cat fall

Question
My 9 month old tabby cat fell off the stair balcony (around 15 feet) and landed on her head. She got up and sat looking dazed, then I noticed that her left eye pupil was tiny and seemed to be running diagonal instead of top to bottom. I rang the emergency vets and told them what had happened. I took my cat into a quiet room to assess her. She was showing no other symptoms other than her eye looking strange. The vet suggested that as it was 11pm on a saturday night it might be better to keep an eye on her and if she developed any other symptoms to call them. About an hour later her body temperature dropped and she was sat quietly on my sons bed. Her brother (a much bigger cat) came and wrapped himself around her. I contacted the vet again to tell them that she was feeling cold and they said to keep her warm with blankets and a hot water bottle. I spent the night checking in on her and making sure she was steady on her feet still. After a few hours the eye had returned to normal and she seemed fine in herself.
She's normally a standoffish cat, especially with the children and has been litter trained since the day I got her with no accidents.
This was about 6 weeks ago, the day after the accident she walked into the living room and poohed on the carpet, with the children playing noisily a few feet away. Since then she doesn't seem to use the litter tray at all and will toilet in wash baskets, carpets and worryingly at the bottom of the kitty tower where they sleep (on the bottom level, they sleep on the next level) She also seems to have mellowed alot and it's difficult to explain, but she is acting like a completely different cat.
My main question is, how do I re-train her to the litter tray again? If at all? I'm concerened she may have suffered brain damage in the fall. She was seen by the vet two weeks ago when she was neutered, I mentioned the problems to them and they said it could be because she's in season and that we had got a dog (the dog was bought 2 weeks after the fall and AFTER her 'accidents' on the carpet also she had been in season for 3 weeks previous the fall with no odd behaviour other than the normal signs)
I'm at a loss of what to do, she's messing all over the house!
Thanks


Answer
Leonie,

Although the fall may have precipitated the original problem, there are now other contributing factors.

There are a number of factor which can contribute to inappropriate bathroom habits.  Any change in the household can contribute.  It sounds as if your 9 month old has had a lot to deal with in the past 6 weeks.  So, let's put some ideas out there.

First off is the dog.  I know the dog was brought in after the behavior started, but some dogs look at cat pooh as candy.  If the dog is bothering your cat when she approaches the litter pan, the cat will find other places to go.  It might help if there was a way of denying the dog access to the litter pan area.

Another problem is that cats coming into season often forget about their litter pan habits, so this is a distinct possibility.  Spaying is the best answer under these circumstances.

If she has had an accident, it must be cleaned up with an enzyme based cleaner specifically for pet stains and pet odors.  You should be able to find such cleaners at any pet supermarket or farm store.

In addition, I am supplying a link to a series of articles on feline litter box problems which may give you some further tips.

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html


What we have found to work with retraining kittens is to put them in a cage where the only floor space is taken up with litter pans.  They have no choice but to mess where they are supposed to.  As they begin using the litter pans, you can remove them one at a time until there is only one left.

I agree that the fall may have been the precipitating incident, but there seem top be enough complications in your cats life that she is stressed and, under stress, sometimes, litter pan habits are compromised.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm.