more litterbox issues...

I have seen a flurry of questions about getting cats to use the litterbox and
yep, I've got one, too.

We adopted Lex after a month of visiting him at the shelter. The reason we
didnt adopt him sooner is that he was brought back by an adopter after about 10
days because he wasnt consistently using the litterbox. Apparently, he would
use it sometimes but then other times he'd use the floor or the couch. The
woman brought him back and the shelter basically felt that he was likely bored
or lonely because he was the only cat and the woman worked long hours and wasnt
home enough. So, the shelter vet put him on a behavior modification plan
consisting of kitty drugs (anti-anxiety) and keeping him caged for a few weeks.
They gradually increased his territory until the point where he was allowed to
go free in the common cat area (its a cageless shelter unless the cat cant get
along with other cats). According to the shelter, he had been great about using
his box while there. So, naturally, we fell in love with him and once we got
clearance from the vet, we adopted him. (this was last saturday)

On Saturday night, he peed on our futon couch in the room we had him in (to
keep him separate from our other cat, Luna). Well, the futon was removed that
night and after that he had no more accidents. Lex was consistently using the
catbox and even used our 2nd one that is "Luna's". Its been 4 days and things
were really lookin up. We figured within a few days we could probably try and
leave him out during the day instead of in a separate room.

Tonight, Lex was chasing Luna around. Of course, Luna was hissing at him and
afraid, but still not running away. All of a sudden, Lex hops up on the couch.
(NOT THE COUCH!) and starts digging. My instincts knew what that was but I just
didnt really react fast enough and sure enough, he squatted down and started to
pee. This seemed to be out of left field because we have seen him stop in play
several times now and go to the catbox to do his business.

So, I'm totally baffled. We've been giving him lots of love and attention, but
we have to keep him separated when we are sleeping and when we are at work. I
fear that this is actually making it worse, but I just dont want to give him
THAT much territory so soon. Not only for the pee issues, but to be fair to
Luna, who has been the queen kitty of my life for 5 and a half years.

I ordered some Feliway plugins and got the Nature's Miracle stuff to treat the
couch cushion.

Any ideas out there? You all seem to be a wise bunch. What could we be doing
wrong? Is this lovable guy just never going to be consistent? He sits and
stares out the window ALOT and I also wonder if he is just DYING to go outside.


I will be heartbroken if this doesnt work out. Any insight would be MUCH
appreciated.

Thanks cat lovers.
Pam

"Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back
as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo

***notice spam blocker***

Kitkat wrote:

I have seen a flurry of questions about getting cats to use the litterbox and
yep, I've got one, too.

We adopted Lex after a month of visiting him at the shelter. The reason we
didnt adopt him sooner is that he was brought back by an adopter after about 10
days because he wasnt consistently using the litterbox. Apparently, he would
use it sometimes but then other times he'd use the floor or the couch. The
woman brought him back and the shelter basically felt that he was likely bored
or lonely because he was the only cat and the woman worked long hours and wasnt
home enough. So, the shelter vet put him on a behavior modification plan
consisting of kitty drugs (anti-anxiety) and keeping him caged for a few weeks.
They gradually increased his territory until the point where he was allowed to
go free in the common cat area (its a cageless shelter unless the cat cant get
along with other cats). According to the shelter, he had been great about using
his box while there. So, naturally, we fell in love with him and once we got
clearance from the vet, we adopted him. (this was last saturday)

On Saturday night, he peed on our futon couch in the room we had him in (to
keep him separate from our other cat, Luna). Well, the futon was removed that
night and after that he had no more accidents. Lex was consistently using the
catbox and even used our 2nd one that is "Luna's". Its been 4 days and things
were really lookin up. We figured within a few days we could probably try and
leave him out during the day instead of in a separate room.

Tonight, Lex was chasing Luna around. Of course, Luna was hissing at him and
afraid, but still not running away. All of a sudden, Lex hops up on the couch.
(NOT THE COUCH!) and starts digging. My instincts knew what that was but I just
didnt really react fast enough and sure enough, he squatted down and started to
pee. This seemed to be out of left field because we have seen him stop in play
several times now and go to the catbox to do his business.

So, I'm totally baffled. We've been giving him lots of love and attention, but
we have to keep him separated when we are sleeping and when we are at work. I
fear that this is actually making it worse, but I just dont want to give him
THAT much territory so soon. Not only for the pee issues, but to be fair to
Luna, who has been the queen kitty of my life for 5 and a half years.

I ordered some Feliway plugins and got the Nature's Miracle stuff to treat the
couch cushion.

Any ideas out there? You all seem to be a wise bunch. What could we be doing
wrong? Is this lovable guy just never going to be consistent? He sits and
stares out the window ALOT and I also wonder if he is just DYING to go outside.


I will be heartbroken if this doesnt work out. Any insight would be MUCH
appreciated.

Thanks cat lovers.
Pam

"Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back
as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo

***notice spam blocker***

You need to approach this issue first by eliminating any possible
medical issues for this behavior.

Have the cat examined by a vet. Don't forget to mention what is going on
regarding inappropriate elimination.

If there is no medical reason for this behavior then you can approach
the issue from a behavioral modification approach.

--
"Its the bugs that keep it running."
-Joe Canuck

Kitkat wrote:

I have seen a flurry of questions about getting cats to use the litterbox and
yep, I've got one, too.

We adopted Lex after a month of visiting him at the shelter. The reason we
didnt adopt him sooner is that he was brought back by an adopter after about 10
days because he wasnt consistently using the litterbox. Apparently, he would
use it sometimes but then other times he'd use the floor or the couch. The
woman brought him back and the shelter basically felt that he was likely bored
or lonely because he was the only cat and the woman worked long hours and wasnt
home enough. So, the shelter vet put him on a behavior modification plan
consisting of kitty drugs (anti-anxiety) and keeping him caged for a few weeks.
They gradually increased his territory until the point where he was allowed to
go free in the common cat area (its a cageless shelter unless the cat cant get
along with other cats). According to the shelter, he had been great about using
his box while there. So, naturally, we fell in love with him and once we got
clearance from the vet, we adopted him. (this was last saturday)

On Saturday night, he peed on our futon couch in the room we had him in (to
keep him separate from our other cat, Luna). Well, the futon was removed that
night and after that he had no more accidents. Lex was consistently using the
catbox and even used our 2nd one that is "Luna's". Its been 4 days and things
were really lookin up. We figured within a few days we could probably try and
leave him out during the day instead of in a separate room.

Tonight, Lex was chasing Luna around. Of course, Luna was hissing at him and
afraid, but still not running away. All of a sudden, Lex hops up on the couch.
(NOT THE COUCH!) and starts digging. My instincts knew what that was but I just
didnt really react fast enough and sure enough, he squatted down and started to
pee. This seemed to be out of left field because we have seen him stop in play
several times now and go to the catbox to do his business.

So, I'm totally baffled. We've been giving him lots of love and attention, but
we have to keep him separated when we are sleeping and when we are at work. I
fear that this is actually making it worse, but I just dont want to give him
THAT much territory so soon. Not only for the pee issues, but to be fair to
Luna, who has been the queen kitty of my life for 5 and a half years.

I ordered some Feliway plugins and got the Nature's Miracle stuff to treat the
couch cushion.

Any ideas out there? You all seem to be a wise bunch. What could we be doing
wrong? Is this lovable guy just never going to be consistent? He sits and
stares out the window ALOT and I also wonder if he is just DYING to go outside.


I will be heartbroken if this doesnt work out. Any insight would be MUCH
appreciated.

Thanks cat lovers.
Pam

"Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back
as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo

***notice spam blocker***

You need to approach this issue first by eliminating any possible
medical issues for this behavior.

Have the cat examined by a vet. Don't forget to mention what is going on
regarding inappropriate elimination.

If there is no medical reason for this behavior then you can approach
the issue from a behavioral modification approach.

--
"Its the bugs that keep it running."
-Joe Canuck

You need to approach this issue first by eliminating any possible
medical issues for this behavior

he has been checked...nothing medical going on....


pam


"Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back
as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo

***notice spam blocker***

You need to approach this issue first by eliminating any possible
medical issues for this behavior

he has been checked...nothing medical going on....


pam


"Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back
as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo

***notice spam blocker***

Kitkat wrote:

You need to approach this issue first by eliminating any possible
medical issues for this behavior


he has been checked...nothing medical going on....


pam

You'll need to start from scratch by isolated him to one room that won't
suffer too much damage if he eliminates inappropriately.

Provide clean litter box with unscented litter, food, water, some toys
to play with and your visits for human companionship/play time. Ask the
shelter what kind of litter they were using... if at all possible obtain
the same kind.

Leave him there until he starts using the box on a regular basis, then
gradually expand the area available to him.

Seems this cat has been around and is perhaps stressed.

--
"Its the bugs that keep it running."
-Joe Canuck

Kitkat wrote:

You need to approach this issue first by eliminating any possible
medical issues for this behavior


he has been checked...nothing medical going on....


pam

You'll need to start from scratch by isolated him to one room that won't
suffer too much damage if he eliminates inappropriately.

Provide clean litter box with unscented litter, food, water, some toys
to play with and your visits for human companionship/play time. Ask the
shelter what kind of litter they were using... if at all possible obtain
the same kind.

Leave him there until he starts using the box on a regular basis, then
gradually expand the area available to him.

Seems this cat has been around and is perhaps stressed.

--
"Its the bugs that keep it running."
-Joe Canuck

On 25 Mar 2004 04:04:16 GMT, lex (Kitkat) dijo:

Any ideas out there? You all seem to be a wise bunch. What could we be doing
wrong? Is this lovable guy just never going to be consistent? He sits and
stares out the window ALOT and I also wonder if he is just DYING to go outside.

Is there any possibility that he could become an indoor/outdoor cat?
I.e., with a cat flap so he can go in and out? The reason I say this
is because I have had a number of cats over the years and always with
a cat flap. None have ever needed even a litterbox inside -- they go
outside for that.

Of course, if you're in a dangerous area this is not an option. But if
it is possible, then it may be the solution you need.

--
Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so reply here.

On 25 Mar 2004 04:04:16 GMT, lex (Kitkat) dijo:

Any ideas out there? You all seem to be a wise bunch. What could we be doing
wrong? Is this lovable guy just never going to be consistent? He sits and
stares out the window ALOT and I also wonder if he is just DYING to go outside.

Is there any possibility that he could become an indoor/outdoor cat?
I.e., with a cat flap so he can go in and out? The reason I say this
is because I have had a number of cats over the years and always with
a cat flap. None have ever needed even a litterbox inside -- they go
outside for that.

Of course, if you're in a dangerous area this is not an option. But if
it is possible, then it may be the solution you need.

--
Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so reply here.