[Rapture]

I suppose I should start with an introduction. I'm a twenty-two year old secretary. I have all sorts of pets; currently one dog, seven birds (little birds!) and the more relevant two kitties. I had three up until.. just about two years ago, when one of my older girls suddenly got sick.

I have a fourteen year old princess named Mocha; she's a medium haired black and white kitty. I've had her since she was about six weeks old. Her mum wandered into a friend's house as a stray, popped out some kittens, and my sister and I both got to have one. Her sister, Tequila, is the one that passed away recently, though she became more my cat than my sisters by that point.

The second kitty is our problem cat; Twitch. I hope it's alright to put his issue here. I'm getting a bit desperate at this point.

He's eight years old and Mocha's son (Mocha has since been spayed; and Twitch is neutered). He's been around since he was born, and has always been a bit.. special. He was born a few weeks before we moved out of a house with a horrible black mold problem. The day we moved one of his siblings actually passed away because of the mold (we also lost one of our birds and my hamster to the issue). So I've always been a bit lenient with him, figuring he's probably not quite right in the head.

Most of his little habits we can deal with; he likes to chew on things and steal things and attack feet. But recently he's started peeing everywhere. Mostly on beds. The other night he peed not just on my mothers bed, but actually on her foot while she was sleeping in it.

She's at a point where she wants to get rid of him but I do pay half the bills, so it's my choice too. But I'm sort of at a loss. He went to the vet and they did a urinalysis and everything came back fine. They said the next step would be to take x-rays of his bladder, but I wonder if that's even necessary if nothing turned up in his pee. It's only just started the past two months, but I've already had to get a new mattress, and have to toss all my sheets and comforter because of it.

All that on top of the vet bill and this is turning into a very expensive kitty.
Nothing has changed since it started about two months ago. No new furniture, no new pets, no new anything. I thought it was Mocha at first, because he started doing it where she slept, but then I caught him when he peed on my foot (he has a thing about feet) when I was sleeping.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to give him up but I can't have him peeing everywhere. My coworkers all think I should get rid of him and my mother wants him gone. The only suggestions I've gotten online are diapers, which won't work since he plays with the dog and she'd just take them off. It's also not exactly practical for a cat with full control over his bladder.

I've no idea what to do.

 

[Victoriax]

really sorry to read about this you must feel very frustrated especially as your mum & freinds are not really being supportive

I cannot offer any advice really as I have not had this experience, when my Teddy started to pee in the bath he was diagnosed with FLUTD but it is under control now & no more peeing in the bath

I also put a new litter tray in the bathroom for him

how many litter trays do you have???

maybe try getting a new one to put near the places he tend's to pee.......

please dont give up on him we are all here to offer support & I am sure you will receive some sound advice from other members xxxxx

good luck I hope things improve for you both

 

[maggie23]

oh my gosh, i'm so sorry as well that you're not getting the support you need from the people around you right now.

these are just my few amateur suggestions for now. first, you should get one of those rubber covers for your mattress to at least protect that so you don't have to worry about having to buy another new one. and tell your mom to keep her door closed so twitch doesn't even get the chance to go in there and pee on her bed.

then maybe you might have to start confining twitch to your bedroom for a while and "train" him to use a litter box again. just gotta make sure he has plenty of litter boxes to use. and he doesn't have to be quarantined from the others. maybe mocha and the dog can come into your bedroom to play with him at times, but don't let twitch out of your bedroom again until he learns to be good with that litter box again.

if there's nothing medically wrong with him that the vets can find, then perhaps this retraining will work to fix the behavioral problem. again, just my amateurish thoughts. good luck!

 

[greenie]

One of my girls peed on my bed while I was sleeping to let me know she did not like the pellet shaped cat litter I had bought. Or atleast, I assume it was that because it never happened again once I changed back to the old stuff.

I'd try adding an additional litter box or two, and make sure all of them are scooped ASAP after use.

Pheromone sprays/diffusers are suppose to help too. (This of course is if there are no medical issues!)

 

[seattlecoon]

When the late great Maeve turned ten she stopped using the litter box altogether. Took me a while to figure out the problem was that she no longer wanted her food and litter in the same room and the litter box had to be totally clean before she would use it again. Now that had not been a problem at all until suddenly it was. We also could no longer give Maeve the run of the house. She was no longer allowed in the bedrooms, living room or dining room. We couldn't break her of peeing in those areas because it had become a habit by then. Or maybe deodorizers weren't that effective ten years ago and she could still smell the urine.

This might not be your problem but I strongly suggest you buy a few books on cat behavior. A situation that is tolerable when a cat is younger can suddenly become intolerable when the cat gets older. Wish I had gotten a book! Peeing outside the litter box is the biggest behavior problem owners have so there are solutions out there.

You also need to get some effective pet cleaning products. I found the deodorizing abilities of cleaning products in the supermarket aisle to be much better than those of products available at pet stores (of which I still have unused gallons!). I use stain-removing deodorizing cleaners for pet stains made by Arm & Hammer and Woolite. Both are equally good and kept the carpet stain free and the house smelling clean when Maeve became incontinent near the end of her life. I use them now on vomit stains left by the new cat who thinks she can inhale food with impunity.