Hello fellow hubbers! I am at my wits end with my two cats, Bonnie and Clyde. They are 10 year old sister and brother. They were abandoned, and then rescued by a friend of mine as kittens. For 7 years they were the pets at our nursing home, but never really warmed up to the idea of interacting with the residents. So I brought them home 3 years ago. I grew up with many cats...they were always outdoor cats on the farm, but I loved them! So I am not a novice with them.
Anyway, Bonnie and Clyde have driven me nuts since I brought them home. Primarily urinating everywhere despite having a huge litter box I made from a 24'x30'x24'storage bin. I have had to throw out two couches, 3 boxes of stored items, clothes, shoes and rugs. I have spent hundreds of dollars I really can't spare on cleaning products and replacing stuff. The vet says they are physically fine and thinks they are just nuisances! He suggests putting them down. No help there!
I have had to close off my living room and bedroom just to protect them from these cats! I keep the box cleaned pretty good, bought toys for them to play with, and try to spend cuddly time with them daily. They get dry food and canned food and have fresh water. I can't seem to make them happy.
I am feeling guilty because my mind says "get rid of them", but my heart says "keep trying" - nobody is going to want them and the SPCA will probably put them down. I don't know what to do......HELP!
haves they been spayed and neutered? I heard dat unspayed and unnuetered pets will spray and mark places more dan ones who have been "fixed"
yes they are both fixed. I did notice when I first brought them home the feral cats in the neighborhood had sprayed my front steps an I probably tracked some in and that is one of their prime areas...the bottom step into my place.
Thank you for your reply!
Maybe try a different vet , there may be some kind of medication for them , or , you could always make them outdoor cats,
or, you could do what I did with my puppy, got tired of him peeing everywhere , so I limited his water, I give him drinks and then 20 minutes later put him out , that has seemed to stop the puddles all over the place
There is a product called "Feliway" that worked for me when one of my cats was peeing throughout the house. You can google it but it's a synthetic copy of a feline pheromone that is supposed to reduce stress in your cat and help with these types of behaviors. It comes in plug in form and as a spray. I bought two plugins and placed them in the areas where the cat preferred to pee and it worked for us.
If I were in your situation (and I'm not going to be any help to you here), I'd probably stick to the closed off living room and bedrooms (although, I guess, I'd think about letting them out more too - maybe, depending on the situation). Or, I might go the other route and close doors to the rooms where they CAN be (in other words, have some modified version of limiting where they get to go in the house). I'm one of "those people".
If they didn't "figure out" the rules in the beginning and just "did whatever" they probably just got in the habit of what they do. Sometimes once cats get used to doing one thing that's just what they get used to. It can't be a bad thing to at least try getting them out of the habit of what they're doing by closing doors. If there were a way to be with them in any given room, watch them, and firmly tell them "no" if they got near something maybe they'd learn; but that kind of thing takes a lot of time and watching.
Some cats won't share a litterbox. There's the chance one box for two cats could have started the problem. If their scent got on stuff that was stored that would have encouraged them to go back. I suppose I'd try covering the couch with something like a plastic shower curtain (or other big piece of plastic) so they'd be less likely to get on it (and keep shutting the bedroom doors). Maybe having things stored in a way that doesn't give them a something to get in (like putting stuff in close plastic containers or stacking closed cardboard boxes, wrapped in trash bags (or something), in a way they can't get in. If there's nothing around that seems appealing to them as a place to go, their worst "mess up" would be somewhere like a corner in the bathroom or kitchen, which wouldn't involve throwing things out.
Maybe eventually, once they had no place that was appealing (something they can get into, or something soft to get on) they'd go for the litter-box because it would be the only place that appealed to them. (I live where the basement gets damp and sometimes wet, so I'm used to always storing everything high or sealed in plastic. It's not that much work once you're in the habit of it. My living room doesn't have a door, and I have my daughter's cat, who likes to sit on the back of the couch. I cover the couch because I don't want her hair on it. I don't like what it looks like, but for now it works. When people are here we're in the living room, so I'm around to watch her.
I know others here may have a better "approach" than my "little-of-this/little-of-that" kind of approach, but sometimes a little change here and a little extra watching there can make a difference (even it's always kind of pain in the neck). Since you know cats, I know it's probably not necessary to mention that they behave best when they're not anxious or being yelled at or scared all the time. Then again, they also behave if they have a sense of who's calmly in charge and tells them the rules firmly, but not angrily.
If they were ever outdoor cats they might be confused about where to go to use litterbox/be let out Try letting them out? Or try different litter. We fixed that problem once by adding some potting soil to the cat litter. (it smelled earthy smell and figured "this is the spot")
That's a great idea. Many scented litters smell nice to humans, but are offensive to cats. We use fragrance-free.
My sister inlaw had a brother and sister couple. I tried to talk her into making them into slippers but her sister, my wife, hit me! Is that spousal abuse?
Are you using a scented litter? Some cats cannot stand to use a scented litter box, especially if they came from the outdoors.
I know how hard it is to make a decision about to get rid of a cat. I have a problem with one of mine -- a very different sort of problem from yours, an I've been struggling with it for over a year. I hope you find a way to resolve your issue soon!
Some cats won't share a litter box. Have you tried setting up two boxes?
Do you know what kind of box and litter they had at their previous home? You might also try to use the same products in your own home.
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