Big problems with my male cat peter.

Question
QUESTION: I have three cats, all of which I have personally rescued.  Peter my eldest, male was rescued at 9 months.  Some one tried to drown him.  He was very un-trusting of humans, and it took me three weeks of sleeping in the same room as him, with his food and water bowl beside me, before he came to trust me.  Next I have two females, Phebie and Phelie, I found them on a motorway in a cardboard box, they were only a few months old at the time.  And the vet reckoned that there would have been more in the box, and that these were the lucky ones to survive.  Phebie, is very out going and surprisingly loves everyone, Phelie on the other hand trust no one but my daughter and myself.  When I first introduced the girls, I had problems with Peter marking the whole house, but after a rather frustrating three months, I managed to solve the problem by restricting their movements to one room, placing an old blanket near to wear Peter slept so he could get used to their scent, showering him with more attention and my daughter would give the girls the cuddles. Feeding them together, but always putting his food down first.  This reassured him he was still top dog, or should I say cat lol..  and that it was ok.  That was over five years ago!
Now though I'm having problems I don't know how to handle or solve.  I've always been able to indistinctly know what to do, but this time I'm flummoxed.  Just before Christmas, Peter was attacked by another cat, and became quite ill, so had to take to the vets.  Then a week later just after recovering from a bad abscess, he got a water infection and started peeing every where.  Both have been cured but he still refuses to go outside, and still pees in the corner by the door.  I have a litter tray down which he will use for poo, but he refuses to go for a wee in the tray.  Have placed another tray where he keeps going by the door, but he'll just go along side of it.  I'm at my wits end, the kitchen is really starting to smell bad.  I've used proper industrial pet urine cleaner, that has been recommended by several vets online, but as I have a stone floor it has started to seep into the stone with constant peeing in one area.  I just don't know what to do know.  When ever I catch him, I immediately now put him out in the garden, but he hates it.  And sits by the locked cat flap yelling to come back in, so I feel guilty and let him.  I really am desperate, any ideas that I haven't tried would be so gratefully received.

ANSWER: Hi Linda,
Thank you for rescuing the kitties and taking such good care of them. you did not mention if Peter is neutuered? This will solve many spraying issues.
You mentioned that Perer had a "water infection" which i am assuming is a bladder infection.
This is another top medical reason as to why kitties go outside the box. If he has had the infection once, i am not sure i am convinced he does not have again. Males that are stressed are prone to bladder issues. Commercial diets exacerbate the problem. Dry food and prodcuts like whiskas and friskies and max cat often create bladder problems. Allopathic vets are not trained in nutrition so they are not reliable for this information. Try a holistic vet for thss or  If you need the names of good quality diets please write me again.
Personally, besides what was a medical issue from your email my guess is he is responding to the cat outside that fought him.Is he spraying or urinating? There is a difference. That cat is probably still roaming out there. So i would suggest NOT putting Peter outside as this is increasing his anxiety.I have three sections on what to do if a kitty is urinating out of the box, you can search topics under my name at allexperts site on urinating/spraying issues with kitties. I would try Feliway product as well.This will release calming, happy pheromones into the atmosphere. You can put incontinent pads under litterbox or tape to the door for the time being until problem is solved. This will absorb urine.
If it is indeed behavioral and not medical it is probably related to stress. If your home is private and your own property their are products online you can buy that are made with lion scat. The strong smell will keep the other cats away. There. Is also a motion detected sprinkler system that gets activated and will spray an outdoor animal with water to keep them away. I will revise this email later and write again or you can check my other answers to people with the same types of questions. Perhaps Peter does not want to go outside or perhaps the other kitty is marking the outside territory and he is responding.
If he hates the garden, please do not put him out there as this is increasing his anxiety and making his behavioral issue worse.Perhaps he is getting bullied by a tomcat out there.
Thank you for your detailed letter, and please reply if you are unable to find the products mentioned that will keep the other cat off territory.If you live in a shared apt complex where other tenants have cats then please write again and we will figure out other ways to solve. If there is no other cat then he might be responding to the trauma of the fight where he received the abscess and needed medical treatment.
Treat for stress, give optimal diet. Try the outdoor products that will keep potential other cat away and realize if it is indeed behavioral and not territorial it often stems from anxiety.
If there is indeed an outdoor cat around please understand kitties dont understand property lines. I never recommend trapping the outdoor cat and taking him to a shelter as this will be a ticket to his euthanasia and someone else's broken heart-the owner if there is one. There are other ways to solve. I am sure you wouldnt do this as you are obviously very loving and extremely caring, i just needed to mention for public education purposes and others reading this published anwer.
Good luck!
Shanti


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Follow up and additional information.

Peter is 10 human yrs, has been nurtured and re-checked for water infections.  He is kept in at night, as all three cats are black and cars don't tend to see them even with a reflective band.  Cat flap is then opened at 6am prior to the morning traffic, Peter and Phebie tend to stick close to house i.e garden, but Phelie always crosses busy road to her favourite hunting ground.  Which means at night curfew I go and stand in middle of road to halt traffic whilst I call her to get her back home safe lol.. So there is always a litter tray down in a cupboard under the stairs for night time use.  But as a rule it is only peter that uses it, the girls tend to some how not need it for those few hours.  Maybe due to peters age?

The black cat that attacked Peter is Farrell and attacks all the cats in the neighbourhood.  Prior to him showing up, all neighbourhood cats have been accepted by all my cats through this approach, putting a small amount of treats down with my cats and any new neighbourhood cats, stroking mine with one had whilst stroking neighbourhood cats with the other.  This calmed both, allowed them to sniff each other, and created a trust build up.  Never had any issues with fighting or spraying using this method prior to this referral cat turning up.  This approach will not work with this cat, and he is very nasty even to humans.  I did at one point try my one on one approach to get him used to humans, and it did in fact work for a while, and he was ok with my cats, but now he's back to how he was.  And if not worse!!

I have looked into buying one of those calming plug ins you were talking about, but hadn't read enough to know if they were effective.  

He is on dry food, as he wont eat the wet.  Only wet food he will eat is the steamed chicken the all get a couple of times a week, with the fish that my neighbour gives me at weekends, freshly caught.

The incontinence pad is a really good idea, I will buy some of those.

I'm just at a lose as to why he's change to not wanting to pee in the litter tray.  He was always fine about using it before.

ANSWER: Hi Linda,

Did vet run a blood panel to check for other medical issues that could contribute to litter box issues?

Here are sections to check out under  my name: Cat Litterbox Problem
         My Male Cat is Spraying Things
         Inappropriate Bathroom Behavior.

Ok so there is a bully out there. Has he attacked Peter before this time? If not, Peter might be responding to the aftermath of the fight. Trace to when the behavior started. You need to use detective skils for this. You said you never had problem with fighting or spraying before. Seems like those two behaviors started about the same time? That is hugely significant.

It seems from your first email Peter is not wanting to go outside or is crying when put out there, I would not put him out there. I like kitties to go outdoors, i believe in it 100%. If he isnt interested in going out, then he can decide.
You said the outdoor bully kitty is "even worse." this might be an indicator as to why Peter is stressing. Just as in human life, a change or escalation in a coworkers aggression for example (or person in out daily environment)  will cause us stress. All animals and people have limitations. Perhaps, Peter has reached his?
Was a complete blood panel run on Peter?? Over 10 is a good time to start. Some cats age faster than others and it is good to keep eye on kidneys etc.

Change in environment is a HUGE issues and stressor for cats. This also can cause litterbox issues. Please read all the above posts carefully for more information.
A change in household from new pet, new baby, new furniture, house being remodelled, are some examples of change that cause stress for a cat.
If he started after the attack then i would guess it is the fight and being outdoors that is stressing him out.
We cant know what is happening outdoors with them.
Are we sure it is spraying or is it urinating?
Is he crouching? Or is his posture on all fours with his rear facing furniture then shaking tail and spraying a stream horizontally?
When was the last time his urine was checked? Since this behavior started up?


So in brief... You have taken care of many of these issues... but as rule of thumb...
1. Rule out underlying medical condition.
2. Assess stress level of cat and environment. remove stress/ also use Feliway and Rescue Remedy
3. Keep litter boxes immaculately clean, scoop twice daily, clean plastic boxes weekly.
4. Experiment with different litters and place more boxes around the home.
5. Use enzyme cleaner in areas she has soiled outside of litter box.
6. Good luck investigating!

Happy to hear you are feeding human chicken and fish!!! :)
There has been a change that caused this, whether medical or behavioral we just need to figure out what it was. It takes good investigative skills but i am sure you will figure it out! You are very very good to your kitties! Thank you for taking such good care of them.

best of luck.
Shanti

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: No it is definitely urine, it's not oily like cat spray is.  I know it sounds disgusting, but the only way to distinguish is to rub it between your fingers lol..  Yes they took blood samples, nothing was amiss apart from the bladder infection.

Thank you for the info Shanti, I'm going to read the items you discussed tonight whilst in bed, and will invest in a couple of the plug in calmers.  And look into ways of keeping this referral cat out of the garden.  Will also collect some of the urine and take back to the vets with peter.  Would it be ok to come back on this one in a couple of weeks if I have no joy and throw some more questions at you?

Many many thanks,
Linda

Answer
Hi Linda,

Yes, please let me know! The vet needs to do an bladder aspirate with needle for urine sample at vet's office. A sample taken from home will be not be sterile and then they wont be able to tell where the bacteria is coming from.

I am not sure about the oily slick part but to distinguish if he is spraying is he on all fours backing up to wall?
Or is he squatting?
Squatting is urinating.
Back facing wall or surface and spraying while on fours is spraying. Have you been able to see him in the act? That will help diagnose this!
Thanks for update!
Shanti