Cat is Messing All Over the House

Question
QUESTION: I'm at my wits end. My husband and even kids want to put the cat down, but I cannot bring myself to do such a thing.

I can't really say how old Smokey is because we got him from someone else, but he is at least 5 years old, which is how long my husband has had him.

When my husband, I, and my two kids moved in together, Smokey didn't like any of us. He didn't come out when my husband wasn't home and didn't come near us. It literally took him a year to get used to us.

Well, then he starts going releiving himself in places other than his litterbox. At first, it was just urinating and always on the dirty clothes pile that were waiting to be cleaned. I mean every time I went to do laundry, you could bet that it had cat pee on it. Took FOREVER to get out of the clothes.

Then he'd start pooping on them too, and moving to various places in the house. We moved to Georgia two years ago and it just got worse. He has fleas that I have been unable to get rid of because they travel inside with the kids on their clothes from the yard (it's a nasty flea problem in this area), no sprays work, and he seems to be allergic to flea shampoo. I've had him dipped a few times and it never lasts more than a month of flea free.

I mention the fleas because I don't know if this has anything to do with what is happening.

Now, he chooses to releive himself wherever he sees fit. Usually it's my couch, the kids bedroom (particularly my oldests sons bed), the kids bathroom floor, or more recently on top of the expensive shirt and jacket that sat on the printer stand for just a few minutes waiting to be taken to the dry cleaners.

He doesn't even try to hide it now, he'll do it right in front of you, whereas before you couldn't catch him. His litter box is SPOTLESS! I mean he sleeps in the thing and goes to the bathroom elsewhere.

I am at my wits end. He's destroyed a couch, two beds, clothes, I don't know what to do. I can't put him outside because he has no claws front or back (not my decision) he wouldn't be able to defend himself and I can't give him away, noone would take him. HELP PLEASE!!!

Thank you

ANSWER: HI Dawn,

First, PLEASE don't put this cat down!  I completely understand how frustrated you must be but there are so many alternatives.  I would be happy to help you with this if you choose I just need to know what area you live in.  There are no kill shelters as well as rescue groups out there and this is exactly what they do, take cats in when no one else will.

You mention that this kitty has been declawed, it is highly likely that this is the reason he will not use the litterbox.  It is WELL documented that declawed cats almost always end up with litterbox problems as they associate the pain of the surgery with the litterbox.  The process is a bit of a commitment but it is guaranteed to work so if you can stick with it you will have a urine free house.  On top of what I've written below for your guy I would recommend trying a few types of litter to see which one he seems to preffer.  I would try the cat attract, wood pellets, clumping as well as plain old shredded newspaper.  The severity of the problem leads me to think that it is entirely possible that he still feels pain in his paws (Yes even five years later!).  Here also is a link to more information about declawed cats and the problems it causes just so you have an idea of what may be going on: http://www.de-clawing.com/

Appologies for the pasted response but it is the exact same response and saves me from retyping!

Good luck and let me know if you have any further questions.

Natoma

I can tell you are beyond frustrated and I assure you I am not here volunteering my time, of which I don't have very much of it free thus the often very late replies, to hand out stock answers.  I will start by saying I have honestly never experienced a problem as severe as this with my own cats but I am more than willing to do my best to help you out.

First, and this will suck for both you and the poop cat, but she needs to go back to litter training 101.  It's going to require about 6 litterboxes, a commitment and a lot of patience but it sounds like you're willing to try anything!  While cats are smart and can use bad litterbox habbits to make a point, I don't think that's what is going on here as it's gone on far too long for that.  It's possible this is how it started out but now she has just gotten to a point that it's habbit to go wherever she feels like it, unusual for the normally clean cat but absolutely not unheard of!  

You have allready answered most of my usual questions for this type of problem but I have a few more.  What kind of litterbox and litter do you use?  How many litterboxes do you have and where are they situated?  How have you been cleaning the area's that she has defecated?

This may seem drastic but she needs to be kept in your bathroom for now until we can get her using the box regularly.  With of course her litterbox and water dish, free feeding is out for now so that you will have an idea of when she is going to go.  You will learn her digestive system better than she knows it ;)  By doing this you are creating a smaller living area for her and by using her natural instinct not to poo where she sleeps she will be forced to use the litter box.  You need to buy Cat Attract litter, it is generally for use with problem pee'ers but does work for poo too.  She needs to be fed once a day only, most cats, dogs, people etc will eliminate the previous days food one hour after they've eaten the new meal.  This will help you monitor her bowel movements, doesnt that sound like fun?  ;)  It's going to take a week or so of the once a day feeding to regulate her system which is where the bathroom comes in, by keeping her in here you are going to be sure she is using the box and it sounds like your older cat will get a much needed break from her.  We all spend 1/4 of our day in the bathroom plus an extra visit or two to see her so I am sure she will not be neglected.

If you are currently using uncovered boxes, cover them and vice versa.  Some cats want the privacy, others hate the closed in boxes.  You should also provide her with two boxes, if space allows, yup you read that right!  I have had more than one cat who wants two boxes, one for peeing and the other for pooping.  Some will also not touch a box that another cat has used nor will they go if there is even one mess in it, so what I would recommend is staying on top of the boxes as much as possible.  Since you're in the bathroom and, I believe, cat attract is flushable this should be easy enough.

She should remain in the bathroom until you are relatively certain you've got her system down, it really shouldn't be tough as mentioned it is generally an hour after eating so I would feed her around 6-7pm.  Once this is settled start letting her out during the day but putting her back in the bathroom to eat and then use the box, I would do this for another week or so.  After that I would begin to let her out during the day, put her back to eat but then let her out immediately after leaving both the litterbox in the bathroom and one that is fairly close to the bathroom.  By this point in time she should be back in the habbit of using the box regularly but by knowing her system you will be able to monitor where she is when she should be about to go and best of all you will catch her in the act if she is about to eliminate inappropriately.  She *should* be trained by now but if she is not and you can catch her 'in the act' grab her up and immediately put her in the box.  During the first few weeks that she is out of the bathroom you should have a variety of boxes out in a variety of places, they should be convenient for her to get to.  Over time you can remove one or two but for your situation I would have no less than four boxes in the home.  Keeping in mind that having four is not going to make them go more so it won't be more cleaning it will just be spread out a bit more.  This will help avoid recurrances if she is particularly picky and this may have been what started all of this in the first place.

I have used this type of training with more than one cat and it works like a charm.  It is a lot of work and takes time but I agree that you can not continue to live like that.  If I do not hear back from you and for some reason this does not work, which it never hasn't for me, and you still want to place her I would highly recommend NOT calling your local shelter but calling your local cat rescue group.  These people would never put a cat down for something like this and would put the time in to make sure she gets trained and off to the right home.  Most times they can be found online for any particular area, I would just do a search for  Area, State/Province, Cat rescue and you should get something.




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

QUESTION: Thank you. I will give this a try. If it doesnt' work I will have to find an alternative. I cannot see putting him to sleep because of bathroom problems, but I sure cannot have him going to the bathroom all over the house.

Last night, he went to the bathroom on top of the food I just brought from the store and laid on the counter. It was boxed food, so needless to say a waste of money since cardboard isn't the best at keeping out wetness.

I have searched for no-kill shelters when we had a stray dog problem and have not been able to find one. They all offered to put them to sleep, but that was about the only choice they offered. If you can help me find someplace, please, in case this does not work, I would be appreciative.

I have a feeling that if I don't get this taken care of soon, I am not going to have a choice as to what my husband does with him and likely won't even know about it until it has happened, and I'd hate to see that happen.

My husband thinks he may be getting old or has something wrong, but he doesn't act like anything is wrong, aside from the peeing and pooping all over the house. He's never really been an overly playful cat since I've known him, so I haven't seen much of a change.

THanks so much for your help.

ANSWER: Hi there,

You need to get him segregated now, he obviously isn't going to stop so at the very least by putting him in the bathroom there will be no more 'accidents'

To help find an alternative I need to know what area you live in.

Natoma

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

QUESTION: Hi Again,

I live in Baxley, Georgia.

It's just getting worse, I told my husband about this and he says he doesn't see it working but we're going to try it. He pooped on my kitchen table last night and pee'd on my computer chair. It's just getting worse and worse and worse.

Where can I get this Cat Attract?? Will it be available someplace like Wal-mart? I live in a small town and options are limited, the nearest big town is an hour away.

thanks so much
Dawn

Answer
Hello Dawn,

I will see what I can do.  I am not sure if Wal Mart in the states carries it, usually pet smart or specialty stores.

As mentioned before you need to get him segregated and also need to know that this is not a quick fix.  This is a  big problem that will take time and a commitment to rectify but it is entirely worth it!  And as also mentioned before you will at least have a urine free house while you do the retraining.

Natoma