To hate the cat?

[mynamechangemyrules]

My friend moved to a country which won't allow pets imported, towards the end of her time in this country she still had no one to adopt her 15 year old cat... So, as a really busy single working mother of 3 kids under 8.... I said I'd take her

We went to visit a few times specifically to see the cat and for all of us to go through how to care for her etc. The owner said she's very low key and friendly and it appeared so. But I'm no cat expert.

Well, I thought that we just had 'settling in' problems, but now it's been 2 months and... she is sweet I suppose (disclaimer- I'm a dog person!! But like animals in general so couldn't see her left) but:
She wees on all our rugs
She vomits up stuff every morning (this seems to be almost comedy timing with her retching and throwing up as I'm trying to get 3 kids to eat breakfast!)
She miaows outside our doors from 4.30am onwards
She jumps up on to tables and knocks things over (vases, kids artwork etc)
She tries to get up to lick the taps or drink from the toilet if you leave the bathroom doors open. Can't close off the kitchen so she's always trying to drink from the tap there
She's wee'd all over the front garden so it smells like a litter tray... which leads me to...
The litter tray!!! It fucking stinks! We change/ clean it twice a day now because we live in a hot country and the smell It is one of those ones with a roof and a filter and still the whole room stinks. And it's the kitchen, which is just gross, but honestly there's only two downstairs rooms and I really don't want the lounge to smell like cat shit.

I am quite sensitive to smell, and now I walk back in to my home (which I had just sorted post horrible separation, loved those new rugs... ) and it smells like a dodgy cat person house.

We spray lavender water as recommended by google, it dissipates the smell a bit but she still wees in the places. Carpets have been laundered, at great expense, twice, still smells. I have a cleaner/ childcare person and she's helping me (but she really hates the cat) but it just feels like she's an extra job for me... Just as my kids get calmer and my life slowly settles- now I have a smelly cat to deal with!

What can I do???? Any magic tips or do I just have to sit out a few more years of living in a house which stinks and getting woken at 4.30?!!

Wow why did you even take the cat in? The poor thing sounds miserable and you sound like you’re letting it know you hate it. What are you feeding it?

Ah cats, to whom we are just human slaves.

You need to chemically clean the rugs so there's no trace of urine left, try a feliway to help the cat calm down, a vet visit for the vomiting and spot cleaning the litter tray.

Also, have you had her vet checked to make sure the weeing on rugs isnt a symptom of a UTI or kidney disease?
If she drinks lots of water her kidneys might be failing, and this can increase how much they wee, and a UTI could make it hard for her to hold it so she just goes somewhere close.

Or, she may simply have scorn for your tastes in decor.

Try one of those feliway cat plug in things?

*disclaimer: I'm not a cat person and have never owned one

I think that you should report your post and ask mnhq to move it to the litter tray, as you'll be more likely get a response there, although the thread title isn't very nice.
Initially I think that you need to take the poor girl to a vet, when cats wee where they shouldn't it's usually a medical issue if they're doing it on horizontal surfaces. (On vertical surfaces, ie up the wall, it's usually behavioural-spraying to mark territory.) Could be age related incontinence, or various other things.
The litter tray really shouldn't be that smelly if you're doing a full litter change at least once a day, some litters are better than others for containing smells though.
With the vomiting she could have stomach/digestive issues, or she could be eating too quickly, have you tried giving her smaller amounts at a time? Again, I would take to the vet. Ditto with the water, some cats prefer moving water so are attracted to taps, you could try getting her a water fountain.
She is probably stressed, moving house, losing her previous owner, 3 young children to share a home with. Feliway plug ins can help with this, the fake pheromones have a calming affect on some cats.

Oh yes! I forgot a water fountain for the cat to drink out of. Cat's don't like standing water sources and much prefer running ones hence the tap use. If you get a cat fountain it should stop.

Get a drinking fountain for the cat. Cats like running water to drink. Though nothing bad will happen if she drinks from the tap...

I've found antibac litter to be the best. Make sure you're using enough of it to trap any liquid under the dry stuff.

Sounds like she's used to sleeping with humans... You probably won't fix that but could try making her a bed in your room.

Vomit every morning isn't normal and she should probably be seen by a vet.

you need to clean everywhere with a strong smelling detergent... the reason the cat is doing this is because it is feeling distressed

Thanks for the quick and useful replies! I've already ordered her a fountain so pleased that may work.

We went to the vet early on about the weeing and there were no issues.

I didn't realise the vomiting may need a vet, her previous owner said she did that as a hairball/ grass thing as if it were normal... Will take her to the vet!

Will look into the Feliway and see if it's available here. Thank you!

She lived with 3 small children before, it is exactly the same home set up and she didn't sleep in bedrooms, she slept downstairs. She gets lots of cuddles and love which she enjoys, obviously this post isn't detailing the good parts is it?

Just FYI - some cats don't take to water fountains at all. Hopefully yours will, but BuggersMoggy (also an older cat) really didn't.

Re: vomiting. Yes, cats will eat grass and them upchuck to get rid of hairballs, but you have an older cat who's unsettled, so a vet-trip might be prudent. Our mog is ancient and it's still pretty easy to differentiate between hairball sickness and actually being unwell.

It's a big change for cat. They do sometimes wee in house after a house move for a while and continue because they are anxious; it becomes behavioural; or the smell becomes the wee place. Or they don't like using a litter tray and dislike your outside space.

I agree with PP who said you'll get better solutions from The Litter Tray thread, if you ask MNHQ to move it. Unless you are looking for an no YANBU, if you regret taking cat in, and really don't want her. Because it's your choice (regardless of what MNers say) and sometimes as parents (whether single or not) , or as kind people without children even, we over stretch ourselves or things don't turn out how we hoped.

What do you want to to.do OP? Try to resolve it or say this isn't working at this point? I love cats and have four, but my DCs smell and act differently to other DCs, and since I have been owned by 6 different cats over nearly 30 years, I learnt that re homing or moving a cat to my house might not work or might take a long settle in period.

Cats do take a while to settle in a new home - mine took a good few months to show her true personality, and she was very clingy for the first couple of months. Second the suggestions about vet check, Feliway and water fountain.
For cleaning up the wee and puke, you need an enzymatic cleaner (Simple Solution is great - pic attached). This breaks down the offending substance and removes the smell - magic stuff. You can use it to clean litter tray too.
For the litter tray, I use something called Beaphar Multi-Frisch that you scatter on top of the litter and it takes the edge off the smell.
Also think about what you are feeding her - we switched our cat to high-meat-content food and her poos are now smaller, dryer and less smelly.
Every day isn’t normal but cats do sometimes eat grass and puke. Is it before or after feeding her? Mine always does it when her stomach is empty so might be worth feeding her earlier/more often.
I can 100% see why you don’t want her in bedrooms if she’s weeing everywhere! Can you shut her in another room with litter tray, food, water, etc, so she’s not waking you up? She should get used to the routine in time and you may feel less resentful if you aren’t exhausted.

I adore cats but I've always said "if they were bald and slimy, we'd be shooting them like vermin"

They're charmingly awful aren't they? Mine is only 18 months old but shes demanding, foul, mean and cute all in one bundle.

Mine meows outside my bedroom window (ground floor) at 3.00am every morning. If I ignore her she KICKS the window aggressively.

She killed a bird and left it's smashed up corpse on my front step. This is with a bell on her collar too.:(

@WillLokireturn Thanks for the tips- to be honest I didn't know The Litter Tray existed!

I was just exhausted this morning (it's midday here) and was tearing my hair out at clearing up stuff while kids climbed on me.

I want solutions really rather than people to say 'YANBU get rid'
(But wasn't sure when I posted )

Lots of these are great. No Feliway in this 'hood but have found the Beaphar stuff which includes a calming spray similar to Feliway it appears, plus they do anti odour stuff so will give that a go. Ordered new filter things for the cat litter tray roof.

Previous owner recommended CatSan as litter, it's certainly the cheapest here, but wondering if I can change to one of the ones which promise less odour or will it be yet another change for Pusscat?

Will ask to be moved to The Litter Tray area, thanks for the heads up.

Thank you everyone for suggestions, going to the vet this afternoon and hoping some of the other ideas help soothe her. I suppose 2 months isn't long in a cats lifetime

I do love cats but they can do destructive stuff.

This is why I hate cats. Homes with a cat always stink of cat.

I would get rid to a cat lover ASAP. But I haven't RTFT and I'm sure that given MN is full of cat lovers everyone else will be saying the opposite!

I think houses smell more if you own a dog ... dogs are smelly creatures and love to roll in their own poop!

It sounds like the cat is missing your friend terribly

Look up idiopathic cystitis; and get her on a specialised digestive diet. She should not be vomiting every morning.

Unfortunately, there's no 'cure' for miaowing!

And home that have dogs always stink of dog. Wet dog smell is way, way worse and cats themselves don't actually smell.

I r︎eally would try taking her to the vet about the throwing up issue even for a cat that is a lot. Could there possibly be a plant that is toxic for cats that is in the house or garden that triggers it?

About the smell of the cat litter there is this powder to scent the cat litter and make it smell fresher as well as scented cat litter if you would find that smell less offensive.

I know it is not for everyone but is there a reason you don't let it into the bed room? it might stop them from meowing if they felt they can go in. We sleep with our cats. Yes they do pester for snuggles the first half an hour but pretty much settle at the foot of the bed for the rest of the night

I hope the kitty settles in soon and the problems go with it.

If you change the litter do it gradually by mixing some of the new with the old and gradually increasing the amount of the new litter.
I think a lot of older cats must do the 4.30am miaowing. Ours does. We sleep with the bedroom door open so he can just come in instead of waking up the whole house!

This is almost inevitable with rehoming such an old cat to be honest - cats hate disruption to their routine and don't do well with change, and that's truer the older they are.

Re the peeing everywhere, try putting a litter tray in the places she is peeing. You can then gradually move these day by day away back into the kitchen or wherever you are happy to have them.

It might be worth having a second litter tray anyway - the usual advice is you should have at least one more litter tray than you have cats, so for one cat you should have two litter trays.

If she's old, it's worth checking she can still comfortably get in and out of the litter tray - are the sides too high? Is she struggling with the door?

Put tin foil down where she is peeing on the floor. They don't like the feel of it.

The only way to stop her miaowing outside your door is to shut her somewhere else. Can she be shut in the kitchen overnight?

Lots of cats knock things off tables, it's just in their nature. You just have to be vigilant about not leaving things around, unfortunately.

The vomiting is odd - is she eating grass? I would get her checked by a vet. It may just be her age, but maybe her food isn't agreeing with her or something.

You've done a nice thing taking on this cat, and I hope the issues can be resolved. Unfortunately, rehoming an old cat can just be an endless source of difficulty. But it's all still very new - she likely will settle down more with time.

At 15 you’ve got limited time with her anyway.

Cystease tablets should stop the weeing issue, if she’s sore she’ll wee wherever she is. It’s interesting she’s choosing rugs which makes me wonder if the litter is too rough on old paws. Naturally they’d use soil outside so the litter needs to be as close to soil as possible.

If you can get ultra clumping litter try that and wash the tray with neutral smelling detergent, anything too strong like scented washing up liquid or dettol can put them off using the tray.

Mine also thinks 4am is getting up time so we lock him in the kitchen overnight and I wear ear plugs. The smoke alarm went off once and I still heard it.

Maybe she wees elsewhere because the litter tray smells so bad. I clean our litter trays more than twice a day. Has she been wormed? Vomiting and retching could be caused by worms. Try an extra litter tray. The miaowing outside your door- show her some love and affection. She has lost her home and her family and she knows you hate her. If you are an animal lover as you say, show her some love. Poor cat.