Problem with my cats
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"
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
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.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?
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