Cat Pee Problems !!!HELP ME!!!

Increase the number of litter boxes you have - and have them in
discreet places that are easily accessed by the cat.

I have two litterboxes... but I'm going to buy another at the store
tomorrow.

Also, you need to offer a variety of litters (clay, clumping, pine,
corn)....there is one called ATTRACT LITTER that is supposed to be for
cats with litter issues.

I'll look for this at the store as well.

You need a variety of cat litter box styles (covered, shallow, deep)
and put a thinner layer of litter -

Good idea. I'll make sure & try this out as well.

Also, if cat insists on going in one certain spot (in a corner of
bathroom for instance) put a litter box there -

Genius! Why didn't I think of that???

Also, buy a plastic/water-proof matress cover to save your mattress!

Again... On my list for tomorrow.

.... Thanks for all of your help JEN... I really appreciate it! =)

-Jenn

Assuming that this may be at least partly behavioral and not completely
related to pain or other physical problems, I also suggest that you get some
Feliway. I prefer the plug-in diffusers instead of the spray because the
diffusers/dispensers release premeasured amounts at regular intervals.

I looked into this... Awesome product! However, they don't sell it at
my regular pet store. I ordered some online... Hope it's as great as
it seems! =)

Oh, yes, please search for another vet. It is *outrageous* to hear that a
vet would actually "recommend" declawing for a particular "breed and
personality."

Yes. Another vet is definately a must. I can't believe he would
recommeded this procedure... and lied to my face about the side efects.
That really ticks me off...*BIG TIME*. You would think that someone who
has dedicated there life to animals would be totally against such a
thing. grr!!!

.... Thanks for the advice Mary! =)

Have you tried different types of litter, different boxes, and
different locations?

Not yet... but I will...


When Chase was young, I switched from my regular litter to another
kind. He immediately started peeing on my bed. He did not like
pellets, and I got the message loud and clear. I changed back to the
other litter, and the problem was solved.

Strange. I use the pellets in his litter. Perhaps they are a little too
rough for his poor paws... =(

OMG!!!! Run, do not walk, away from that vet!! I can't believe it! How
can a vet be so ignorant of cat behavior? Yes, Bengals are very, very
active and he *needs* his claws. Taking them away just makes things worse!

Yeah... That vet is a sicko... he even does it to his own cats?!?!?!
He's going to be getting a very nasty letter in the mail from me soon!
I made an appointment at a holistic animal clinic next week. Hopefully
they can give me some *real* advice... and check his poor little paws
out... For now... I'm getting a new litter box and three different
types of litter and seeing which one he prefers. ... All while
"cat-proofing " my home.

As for the other behavior, knocking things over and stuff, make sure he has
LOTS of adequate climbing area and toys. Get some huge, floor to ceiling
cat towers, lots of mousies to bat around, play with him frequently with
those fishing pole toys.

He loves the fishing pole toys.. but destroys them in a week! He has
lots of mice and balls... door hanging things... etc. I even just got
him this great little toy. It stimulates his mind... which he needs.
It's a box with several holes on top and on the sides... I put little
toys in there and he bats at them to get him out. He completely forgot
about his other toys since this one. As for the trees/towers... I was
really wanting to get one last time I was at the pet store... but I
decided not to. I felt like I would be rubbing it in his face that he
had no claws.... Ouch. Do you think I should just go for it anyway? He
probably doesn't think of it like that... right?

Yeah I saw that one after I had already posted. How long ago was he
seen?

He was seen two weeks ago...

I hope your vet didn't declaw him in the back too.

He did. =(

Declawaed cats can have phantom pain in their paws (much like a human amputee does),
and thus, when he uses the litter, he associates the pain with the
litterbox.

I know... I read about that side effect while researching this
procedure. I really should have done my homework before the operation.
You know I never even knew that humans had "phantom pais" ... Wow.


Unfortunately, greedyvets will promote declawing ...

You said it. I will have to work hard. Don't worry. I won't give him
up. This is something that our 'family' is going to have to work
through. I showed my huby declaw pics and he felt just about as bad as
I do. He agrees that its our fault for the majority of the
misbehavior... so that's a mistake we are going to have to live with
for a long time... Thank you for the links. Several very helpful people
like yourseld have provided me with helpful links. I made a word doc
with a list of them. I'm going to check them all out tonight. Thanks
again! =) -Jenn

To the OP : He sounds like he's a nervous, reactive cat and cats wee
if they are upset and stressed. They pick places like sofas and beds
because that's where your scent is stongest, he's adding his scent to
yours to reassure himself and make himself feel more secure.

Very clever! That is brilliant! Your response definitely makes sense to
me. I know the declaw must be causing him pain... but I new somebody
had to have an explanation like yours. I knew he was being territorial
and/or marking his space. He seems very prideful and his attitude is
that 'he's in charge!' hahaha... silly boy...

He's not likely to asscociate the punishment of time out with the
fact that you don't want him to wee in those places so he is not being
disobedient or deliberately doing it to annoy you. He probably finds
your and your husband's reactions confusing.
Time outs will just upset him and make him more likely to carry
on peeing.

You are so right. What he is doing is instinctual. We are confusing
him. Which makes perfect sense because he does seem to get more upset
after "time out". No more time outs. I'll use other alternatives.
Question: Do you know if 'time out' works on dogs? ... or is this just
something i picked up on from my parents?

Thanks for everything! I really appreciate it! I'll read the articles
tonight! =) Any advice to stop this behavior besides Feliway?

wrote in message
oups.com...

I hope your vet didn't declaw him in the back too.

He did. =(


Oh, this is so sad. Even most vets that will declaw will not do the
procedure on all four paws. That really is butchery. Cats need their back
claws for traction and balance, and your vet has destroyed even that
essential part of your cat's life.

Well, you know better now, and you clearly feel very bad about it. You are
also taking steps to make help your cat now that you recognize the damage.
I mentioned in a previous post that I adopted a cat (Amber - RB) years ago
who had *previously* been four-paw declawed. You already have the bad news
about physical and behavioral problems that can accompany this tragic
procedure. On a somewhat better note (for you), my Amber really did
compensate in many ways for what had been done to her. She was a very
trusting and loving cat, and over the years she acquired better balance and
learned to adjust in many ways. At the same time, she never did have the
grace and balance that my non-declawed cats have had. I do want to
encourage you to continue to search for ways to help your kitty and not to
fall into the trap of assuming that your cat is being malicious when he
urinates outside the litterbox. That isn't it, at all! He probably finds
it painful to use the litterbox -- either from early-onset arthritis (very
common in declawed cats) or from phantom pain. At the same time, please
have your vet (after you get *another* vet -- *not* the one who performed
the declaw) check your cat's paws. There have been some cases of very poor
surgery, and it's possible that your cat might need some corrective surgery.
That isn't very likely, but it should be checked. Someone else mentioned
glucosamine. That is also a very good idea with a declawed cat, or any cat
that seems to have arthritis. Even better, you should check into Cosequin
(which is basically glucosamine combined with some nutritional
supplementation in a formula specifically for cats).

Here's a picture of Amber at age 15:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...4916&members=1
She was a dear, sweet, loving cat and should never been subjected to the
atrocity of declawing. It was done before I adopted her, but (like you)
there was a time when I simply didn't realize how cruel the procedure is.
It was just sheer luck that I never had that done to any of my cats before I
learned better.

MaryL

wrote in message
oups.com...

OMG!!!! Run, do not walk, away from that vet!! I can't believe it! How
can a vet be so ignorant of cat behavior? Yes, Bengals are very, very
active and he *needs* his claws. Taking them away just makes things
worse!

Yeah... That vet is a sicko... he even does it to his own cats?!?!?!
He's going to be getting a very nasty letter in the mail from me soon!
I made an appointment at a holistic animal clinic next week. Hopefully
they can give me some *real* advice... and check his poor little paws
out... For now... I'm getting a new litter box and three different
types of litter and seeing which one he prefers. ... All while
"cat-proofing " my home.

As for the other behavior, knocking things over and stuff, make sure he
has
LOTS of adequate climbing area and toys. Get some huge, floor to ceiling
cat towers, lots of mousies to bat around, play with him frequently with
those fishing pole toys.

He loves the fishing pole toys.. but destroys them in a week! He has
lots of mice and balls... door hanging things... etc. I even just got
him this great little toy. It stimulates his mind... which he needs.
It's a box with several holes on top and on the sides... I put little
toys in there and he bats at them to get him out. He completely forgot
about his other toys since this one. As for the trees/towers... I was
really wanting to get one last time I was at the pet store... but I
decided not to. I felt like I would be rubbing it in his face that he
had no claws.... Ouch. Do you think I should just go for it anyway? He
probably doesn't think of it like that... right?


No, you won't be rubbing anything in his face. Cats love to climb, and I am
sure your cat would benefit from a cat tree. Just make sure the beds are
positioned in such a way that he can easily move from one bed/level to
another because he won't be able "climb."

MaryL

wrote in message
oups.com...

I hope your vet didn't declaw him in the back too.

He did. =(


OMG!!!! This vet is even more of a sicko than I thought
Even vets that routinely declaw don't do the four-paw declaw unless it's
some kind of extreme circumstance or the client insists on it.

I'm sorry this guy was your vet. Please tell everyone you know that has
animals about him. You might even want to contact area animal rescues and
let them know what an asshole he is and what he did to your cat. People
adopting animals will ask for vet recommendations, and they need to know
this is one vet to avoid!!!

-Kelly

wrote in message
oups.com...

Alison wrote He's not likely to asscociate the punishment of time
out with the
fact that you don't want him to wee in those places so he is not
being
disobedient or deliberately doing it to annoy you. He probably
finds
your and your husband's reactions confusing.
Time outs will just upset him and make him more likely to carry
on peeing.

Jae wrote You are so right. What he is doing is instinctual. We are
confusing
him. Which makes perfect sense because he does seem to get more
upset
after "time out". No more time outs. I'll use other alternatives.
Question: Do you know if 'time out' works on dogs? ... or is this
just
something i picked up on from my parents?.

It can work with cats and dogs depending on the circumstances.
People need to understand how cats and dogs think and learn to be
able to train them.
If you go to this website
http://www.ourdogs.chilly-hippo.co.uk/
and click on the Training button on the left hand side , there are
descriptions of classical and operant conditioning and training terms
such as positive reinforcement and positve punishment etc.

Say you have a puppy that tends to play rough, you're playing with
him and he nips you hard , the moment he nips you can say ouch or
yelp to let him know he has hurt you and remove him from the room .
You must do this *immediately * not 30 seconds or a minute or too
later so he associates the biting with being removed. People call
this time out but it is also a negative punishment , you are removing
something pleasant from the pup so he learns if he wants to carry on
playing he mustn't nip . The punishment is removing something nice.
When a dog runs off from his home, if he is given time out (or
any punishment ) when he returns , he will associate it with returning
not the running away so time out help will teach not to come back if
he runs away. Also people think the greater length of time out, the
greater the punishment but he's not going to be spending all that time
thinking about what he has done wrong, like a person would. Animals
live in the present and we can't say for sure how time passes for them
..

You wrote * At this point he was in kitty "time-out". We locked
him in the guest bathroom for a day with his litter box and
food/h20...
hoping he would get the point not to pee.*

This is really retraining the cat to use the litter tray rather than
teach him not to pee in another room. Show him the behaviour you want
rather than the behaviour you don't want . If you catch him in the act
of pee, place him gently in the litter tray .

Thanks for everything! I really appreciate it! I'll read the
articles
tonight! =) Any advice to stop this behavior besides Feliway?

You have another cat I believe, this puts great pressure on him too.
Can you give me more details about your other cat? What are your cats
names?
Alison