We had two lovely ginger toms (brothers) for about a year, and then one disappeared in early October. DD was heartbroken, as, of the two, this one was 'hers'. So it seemed that karma had intervened when the universe dropped a small stray black cat in our back garden at the end of October. She was genuinely a stray, no collar, emaciated, totally matted fur, missing teeth. Took her to vet, no chip, weighed 1.6 kilos. Vet estimated that she is about 8, but without many teeth it is hard to tell.
We hoped she would settle in, but with two kids, a tomcat and a dog we realise that our home is not every cat's cup of tea. To a large extent she seems happy enough, doesn't move much, eats well, comes back in a few minutes after any short visit outside, and is happy to be be stroked and fussed.
The problem is that she shits everywhere. The pets are largely confined to the back of the house - a family den and kitchen where there are 2 litter trays. She uses the trays, but not exclusively. Several times a day she shits on the floor, settee or desk. She pees in the trays. She is also prone to treading in the shit and then walking little shitty paw prints about the place.
I wondered if the dog was bothering her at night, so put a bed and litter tray in a large cage which we put her in at night. Some nights she uses the tray, and this seems successful. However equally often she shits in her bed, and then has to be cleaned up before she can be let out of the cage.
We have a feliway plugin. We have tried sending the dog to ILs for a few nights. None of this makes a difference. She is unreliable at night and still shitting all over the place in the day. DH and I are concluding that this cat has not settled in, and looks unlikely to do so. Our dilemma is that (assuming the CPL have space, they didn't when we first found her) she is not going to be an easy cat to re- home, and she will be very unhappy while she is in a shelter waiting. Also, is there a set time after which the CPL will decide that she needs to be pts anyway?
If that is the case wouldn't it be kinder to take her straight to the vets and have this done so she avoids a miserable end? DD will be devastated to lose a second cat, but she's not the one cleaning up all this shit!
Any views or advice? We would like to do the right thing. 