried by cats that can be harmful to pregnant women:

How it's spread
Cats can carry the parasite Toxoplasma gondii in their feces, which can spread to people who touch a soiled litter box. Cats typically get the infection by eating rodents, birds, or other small animals outdoors. People can also get toxoplasmosis by eating undercooked meat.

What does he do with the poo in the garden? If he’s not cleaning litter trays, I can’t imagine he’ll be scooping it up from the garden either. 🤮

I think you need to home at least 2 if not all of the cats

not trying to alarm you but I think you should be aware of this - personally no way would i have all those litter trays around me when pregnant

OP, the cats aren't happy.
You're not happy.
Your DH is not taking care of the cats.
You are only doing the bare basics with the cats.
You don't like the cats.
No one seems to be interacting with the cats.
The cats are stressed.
You are pregnant and clearly don't want the cats.
You want to confine them to one room and the garden indefinitely.
Do the cats a favour, contact a cats charity, maybe Cats Protection, and rehome ALL the cats, as they will have no quality of life living with you and DH, particularly after the baby is born.

The issue is that you disgusting people arent changing their litter tray. Its like not flushing the toilet for 3 days but expecting people to continue to use it.
Changing the litter frequently is part of caring for these animals, you need to rehome them if you are not able to properly care for them.
Just because you are pregnant isnt really an excuse, wear marigolds and wash your hands, use a scoop, there is no need to even touch the poo.

Its absolutely not normal for cats to poo and wee anywhere in the house unless their litter trays are not useable.

Life is too short. You don’t need the stress. Re-home the cats OP

Poo needs removing as soon as they've done it really - but not by you!

Litter tray needs emptying every couple of days. Washing & disinfecting it.

Trays need to be away from their food & water bowls and away from each other in different rooms.

4 cats need more than 3 trays.

Do they not like the type of litter being used?

Your cats will be incredibly stressed - the new weeing could be signs of cystitis which can be caused by stress. Are they weeing frequently or straining/crying when they wee?

Do they have high places to sit/sleep?

Frankly, though, this is a husband problem - the cats are merely a symptom. It's totally unreasonable to have this many un-cared for cats. No, restricting them to two rooms is not reasonable at all.

It's also disgustingly irresponsible for him to have allowed one to get pregnant twice (cat sex also isn't a nice experience for the female!!)

Your husband sounds awful tbh.

Do they get any attention op? Where do they sleep etc?

Mine all love attention and fusses and play etc. They sleep in our beds come and sit with us at night. If you don't like them then they won't be getting the attention they need.

Yeah I agree, pesky cats causing stress, just get rid. Infact, do a general declutter & get rid of all your old bags gathering dust too.

Then when Nana starts pissing herself, drop her off at social services.

I agree with this.
There doesn't seem to be any quality of life for the cats, and there'll be even less if OP confines them to a very small part of the house indefinitely.
Out of sight out of mind.
OP clearly doesn't like the cats, and the cats will have picked up on this, which will be making them even more stressed than they are already.
While I appreciate that the husband is massively at fault here, and totally irresponsible to allow one of the cats to get pregnant twice, I do think OP needs to take some responsibility here.
She presumably knew there were cats when she moved in, and they seem to have been missing litter trays for quite a while.
While a cat getting pregnant once is the DH's fault, OP was living there when the cat got pregnant a second time.
There seems to be a possible animal neglect issue building up here.

This is not true. The house is their core territory (at least it should be) so they need litter trays there filled with cat litter they accept.

Toxoplasma is not a virus, it’s a protozoan. You can only get it from an infected cat but it’s quite unlikely, it’s more likely to get it while working in the garden or from eating raw or undercooked meat.

Poo should be scooped asap as it has been done (not by yourself if you are pregnant, due to toxicplasmosis risk - you cannot touch cat poo!)

I would also empty the tray every 3 days, cleaning thoroughly with disinfectant at least every 3 times (so roughly every 9 days)

There should also be one cat litter tray per cat and one extra.

So you are exaggerating.

If it's happening once a week it's because the litter trays aren't clean enough. Clean out the litter trays every 2nd day. All of the litter trays. Properly. Use a quality litter not cheap crap from the supermarket.

Put them in different locations, not right beside each other. Keep them away from food bowls and make sure they have fresh water away from food and litter.

Basic cat care.

Take whatever one peed in the bath to the vet.

I find the recycled paper the best litter. For smells, the environment, absorption. Catsan and similar are awful. Smell like wee straight after a wee!

@notaurewhatusername

'Two of th poo outstide so we don't need five litter trays'

you either take our advice or you don't

but several of us have told you that you DO need 5 litter trays.

are you guaranteeing that these 2 cats always always always poo outside ? so you are watching their bottoms 24 hours a day
they are happy to toilet outside even in a storm ? and you have a cat flap so they can access the garden 24 hours a day

This thread has been haunting me. These poor cats are being dreadfully neglected and now face the prospect of being locked away in an unreasonably confined space.

It's no life for them. Please contact a rescue and start the rehoming process. Maybe they'll get lucky and go to clean, responsible homes where they get proper care and affection.

The cats sound stressed. Pooing and weeing around the house is a common side effect of this. I know that our indoor cats got anxious when we had a baby.

Use Feliway plug ins in every room of the house to start off with. After a month or so, you may be able to get away with a couple on each floor. If this persists take them to the vet who can prescribe some anti anxiety medication. This worked a treat with ours and they no longer do this. We have a large covered litter box for each cat, so I think 4 sounds fine to me.

The cats sound very stressed and unhappy
I think they would be better rehomed

Put on some thick gloves (or get a friend to do it), scoop up the cat poo and put it on your husband's pillow. Sleep in another room yourself. He'll soon get the message.

Cats are very clean with their toileting, often they will not go in a dirty tray. When I say dirty I mean with previous toilets in it. Scooping daily should be fine, maybe he needs to scoop as soon as they have been. We use a multicat litter that stays fresher longer. Are you using a clumping litter? This would help remove wees as well as poos as non clumping just soaks the wees up and they stay there until all of the litter is changed.
It sounds like these cats are stressed. Have you tried a feliway plug?
Also for the one weeing in the bath, this sounds like a UTI, the cat needs to be taken to a vet. If fact maybe all of them could do with a check up to eliminate any medical reasons for this.