[brutus&cleo]

One of my kittens is randomly eliminating on soft objects inside the house. I'd like to know why she is doing this so she can train me, I mean, so I can train her to go where I want her to eliminate. Here is the story:

Kitten #1: Cleo, a stray female tabby, 8 weeks old, accepted by me from a co-worker's grandmother that had her for 5 weeks. I dont have any knowledge of her history. She had already pood in the catcage on the way from gramma to me, so I figured she was scared. After her bonding with me that day with playing, sleeping and cuddling, I drove her home in the cleaned catcage facing towards me, talking to her all the way. She was mellow all the way home.

I showed her the food and water bowl. She ate. I showed her the dirtbed with barkdust outside after every meal to eliminate. She complied.

I decided she needed a companion while I am away at work, so as not to get lonely or tear up the place, so I got another kitten from a local pet shop. Brutus was a 10 week old male.

Boy, did things change! She slapped him around, while he could only lean back on his side and looked at her as if to say, "what did I do?" I figured since Brutus had come from a cage of 10 kittens and was accustomed to loving kittens that share, he was not accustomed aggressive behaviour.

After a few days of taking a beating from Cleo, Brutus started to hold his own. A few days after, he attacked her in the same manner she attacked him! That is when I started having problems with Cleo's elimination.

First, Cleo vomited in my closet then went on a 3 day hunger strike. I finally figured out she wanted her own food bowl, her own toys, and her own sleeping space. I gave those to her and she ate again. 2 days later, she didnt care which bowl the food was in or where she slept. Then she peed on my bed.

I had not caught her in the act, so I didnt scold her. I just washed it with "Nature's Miracle" and tried to understand why she did it. I thought it was her dissatisfaction with Brutus, but her and Brutus were sleeping, eating and playing together.

A week later, I awoke to Brutus cuddling my head, but to my astonishment, I felt a hot spot growing on my stomach. It was Cleo peeing on me. Now, that irked me! I scolded her slightly after much intense breahing excersises, then put her outside while I tore apart the bed and cleaned it.

A week later, she poo'd on a towel on the floor mid-day. A few days later, peed on my bed at night while playing tag with Brutus. I had my back to them and didnt even notice.

I've only had the kittens a month and want to understand why she continues to eliminate on soft objects in the house. From what I've read, she may not like the harsh clumps of barkdust in her litter bed. I've considered getting sand for her outdoor bed. Am I on the right track? Any suggestions?

 

[iloveamos]

I'm confused. She lives indoors but has to go outside to the bathroom?!?

Get her a nice litterbox with good litter and put it somewhere in the house. Plus, the kitty should go to the vet, not only for vaccinations but to make sure she doesn't have some sort of urinary tract infection....
Because they do pee on things when they have that infection....

As far as the other kitty goes, maybe you introduced them too quickly? Did they have an adjustment period?

 

[brutus&cleo]

I'm confused. She lives indoors but has to go outside to the bathroom?!?

No. Cleo lives both indoors and outdoors, although the outdoors is in large, enclosed area. She goes outside to play, to hunt and sometimes sleep in the shed.

Some people like to keep their cats indoors to keep them away from fleas, predators, prey, maters, vehicles and people. Although it can be this is done for benefit of the cat, its really for the benefit of the owner who wants all the benefits of a pet (mainly affection and loyalty) but with no fuss or surprises attributed to an independent mind of a cat.

While keeping potty indoors is good for the owner, I believe this deprives the cat of their instincts. Cats need outdoor activity just like people do and my cats have free access to the outdoor world via a "doggy world". Their outdoor world consists of a controlled environment too, but it is extended to an enclosed, bug controlled lawn with prey such as mice, birds and squirrels, predators are non-existant and no people or vehicles to harm them. They have multiple places to sleep including the outdoor shed, but know the food is indoors and potty is outdoors.

They have more control over their decisions than an indoor cat, even if their decisions mean I have to comb and bathe to get rid of outdoor debris, but cats enjoy being cleaned by their "parents" even though their adult years because it reminds them of the good feelings they had when they were babies, so there is no downside to that effort; only good!

They may not enjoy going potty outside when its colder out, but they will either adapt to it like any survivor or I'll have to adapt to them to give them creature comforts. For now, its warm, its sheltered from weather, and they know where it is. The only queston is - does she purposefully pee indoors occasionally to tell me she doesnt like the outdoors or is it something else?

maybe you introduced them too quickly? Did they have an adjustment period?

I didnt control their introduction and should have in hindsight. Although they sleep together and tag team the moving string or mouse, the wrestling matches often turns into one biting too hard, the other yelping for mercy, and the aggressor chasing the other away until they work up into a fury and have a standoff. They usually back down, although sometimes one will antagonize the other until its time to sleep, but they always sleep on or near each other every night. Obviosuly, there is a fight for dominance, but the winner changes every day.

Be worthwhile taking her to the vets for a check-up.

I'll do that. She seems more resiliant than Brutus cat because he recently had crusty eyes and a wheezing breath, but only when sleeping at night. I dont know if he is like while sleeping during the day because I'm not around to notice it. He doesnt wheeze when active.

 

[brutus&cleo]

:x :x :x She's driving me nuts!!! :x :x :x

After a few days of being a good girl and doing her duty outside, Cleo was hunting cautiously in my bedroom making her cute "g-g-r-r?" sounds. I have noticed she does this prior to eliminating, at least indoors. I watched her for 5 minutes as she looked around and I was prepared to grab her if she was to even think about squatting and put her the outside.

However, she crawled in between my two comforters and laid down at the edge. Brutus even played "paw your paw" with her for a minute until she left. When I went to retire, I found a BIG FREAKING WET SPOT all the way down to my mattress!

What is this girl doing? She's not in a hurry to pee and took several minutes to find her spot. She was even LAYING DOWN. She must be psychologically preparing because she doesnt act like she is in pain and/or in a hurry. This isnt the motions a urinally infected cat bahaves, is it? For that matter, doesnt cranberry work on cats for this the same as humans?