Please help, my house smells awful..

[Marilynsbigsister]

Hello ladies, this is my first posting in the 'litter tray' although I have been a mnetter for a few years now.
I wonder if anyone has any words of wisdom to help with my 'young man' and his appalling toilet habits.

He and his sister are 15 months old. Both used a litter tray for longer than I would have liked but it was mid winter when they were ready old enough to go out, so kept them in an additional couple of months. Anyway, out they went in March and adapted to doing their business outside very quickly. Roll on 6 months and the male kitty got bitten (nipped) by a snake. By the time I found him it was way to late for anti-venom. Instead just had to play the waiting game and hope he hadn't been to badly bitten. Anyway, he decided to heal himself by finding the place most inaccessible to humans and not move. Literally sit there all day all night. I had to get various children and self to 'post' ourselves into increasingly weird spaces to push water down his throat with a syringe. After ten days he started to move slightly but refused to go downstairs. He weed where he sat.. I was so relieved he was alive I let it go. Re offered a tray instead.. He slowly got back to normal and has been back to full power going in and out for a month now, and is obviously returned to pooing outside (as I haven't seen or smelt that yet !) but he has taken to weeping on the landing.. I've spent £££££ on cleaning products as well as the traditional one like bicarbonate and vinegar/lemon... Any ideas how I can make him stop ? How to get rid of the smell..?

Goodness, are you in the UK? Isn't it rather uncommon for British cats to get bitten by venomous snakes? Did you take the cat to a vet and get the advice to wait it out, or could you not get any access to him at all?

In all honesty, even outdoor cats need access to an indoor litter tray, just in case. Our cat seldom uses his because he hates going indoors, but all the same occasionally he needs it and I wouldn't risk taking it away. Is there nowhere unobtrusive you can keep one? In fact, the general advice is one per cat plus one extra, so strictly speaking you'd need three in the house - which is a long way from the none you have right now. Cats are at their most vulnerable outdoors when peeing - perhaps he really wants to pee indoors for the moment.

Have you ever seen 'My Cat from Hell' with Jackson Galaxy? Most episodes are available on YouTube and not using the litter tray is one of the most common problems. Jackson might say the cat is territorially insecure (through the bite) and is possibly 'marking' his territory indoors to let the snake know it should keep away. At least I think that's what Jackson would say. A JG solution would be to place a litter tray (temporarily) exactly where the cat is currently peeing and at least get the cat peeing in the tray rather than on the floor. Obviously you do need to clean away all traces of the smell first - many regulars here swear by biological washing powder (or is it non-bio, oh heck, someone help me). I've had good results myself (we only ever had a problem once on the outside of our door, so was possibly a strange cat) with bicarb and scrubbing, but you've tried that already. I think JG would then start moving the tray further towards the place you actually want it and hope the cat 'follows'. If he returns to peeing on the landing, you take the tray back and start again.

Do you have a microchip activated cat flap? Meaning there's no way strange cats could be getting into the house at night? Because that would cause insecurity as well. He needs to be absolutely sure that he is safe in his own home. That's the point at which he'll stop peeing.

But there are a lot of people around here who know a lot more about cats than I do, so I'm happy to be corrected if wrong.

It is biological washing powder, make a strong solution and leave it to soak as long a possible before rinsing. There are also sprays you can get at the pet shop which are very effective. I do think that when you have an inappropriate pee problem the best thing to do is have multiple litter trays, you can get rid of them once he settles down. He's had a traumatic experience, it might take a while to get back to normal.

Do you still have a tray inside?

Is he marking his territory such as up the stair posts or in the middle of the landing.
If he has weed on a carpet you will never get the smell out and he will keep weeing there. Try putting a litter tray there and see if he will use it then gradually move it.

Cat lovers, thank you so much for your replies. Yes I am in the UK Arch, the vet thought it was an Adder that had nicked him. I think he was right. We live in very rural area where there are a Adders. He really was a very poorly boy.
I have asked the question really because until these two kitties I had very little experience with litter trays beyond the first vaccinations.. I've had cats continuously since I was 3 yrs old, my first lovely girl died at ripe old age of 26 ! Followed by a brother and sister for 18 and 20 yrs respectively..throughout 40+yrs of being owned by a cat/s I have never had a litter tray or a cat flap. They have all just gone out whilst we are at work and come in and out as is their fancy when we are home... but ...THIS boy is tricky ! (And very lovely and cuddly)
So I thank you for your advice, I am going to investigate microchip cat flaps, give the carpet yet another scrub, this time with washing powder and put a litter tray down until he gets the hang of the cat flap.

I would really remove the carpet as we have had
washable rugs that have been peed on and even with washing them in the washing machine had had little effect

Ah, so he's effectively locked out right now while you're at work. That might have worked well at the start, and with healthy cats, but now he's traumatised he might be getting further stressed by not being able to access his 'safe place' in the daytime. I think that's all the more need for installing a microchip flap. Hope the flap, extra scrubbing and litter tray in the 'chosen spot' do the trick.

It might help you too to watch a few episodes of My Cat from Hell and get a feel for the strategies he adopts - although he has this American thing about cats not being allowed outside at all, which in my opinion causes most of the behavioural problems he's dealing with in the first place.