Reaching the end of my tether with cat pee.

[DowntonTrout]

This morning I found the cat had peed in a suitcase with clothes in, again. Hadnt finished unpacking from the weekend. Not only that but DDs freshly washed blanket was dripping wet too.

Last week I was clearing out the bottom of the wardrobe and it's apparent he has been using that as a toilet too. This has been going on for some time now. Nothing is safe. Anything you leave on the floor, any cupboard he can get into, bags, shoes, even the sofa isn't safe.

He is 14. He has always used the cat flap. I recently relented and reinstated a litter tray, which he is using, but he continues to pee elsewhere.

I don't know what to do anymore. He has no health issues, our other cat is 12 and our dogs are 9. Nothing has changed. He has always been sensitive, he came from a feral litter and is very highly strung. Plug ins have not helped. We try and keep doors shut so he can only be in the hall and living room but if he sneaks in and gets shut in, well you can guess what happens. Last time we had guests he peed in their suitcase too.

I have written about him before. I have followed advice. What now? DH is of the mind to have him put to sleep because he is literally ruining the house. What can I do?

[CleanAllOfTheThings]

Thanks Cozie, I think I will later once dd is in bed!

She's 13, no health issues that I know of, she eats well, is mobile but quite thin. Vet checked her a few months back and gave her the all clear, I plan to take her back though. I think it's behavioural, she's always been very very timid, only happy for me to stroke her etc and even then can be quite jumpy. I have two other cats (younger) and they do pick on her sometimes . I think the arrival of dd has upset her further.
We've had her for the last 4 years and this has been an issue ongoing for the last two years on and off.
She has two litter trays which are kept clean and the other two cats go outside (she has always been an indoor cat but will sunbathe in the summer if I'm in the garden)..sorry, dd calls !

[cozietoesie]

Hi Clean

Maybe best to start your own thread and then it would have more prominence and attract more responses.

How old is she and what sort of health is she in ? Has she been to the vet recently?

[CleanAllOfTheThings]

Hi there, I hope you don't mind me bumping this up, but I wondered what the outcome was and if anything has improved? We are going through similar with my lovely old girl and not sure what to do for the best.

[cozietoesie]

A small thought. Seniorboy started to have some poo accidents and in his case, it was pretty well all down to arthritis - he found holding the high squat in his box a bit difficult and painful and took to doing the occasional one just where he was caught really short. I'm wondering - as yours is an elder boy - whether he just might have the same. (And be peeing in odd places because he associates his box with difficulty.)

It can be real difficult to spot although I had the advantage of being able to tell the vet that his jumping wasn't so good. And of course, once directed to a possibility, she could see some physical signs in his back legs.

He's now on meds (stool easer and NSAIDs) and is more or less fine. Pees always go in the tray and (barring the odd accident) poos are there as well.

[DowntonTrout]

Yes chemenger the vet visit will be extremely traumatic! Taking him in for his jabs can take weeks to pin him down. He sees the box and he's off.

I've PM'ed you by the way.

[DowntonTrout]

I do, lordpalmerston but I'm struggling with it.

We can't change our lifestyle to fit the cat.he is unhappy.

I'm emotional about it because I lost my mum a few weeks ago. It was a dreadful time and a prolonged, lingering death. I stated many times that you wouldn't let an animal suffer like mum had to. I begged the medics to help her along with a dose of morphine. If I had got my hands on some I would have administered it myself. And now I'm in a position to be able to make the choice to have the cat pts and I don't know if I can. There is suffering and then there's suffering.

[chemenger]

I would take him in for a once over, just to be sure it isn't a physical problem or an infection. With Nastycat she is so glad to be home after the trauma of being caught and taken to the vet that her behaviour improves for a while. The process of getting to the vet is violent and stressful for both of us, and her behaviour while there is disgraceful but these things have to be endured.

[LordPalmerston]

you know what the answer is..

[DowntonTrout]

I spoke to the vets receptionist. She offered me some crystals to put in with the cat litter to take a sample. However, this is hit and miss as I couldn't guarantee it wasn't the other cat. They want me to take him in.

I am unsure about it, mainly because he wees and poos. So unlikely it's his kidneys. The poo are normal and solid, not upset tummy type. He also has deliberately seeked out places to do it rather than doing it in the most accessible place. I really believe it's some sort of protest. He has never done it in the main living room that he has access to all the time, that also points to him choosing where he goes doesn't it. It is probably the only room in the house that he hasn't soiled.

He does bring up his food sometimes. Almost immediately after eating so the cat food is undigested.

[chemenger]

It might be senility, but it might not, that's the difficult thing. 14 doesn't seem so old to me. Nastycat is 17 (and according to the vet in such good shape he expects her to live for ever - just to torture us), she was spraying everywhere, we suspected senility, then she stopped. My previous cat, who was 18, started pooing all over the house, turned out she couldn't tolerate cat food with jelly, it went straight through her uncontrollably. Its so hard to make the decision about putting to sleep or not when there is doubt about whether the problem could be solved. I do wonder about Nastycat now, she is howling a lot, which is a sign of senility, but there again in her case it might just be spite.

[LastingLight]

DownTrout my vet said that when they start weeing and pooing in inappropriate cases it can also be senility setting in. (((HUGS))) It's a hard decision, and I'm going to have to make it for my old boy too sooner rather than later.

[lessonsintightropes]

I've had this problem on and off with my 10 year old puss. When she was tiny, it was as a result of her not getting along with her sister - who I rehomed, it calmed down. It started up again when we had housemates and a nasty atmos in the house, calmed down when we went back to living just she and I. A couple of years passed, we moved house, she started again due to other cats in the back garden bullying her and staring through the window. Another move, she's then fine for four years. She's recently peed on our bed twice, this time tonight.

Zylkene and Feliway never worked with her, a calm house, routine and no other cats around did. I've no idea why she did it again tonight (clean litter box with easy access and no changes to a routine) unless it's because DH has been away for a few days and it's unsettled her?

I totally feel your pain and have come close to having had her put to sleep over the years when it has been terrible and have thrown away three sofas in that time.

I'm hoping this latest lapse is a one off... you have my sympathy

[Fuzzymum1]

Zylkene did nothing for our very sensitive cat but rescue remedy has made a big difference - a few drops twice a day on her food has really calmed her down - we have gone from pee on the worktop every morning and sometimes in the day too, to one pee in the last three weeks.

[chemenger]

I have some Zylkene left, if you want to try it I'm happy to stick it in the post. PM me. I really feel for you, I am the only one in our household with any time for nastycat and I was really sad to think that I might end up putting her to sleep because I couldn't give her the environment she needed.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Try the litter & the zylkene. If it doesn't work then you won't feel so guilty if you pts.

He might well be better off with a retired couple but no one wants a cat who messes everywhere.

[wellmoisturised]

I had this situation, when I first moved in with my DH he had a cat, a very lively torti, and I had my 3, now sadly 2 as I had to have my lovely tabby boy pts last November, anyway when I moved in torti was so obviously stressed and started to pee everywhere, she would often have bouts of cystitis to, was forever at the vets so often the cat pee would be blood stained, just awful, I can remember not long after I had our first baby coming downstairs in the morning and having to clear up lakes of pee before I could get on, I just couldn't leave it.
We persisted with this for 3 years, we loved her so much and really didn't want to have her re-homed via a shelter, purely because we wanted to know where she would be going eventually, but as luck would have it DH brother said he would have her, where she is happily residing, and lo and behold she doesn't pee anywhere or get cystitis, she just couldn't tolerate not being an 'only' cat.
I never thought I would ever give a cat away but the pee everywhere was just intolerable, and we tried everything! So I know how you are feeling op.

[DowntonTrout]

I've just been into the second living room, which we rarely use.

There are two lots of poo on the sofa and the cushions are wet. I just can't do this anymore.

He is desperately unhappy or ill isn't he? I feel sure a failure.

[cozietoesie]

Good luck.

[DowntonTrout]

Ok. Last ditch. I will try another tray, different litter and the zylkene.

I can see that our lifestyle probably doesn't suit him anymore. I am home most of the time, including during the day. Last year though, I had to live away for 7 months, which is about when this started. DH travels abroad for work a lot and with DD being away, but home at weekends there are always suitcases coming and going, which seem to be his primary target.

Plus he got his tail stuck in the cat flap a few months ago. He's scared of that too now.

We can't change our live style unfortunately. I feel very sad but I think it's all too much for him.

[cozietoesie]

I know what you mean, Fluffy. I have to tell Seniorboy that I've cleaned his tray (with the special phrase) before he'll relax after doing is duty.

[cozietoesie]

or some different litter as Fluffy suggested.

[cozietoesie]

All the cats I've had have loved routine - disruption doesn't sit well with them especially as they age (in my experience.) And you have visitors/strangers in the house?

(I actually calmed Seniorboy down after his little suspected stroke by rigid adherence not only to existing routine but by gently re-introducing some things he'd known as a kit eg telly. It worked very well.)

I don't know, Downton. You say you've used Feliway - maybe try the Zylkene and an extra tray as a last ditch attempt? Other than that, and assuming that no-one else in your circle of family or friends is prepared to take him on.......I'm sorry.

Maybe another poster will have some good ideas.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Try the zylkene, it really is worth a try. It calms ASBO cat down.

Try a different litter, mine will use wood pellets or ultra clumping but wees on walls/beds/tables/bannister spindles if we try normal clumping litters. Also his tray has to be extra clean & he likes to see me put a fresh layer of litter on top when it's getting close to litter tray change time.

[DowntonTrout]

Just to say, he loves his niece. They snuggle together and wash each other.

Troublesome cat is on the left.