Advise please?
Cross posted to as many places as I can think of. I need suggestions!
I have three kitties in my large 4 bedroom house. The kitties are: Smudge (1 year old); Allie (7 years old) and Bocephus (20 years old).
Bocephus is in fairly good health for her age. Her last vet visit was about 6 months ago. The vet did not suggest any tests but said that she appeared healthy.
She has a history of peeing outside of the cat box. I am at my wits end trying to keep her from peeing on the carpet in both the dining room and the office.
We have two very large kitty boxes; one covered and the other not covered. She prefers the uncovered box in the hall bathroom for obvious reasons.
We closed off all of the rooms but the common living area and our bedroom. She spends all of her time sleeping in the living room that is central to the litter box and cat food and water. I have them all on Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul.
The only way we’ve gotten her to use the box regularly is to “re-train” her by putting her alone in the bathroom with her box, food and water, and bed for about a week. That usually keeps her using the box for a few months.
The last time we had her confined was a few weeks ago. She peed in the office under the desk while we were both in the room. No other cats were in the room or the preferred litter box in the bathroom across the hall.
We confined her for 4 days and let her back out into the general population. Within 3 days we caught her peeing in the dining room.
I know the younger cats intimidate her. I’ve tried a ton of stuff to keep them from picking on her and the ONLY thing that consistently works is keeping her separate. She seems to be happier when she’s alone and seems to love her “kitty vacations” from the others.
Does anyone have suggestions that worked for them? Allie is pretty aggressive and is the alpha cat. Smudge outweighs her and is struggling to be Alpha kitty.
I have the Feiliway spray but I’m not sure where I should spray it to have any affect.
I feel bad keeping her in the bathroom and it doesn’t seem like it’s very good for her either. I really want her to be able to enjoy the rest of the house and sleep in the sun if she wants. The bathroom she’s in does not have any windows.
I’ve thought about putting her in the backyard while we are at work during the day only. She can’t get out (8ft walls) but we do have black widows and other creepy crawlies.
I’ve had this cat since I was 7 and feel solely responsible for making the time she has left we me as comfortable as possible.
I asked for advice from my mom and she told me that I should think about putting her down. That she’s senile and doesn’t really know where she is. That I shouldn’t feel guilty and she’s lived a very long spoiled life. She recommended crushing up sleeping pills in milk and giving her an overdose…that she would just go to sleep and not wake up.
Every time I think of that, I cry. My mom did that to an old mean senile cat we had when I was a little kid. She told me that cat ran away.
I just feel guilty that I’m even thinking about putting her down. Yes, she’s a total pain in the butt. She’s my kitten and I made a lifetime commitment to her long ago. I’d feel like a total SPO if I just killed her because she’s driving me insane by peeing on my carpet.
Pictures - these are a few years old. I don't have any current pics of her at work:
Does ANYONE have any suggestions? I’m willing to try everything. I know these issues are behavioral. She’s done this for years. I’m just out of solutions.
I have three kitties in my large 4 bedroom house. The kitties are: Smudge (1 year old); Allie (7 years old) and Bocephus (20 years old).
Bocephus is in fairly good health for her age. Her last vet visit was about 6 months ago. The vet did not suggest any tests but said that she appeared healthy.
She has a history of peeing outside of the cat box. I am at my wits end trying to keep her from peeing on the carpet in both the dining room and the office.
We have two very large kitty boxes; one covered and the other not covered. She prefers the uncovered box in the hall bathroom for obvious reasons.
We closed off all of the rooms but the common living area and our bedroom. She spends all of her time sleeping in the living room that is central to the litter box and cat food and water. I have them all on Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul.
The only way we’ve gotten her to use the box regularly is to “re-train” her by putting her alone in the bathroom with her box, food and water, and bed for about a week. That usually keeps her using the box for a few months.
The last time we had her confined was a few weeks ago. She peed in the office under the desk while we were both in the room. No other cats were in the room or the preferred litter box in the bathroom across the hall.
We confined her for 4 days and let her back out into the general population. Within 3 days we caught her peeing in the dining room.
I know the younger cats intimidate her. I’ve tried a ton of stuff to keep them from picking on her and the ONLY thing that consistently works is keeping her separate. She seems to be happier when she’s alone and seems to love her “kitty vacations” from the others.
Does anyone have suggestions that worked for them? Allie is pretty aggressive and is the alpha cat. Smudge outweighs her and is struggling to be Alpha kitty.
I have the Feiliway spray but I’m not sure where I should spray it to have any affect.
I feel bad keeping her in the bathroom and it doesn’t seem like it’s very good for her either. I really want her to be able to enjoy the rest of the house and sleep in the sun if she wants. The bathroom she’s in does not have any windows.
I’ve thought about putting her in the backyard while we are at work during the day only. She can’t get out (8ft walls) but we do have black widows and other creepy crawlies.
I’ve had this cat since I was 7 and feel solely responsible for making the time she has left we me as comfortable as possible.
I asked for advice from my mom and she told me that I should think about putting her down. That she’s senile and doesn’t really know where she is. That I shouldn’t feel guilty and she’s lived a very long spoiled life. She recommended crushing up sleeping pills in milk and giving her an overdose…that she would just go to sleep and not wake up.
Every time I think of that, I cry. My mom did that to an old mean senile cat we had when I was a little kid. She told me that cat ran away.
I just feel guilty that I’m even thinking about putting her down. Yes, she’s a total pain in the butt. She’s my kitten and I made a lifetime commitment to her long ago. I’d feel like a total SPO if I just killed her because she’s driving me insane by peeing on my carpet.
Pictures - these are a few years old. I don't have any current pics of her at work:
Does ANYONE have any suggestions? I’m willing to try everything. I know these issues are behavioral. She’s done this for years. I’m just out of solutions.