Cat Guru help

[fancynewbeesly]

So our cat is an asshole. Plain and simple. He pees everywhere. We were back to the vet who ran more tests. They ruled out everything. Diagnosis: he is an asshole.

They said because everything he is peeing on is vertical in nature (curtains, stands, etc) he is asserting dominance over our other cats. Unfortunately the only solutions that they had were not the greatest: confine him to just one room or make him an outdoor cat.

He is a huge fat, 12 year old cat. He seriously has super strength. Like you would think we laced his food with roids. In the car in the cat carrier he rammed though the door of the carrier.

Right now he is in a separate room and you can tell the other two cats are more relaxed and peaceful.

Any ideas?

[ladyviking]

My cats are both outdoor/indoor and it makes them so much happier. They misbehave when kept inside all the time. Is it an option for him to go outside sometimes. Sounds like a hard situation and he'd prefer to be in a one cat family

[fancynewbeesly]

Sept 5, 2015 10:22:44 GMT -5 ladyviking said:

My cats are both outdoor/indoor and it makes them so much happier. They misbehave when kept inside all the time. Is it an option for him to go outside sometimes. Sounds like a hard situation and he'd prefer to be in a one cat family

The last time he was outside was at 6 weeks old. He does have claws and we live on an acre but we have tons of wildlife. The vet asked if our yard was fenced in. (It isn't) because that would be ideal.

So we are stuck. A shelter would put him down due to age and behavior problems. It would be easier if it was a medical issue v

[sunnysideup26]

My cat won't pee in the litter box but for different reasons. We have to use a puppy pad under the litter box to give her a spot to pee. Cats are such jerks.

In your situation- can you try buying an additional litter box? Some cats don't like sharing litter boxes and since your cat is dominant, maybe having his own box would help out.

Our vet sells pheromone collars that help relax cats and dogs. You can also buy the plug in kind for outlets in the house. Maybe worth a shot?

[fancynewbeesly]

Sept 5, 2015 10:38:38 GMT -5 sunnysideup26 said:

My cat won't pee in the litter box but for different reasons. We have to use a puppy pad under the litter box to give her a spot to pee. Cats are such jerks.

In your situation- can you try buying an additional litter box? Some cats don't like sharing litter boxes and since your cat is dominant, maybe having his own box would help out.

Our vet sells pheromone collars that help relax cats and dogs. You can also buy the plug in kind for outlets in the house. Maybe worth a shot?

We have 3 litter boxes one for each cat. The pheromone thing didn't work either. This is our fourth visit to the vet. Which is why they pretty much stated those were the two options left

[sunnysideup26]

I'm sorry. I wish I had more ideas.

[athn64]

Maybe it's a territorial thing? You said their are wild animals. Maybe he feels threatened by them and is marking his territory?

[bsouls]

I'd try Prozac, before I let an indoor cat outside. I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats and I wouldn't be able to handle the stress when they're missing for a few days.

[cadien]

It's increasing popular to use those outdoor cat pens. Websites like Foster & Smith have them.

[cmeon]

Outdoor cats are my hill. If he's going to be outdoors, definitely try a cat enclosure or a harness/leash (LOLOLOLOLHEHO, I know, but, some cats do deal well and if it stops cat pee everywhere, it may be worth a shot).

You would do well to address his weight, too- not promising it will help the pee situation, but, a healthier cat isn't a bad thing and the extra weight can cause all sorts of issues that will MAKE him pee outside the litter box.

And I'm sorry. Cat pee is the worst of the worst of the most awful worst.

[NariaDreaming]

Sept 5, 2015 10:48:32 GMT -5 bsouls said:

I'd try Prozac, before I let an indoor cat outside. I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats and I wouldn't be able to handle the stress when they're missing for a few days.

This. Fluoxetine is $4 at Target. I've seen it work wonders in cats who do territoral marking. If that doesn't work, you can look into Amitriptyline gel that you can apply to the inside of his ear. It's more expensive but works in 90% of cats with marking behaviors.

[pumpernickel]

Cats peeing out of the litter box is the worst! It seems like you guys have tried alot but here are a couple of my suggestions:

I've had several people swear by the Feliway diffusers, others it does nothing for though. I know you said you tried them, but did you have enough of them, like one in every room? I believe there is also a collar available.

I have heard the recommendation that you should have 1 more litter box then cats, so maybe consider adding a fourth. Also it might be helpful to have them in different locations in the house with one on each floor. If there is a specific area he keeps peeing in try putting a litter box there. I realize this is a lot of litter boxes in your living space but some of it could be temporary, ie break the habit of peeing in inappropriate places an then you could start cutting down litter box locations.

I also had a large make cat that started peeing outside of the box around that age and we figured out he was having a hard time getting in/out of the box and finding a comfortable position. We ended up with a very large low sided tray from the masonary section of Lowe's I think it's normally used to mix mortar. It worked really well and the peeing stopped.

I know this may not be a popular opinion, and I will preface it by saying that I am huge animal lover and advocate of indoor only cats, but at some point you may have to consider quality of life. Maybe try giving him some very brief highly supervised trips outside and see how he does. If you notice an improvement increase the time. If the other option is confining to a single room, with little to no interaction with family members I would go with allowing him outdoors.

Good luck, I hope you are able to find a solution.

[jumpingpuddles]

(Lurker in:)
We dealt with this exact thing with our cat, it was years of frustration. Feliway, various types of cat litter, a zillion litter boxes, Prozac (maybe would have worked but we absolutely could not get him to take it, tried everything). He really wanted outside anyway, so we finally just reached our wits end and let him. Unfortunately, he still sprayed inside when we let him back in, so in the end we made him entirely outdoor, with access to our detached garage (with an additional shelter inside it) for comfort. I hate that it came to that, but our quality of life is so much better not dealing with cat pee all the damn time. At a certain point you've done all you can do. He may like it outside like ours does! GL, I feel your pain.
(Lurker out)

[plorange]

I agree with additional litter box being needed. You're supposed to have more than the number of cats. Also, have you tried changing the litter you use? My H thought it would be best to get the fragrance litter to mask odor. The cat would not pee on it. It smelled to me anyways.

For outdoors, they do have cat runs you can make/have made where he can go outside for fresh air, totally enclosed.

Other than that, I would suggest researching Jackson Galaxy's FB page. He has tons of suggestions.

[fancynewbeesly]

Thank you so much for some extra ideas. We have exhausted MOST of them. And unfortunately are downstairs is a completely open floorplan except for the bathrom, laundry room and steps to the basement. So it is incredibly hard to contain him.

We suspect he has been doing this for years, but have blaming our older sick cat who passed away, it has gotten worse since Reese's diagnosis and us not home as much. Plus older age and everything.

We are just at our wits end. We use the same litter that we always have. We only have uncovered litterboxes. We have had him for 12 years, and actually we had the other cats BEFORE him. We got them when we were younger, and I think we didn't notice immediate signs because we were younger and stupid---but he definitely is one of those cats that is suited to an ONLY one cat home. He has, even as a kitten been a superjerk to the other cats.

We used to have a gallon water bottle thing for cats, until every day he would completely empty it, by kicking all the water out, soaking the floor and eating all the food because the other cats wouldn't go near the water. Another time he figured out how to push open the screen door and let the other cats escape, while he sat on the couch and watched.

But I definitely need to figure out quality of life as well. So right now he is contained in the basement in a fairly big room, the other cats are on cloud 9. Now we just have to figure out the next step.