Rehoming a cat

[Leafy2018]

Hi,

We have adopted two cats from a shelter 18 months ago. They are both lovely but about six months ago one of them started 'middening' (leaving blobs of poo all over the place). We have had two different vets look at her but as there is nothing physical wrong with her, they cannot offer anything other than a change of food, which has unfortunately made no difference other than the poo now being softer and tricker to pick up. She has had a physical examination, scan, x-ray etc and nothing has been picked up. The poos just drop out of her bottom which is often 'open' (unpleasant but not sure how else to phrase it) and have been doing all over the house until recently as we have had to resort to keeping them in the kitchen or utility room, with access to outdoors. She is a very happy cat, super affectionate and not bothered by children. Very happy to be stroked by them.

We have a three children 14, 11 and 2 and our last due any day now. We have made the decision to rehome our cat as it's just not getting any better and we simply cannot live like this with monitoring doors constantly in case she escapes into the house. We even find poo on the patio/garden chair cushions. I can't risk our toddler putting her hands in it and into her mouth and the thought of a crawling baby horrifies me. Our other cat (brother) does not do this and yet leads a fairly limited life as we have to also keep him in the kitchen. We would love to be able to have him in the sitting room for cuddles but it's just too difficult with doors etc I also won't be able to be monitoring doors 24/7 when I'm on the sofa breastfeeding.

So I know it's the right decision (I have taken weeks to come to it) but does anyone have experience of rehoming a cat and the best way to do it. I know CPL won't put a healthy cat to sleep but I'm worried no one will want her. I love her dearly and really want her to be in a happy home. And obviously I would never advertise her.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

@Leftbutcameback

I'd never heard of that before, but sounds pretty awful to live with. If it's behavioural, and it started 6 months ago, did anything change then?

Nothing changed at all, no. It's a mystery to me why it started. I'm gutted as in every other way she is just the most perfect cat.

BridgetInHerBravery

Your adoption contract will almost certainly say that if you can no longer keep the cat that you should contact them to surrender for re-homing. This should be your first port of call.“

This.
So sorry, must have been a heartbreaking decision. In your circumstances though, with the little ones, I completely understand why you had to take it.
Fwiw, I would have no hesitation in adopting her, she sounds like a dear little thing. My kids are grown now, I’m at home all day so the health/hygiene aspect really wouldn’t be a big deal to me, I’d just keep a close eye. Cat wee is a massive problem, poo not really.

Best of luck.

@MrsSkylerWhite

Thank you for your lovely reply. I would love someone like to you adopt her. She is the nicest cat we have ever had which makes the decision even harder and more gut wrenching.

It's very hard to imagine her not being here with us but I feel as though we are not doing well by either of them at the moment as our other cat has to live by the same rules.

Thank you for your kind words.

If you got her from a rescue then they should be your first port of call.

It's written in my contract with my 2.

@StrawberryFizz26

If you got her from a rescue then they should be your first port of call.

It's written in my contract with my 2.

Thank you @StrawberryFizz26; I'm just not sure it was the best environment but I'll have a think about it. X

leafy2018

It's such a hard decision to rehome a pet. I really feel for you.

It's probably better to contact them first, as if anything goes wrong with any other rehoming, you would feel terrible.

Maybe the rescue you adopted her from could trial her in a foster home as an only cat? Then you'd know if it is related to being in a multicat household.
I do feel for you - it's a very difficult position to be in.
My Dcat has a tendency to urinate on things if a bit stressed - it's not too often, & we can mitigate it by using a pheromone diffuser, keeping her out of the living room when we aren't there, not having doormats inside & never putting bags on the floor. I think it would be far harder with middening though.

@AwkwardPaws27

Maybe the rescue you adopted her from could trial her in a foster home as an only cat? Then you'd know if it is related to being in a multicat household. I do feel for you - it's a very difficult position to be in. My Dcat has a tendency to urinate on things if a bit stressed - it's not too often, & we can mitigate it by using a pheromone diffuser, keeping her out of the living room when we aren't there, not having doormats inside & never putting bags on the floor. I think it would be far harder with middening though.

That's a very good idea. Thank you.

If her bottom is often "open", maybe there is a physiological problem such as weakness or low tone of the sphincter. Is she overweight? If so, slimming her down may reduce the internal pressure on the sphincter.
Also, I know you've already tried a change of diet, but I wonder if it would help to make her poos harder/drier so they didn't drop out so easily. So if she's currently on wet food, try her on just dry food, and vice versa.
I do feel for you, it's sad to get rid of a beloved pet but I'm not sure that I could live with this issue in your position either.

Thanks for your reply @WaltzingToWalsingham

We changed her onto a dry food which helps clear the colon completely - on the advice of the vet. She's always been on a very high quality dry food and this is also dry but has made no difference, other than the poos are now softer.

She has been examined thoroughly in terms of looking at muscle tone but they couldn't find a problem there. I was hoping they would find a problem which we could address but nothing.

Thank you though. I feel as though we have at least spent the time getting her checked out as much as we can but like you said, I just don't think we can live like this indefinitely. I do believe she may not have this problem if she were an only cat and maybe that's her best chance at a happy ending.

Appreciate the responses.

@WaltzingToWalsingham I meant to say, she isn't overweight at all. She's a dinky little cat.

With regards to the veterinarian, it is necessary to find more specialists. It may be worth looking at the specialized forums of veterinarians. A similar problem should be resolved anyway.