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Original poster

Could you live with an incontinent cat?

24 replies

serinsingingcarols · 03/12/2007 14:54

Just got in from work and wretched at smell.

Cat poo all over the hall, we have wooden floors thank God, but its really getting to me.

Over the past month he has done his buisness in every downstairs room in the house and frequently on the outside front door mat too,
(so that the kids or I step in it on the way out to school).

He is 14 years old, vet said he can't find anything physically wrong and cat is wormed regularly.

He has always been very clean in the past but this has been getting worse since about August.

DH and DKs love cat to bits but they are not the ones cleaning up after him.

Am seriously thinking about making it live outside in shed, would this be cruel?

Or even telling DH and DKs that cat has gone missing if you get my drift.

Am I really evil to be thinking like this?
He is a member of the family and I wouldn't have any of them put down for crapping on the floor..............well maybe DH.

Please advise.

OP posts:
malfoy · 03/12/2007 14:56

please don't exile him to the shed. I cannot offer any advice though.

Brangelina · 03/12/2007 14:57

Poor cat. I don't have this but mine vomits up hairballs everywhere so I do understand to some extent.

Easy solution is to get your DH and DCs to help clean it up, start a rota perhaps? Threaten to put it in their beds if they don't comply?

Original poster
serinsingingcarols · 03/12/2007 15:03

Have thought of that Brangelina but DH doesn't get back til late and I couldn't put up with the smell until then.

Its always me that finds it as i'm home first.

Kids are only young 5,6 and 10 so would be worried they wouldn't be thorough or would get ill from it.

Its really sloppy too, think I might move out and let the bloody cat have the run of the place.

OP posts:
SquonkaClaus · 03/12/2007 15:05

Have you had another animal in the house? Is your cat feeling put out? Have you changed his food recently? If the answer to all these is no, then I don't think there is anything you can do about it.

We lived with two cats - one liked to poo in the corner of the living room and the other was very old and doubly incontinent. Twas ok till I was pg, then we had to do something drastic. You can get some really good disinfectant and de-smelling products so as long as you clean it all up as soon as possible, you can probably live with it if you love the cat that much.

rosmerta · 03/12/2007 15:06

Does he have a litter tray? Our cat used to do this as well and it got better when we gave him a litter tray.

jesuswhatnext · 03/12/2007 16:23

i had the same trouble and found that changing the cat from tin food to dry biscuits seemed to help

btw - we have 2 cats you live in our summer house, they have a cat flap, a cosy bed and seem v.happy

failing that, make sure he can only get into the room with the cat flap.

hunkermunker · 03/12/2007 16:24

Why has your incontinent cat got free reign of the house when you are out?

JingleyJen · 03/12/2007 16:27

Our cat has access to the outside and kitchen only when we are out. If I were in your situation I would be tempted to do the same thing.. The other thing I though (depending on DK's age) is to have a litter tray upstairs and downstairs so if the cat gets caught short she can go in the litter tray without leaving a mess.
HTH

LuckySalem · 03/12/2007 16:32

I'd say make sure you lock the cat into 1 room when you're out.

Is the cat doing it while you're in the house as well or just when you're out? It could be a behavioural thing (doesn't like to be left alone)

Make sure you have a litter tray even if the cat can go outside it may be that it's just too old to get out in time. Put a litter tray in every room and whereever the cat is pooing, start to feed them there (after disenfecting the place)

If the vet says there is no problem then there must not be. At 14 apparently it's not that old!

Elizabetth · 03/12/2007 16:32

Maybe there is another cat in the neighbourhood frightening him so he's too scared to poo outside. Litter trays around the place would show if he's incontinent or not.

FromGirders · 03/12/2007 16:43

Absolutely not! I'm afraid if it was my house he'd be living in the shed pronto. I'd get him a nice cosy bed though.
But I'm not really a cat person. Would you be asking this if it was a dog poo-ing all over your house? I'm amazed at how tolerant most of you are!

EmilyDavidson · 03/12/2007 16:46

Personally I think it would be unforgivable to make the poor old thing live in the shed. It would be kinder to have her put to sleep. Fourteen is a pretty old cat.

Poor you though ,its a heartbreaking thing when they get old and poorly like that. I nursed my last cat while he was very senile ,I refused to have him put down no matter what , but afterwards I did wonder if I'd done the wrong thing ,and if keeping him going was crueller in the long run

Peachy · 03/12/2007 16:48

Agree with Elizabeth about the litter trays.

If he si truly incontinnent after the tray tests, then it may be time to consider putting him to sleep as a messy cat is not a happy one usually. That would be kinder than the shed in thsi case I think, certainly for a cat that old.

I take it you've tried special diets etc?

Frostythesnownorris · 03/12/2007 16:48

I'm afraid to say I wouldn't tolerate it either. I have a cat of a similar age and she's always preferred to live outside anyway. At our current house she has a cat flap from the conservatory to outside and she comes into the house during the evening whilst we are here. I know the vet says he can't find anything wrong but it doesn't mean there isn't IYSWIM.

lucykate · 03/12/2007 17:19

one of our cats used to do this, she would just squat wherever she was and wee, even right next to the litter tray. she was kept in the kitchen when we were out, but in the end it turned out she was very ill with a congenital kidney problem and she died during an exploratory operation at the vets. as soon as this happened, we changed the living room carpet as it smelt.

have you tried one of those sprays you can get that is supposed to put cats off areas of your house?, you can get them at places like pet world. worth a try.

OrmIrian · 03/12/2007 17:22

I do live with an incontinent cat! It's vile. But she is very old and we did away with her cat flap when we put in a new patio door so it's entirely our fault. She's never quite taken to a litter tray.

Having said all that I'm having all the carpets cleaned next week and she'll be wearing a cork up her ar*e from then on

Original poster
serinsingingcarols · 03/12/2007 22:53

Thanks for all your advice,

We have always had a cat flap so we have never used a litter tray, never had to, but will certainly get one tomorrow.

Hunker Munker, he has free reign because our house is open plan downstairs, the back door where his flap is opens right into the kitchen!!I know i'm pathetic but don't want to just lock him out in the cold, in December!

JWN,and Lucy Kate, good point about diet, he usually has dried food with the odd bit of tuna or leftover meat. We have been told that the dried food diet can damage their kidneys so maybe thats it.

EmilyDavidson I had no idea cats could go senile, what are the other symptoms??

OP posts:
Peachy · 04/12/2007 10:49

Hmm, it was switching to a diet of dried food that kille dour cat- just a warning!

The diet modification that will omost likely help is to put the cat on an allergy free diet for one week and see aht heappens, if that helps then you can gradually introduce other foods, waiitng in between to see what happens. Tuna nd leftover meat are NOT suitable for this diet! White fish and chicken are the best way to go, (white fish doesnt have to be expensive- cuts of coley etc are avialable in Icelands for a cheap price a bag), boil or microwave your choice and provide with plenty of water for a week. It might well help.

EmilyDavidson · 04/12/2007 11:05

serin I think all mammals can get dementia (I'm not saying thats whats wrong with your cat , just that its possible). Its the same symptoms as a human ie getting confused, loss of appetite,not caring about appearance(grooming!),incontinence etc.
My poor old cat was falling off window sills because he had forgotten he was up there ,and going to sleep in daft places like the middle of the drive ,crying for no reason ; things he hadn't done before.
My friends dog became baffled by doorways (and doubly incontinent).

I feel really sorry for you ,there isn't really a 'right' answer is there. Good luck whatever you decide.

EmsMum · 04/12/2007 11:06

Is there no way to make a barrier between the kitchen area and the rest of the house? I realise this would be harder with a cat than a dog if its a climber but that would be my first thought. Or positioning a large dog crate with its door around the cat flap so cat could choose the great outdoors or warm but strictly confined?

Our cats always slept in a cosy box in the shed at night. Cats have fur. Cats are also typically capable of inviegling themselves into someone else's warm house if shut out of their own.

Original poster
serinsingingcarols · 04/12/2007 17:52

Love to see the neighbours faces if he goes and does his stuff in their houses!

The house was clean when I got home today.

Have bought a litter tray and positioned next to the back door.

Those symptoms you listed have really interested me Emsmum, he is a white cat and has become really grubby looking of late, also quite aggressive with the children (hissing whenever anyone walks past him).

I had to park the car in the street a while ago because he was sitting on the drive (in the rain) and wouldn't move. Had to carry him and plonk him in flower border then go and move car!!I told the vet that he was acting a bit strange but he just said that cats do get a bit cantankerous as they get older.

I like the idea of a big dog carrier by the cat flap too, will try and improvise with a big cardboard box for now

OP posts:
Joash · 04/12/2007 18:04

All I have to offer is that our cat is roughly the same age as yours and he's done this twice in the past couple of years - gone through a phase where he 'goes' wherever he wants (including ours and GS's bed). He seems to do it for a month or so and then stops. It always seemed to be either very early in a morning or just before lunchtime. So it might just be something he's 'going through'.
Now he has to go out evry night (he has a warm, dry shelter. We let him in at about 6.30 a.m. when DH gets up for work and then I put him out about 11.00 and he's back in from 1 ish until late at night - seems to have 'cured' him.

halia · 18/12/2007 20:53

We had an incontinant cat and in the end we had to rehouse her. I had a baby and it was just getting completly on top of me, the cat was very shy as well and never came near us when baby was awake so it was getting to the point that I never saw her - just the piles of wee or poo.

I couldn't risk baby getting into the mess and the last straw was when she climbed into the {empty} moses basket and weed in it, only to be discovered as I was putting bay down quickly to keep him safe while I answered the door.

josieb75 · 28/04/2010 17:36

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