Update on Rutherford, my floor-****ing cat

Okay, here's what I have experienced thus far:
We found a spot where Rutherford (my ever-so-****ing-on-the-floor cat) had
been spraying and squatting over and over, and we got some of that "Nature's
Miracle" stuff. We wasted our money on that stuff - it didn't work at all.

Tonight, after spending a good amount of Sunday evening cleaning the carpet
where we found the ****, Rutherford trotted into the living room. I walked
right with him, and he found a spot where I cleaned, he walked around it for
a few seconds, lifted his tail, and then sprayed the wall RIGHT IN FRONT OF
ME.

I am up in arms. I have no idea what else to do.
We even bought some of that "NO-MARK" stuff and sprayed it. It was
absolutely no deterrent. He uses his litterbox regularly, and it is cleaned
regularly.

Any new suggestions? I can't take this much longer.

Jimmy
http://music.jimhutchison.com/myrutherford.htm


--
"...that simple light may rise out of complex darkness."
and don't forget to run like an antelope.

http://www.jimhutchison.com
http://music.jimhutchison.com

"jimmy the LD" wrote

Tonight, after spending a good amount of Sunday evening cleaning the
carpet ...
Rutherford trotted into the living room. I walked
right with him, and he found a spot where I cleaned, he walked around it
for
a few seconds, lifted his tail, and then sprayed the wall RIGHT IN FRONT
OF
ME.


This is a neutered cat, right?

"jimmy the LD" wrote in message
...
Okay, here's what I have experienced thus far:
We found a spot where Rutherford (my ever-so-****ing-on-the-floor cat) had
been spraying and squatting over and over, and we got some of that
"Nature's
Miracle" stuff. We wasted our money on that stuff - it didn't work at
all.

Tonight, after spending a good amount of Sunday evening cleaning the
carpet
where we found the ****, Rutherford trotted into the living room. I
walked
right with him, and he found a spot where I cleaned, he walked around it
for
a few seconds, lifted his tail, and then sprayed the wall RIGHT IN FRONT
OF
ME.

I am up in arms. I have no idea what else to do.
We even bought some of that "NO-MARK" stuff and sprayed it. It was
absolutely no deterrent. He uses his litterbox regularly, and it is
cleaned
regularly.

Any new suggestions? I can't take this much longer.

I'd try putting a liter box right on that spot. Even if it's in
the middle of the room...just temporarily. It seems he has
adopted it..what you need to do is physically prevent him
from being able to use it long enough for him to "un-adopt" it.

I'm not sure why he would be doing this. Doesn't seem like
it's stress if he did it calmly right in front of you. I have to
assume he is altered and that you have ruled out a medical
problem.

Do you have other cats? Were they near the liter box
when he sprayed?

AG

Do you have other cats? Were they near the liter box
when he sprayed?

Nope - no other cats, and only a 15 year old toy poodle, about the size of a
mini-soccerball. He also uses his litterbox frequently, which completely
stuns me. It just seems as though he has adopted this one 4X4 area of our
living room.

It seems he has adopted it..what you need to do is physically prevent him
from being able to use it long enough for him to "un-adopt" it

We're not really sure what you mean here; do you mean to say that we want
him to understand that it's NOT okay for him to **** on the wall and floor
there by adding his litterbox as a deterrent, or do you mean we should have
more than one litterbox...?

We'll try the litterbox-in-the-spot thing tomorrow.
Any other suggestions? We're considering shelling out the mega moolah for
the Feliway...

To all: Rutherford is a neutered, declawed hobo-kitty that we found on a
jobsite and adopted. He's been to the vet, and he checks out. No
infections, no Leukemia.

He's a cute *******, which is why this is so difficult.
Check him out (I know I posted this before...):
http://music.jimhutchison.com/myrutherford.htm

Please keep the suggestions coming.
Jimmy and Emily

He can be placed on antidepressant or anti-anxiety meds to eliminate
spraying.
Gail
"jimmy the LD" wrote in message
...
Do you have other cats? Were they near the liter box
when he sprayed?

Nope - no other cats, and only a 15 year old toy poodle, about the size of
a
mini-soccerball. He also uses his litterbox frequently, which completely
stuns me. It just seems as though he has adopted this one 4X4 area of our
living room.

It seems he has adopted it..what you need to do is physically prevent him
from being able to use it long enough for him to "un-adopt" it

We're not really sure what you mean here; do you mean to say that we want
him to understand that it's NOT okay for him to **** on the wall and floor
there by adding his litterbox as a deterrent, or do you mean we should
have
more than one litterbox...?

We'll try the litterbox-in-the-spot thing tomorrow.
Any other suggestions? We're considering shelling out the mega moolah for
the Feliway...

To all: Rutherford is a neutered, declawed hobo-kitty that we found on a
jobsite and adopted. He's been to the vet, and he checks out. No
infections, no Leukemia.

He's a cute *******, which is why this is so difficult.
Check him out (I know I posted this before...):
http://music.jimhutchison.com/myrutherford.htm

Please keep the suggestions coming.
Jimmy and Emily

"jimmy the LD" wrote in message
...
Do you have other cats? Were they near the liter box
when he sprayed?

Nope - no other cats, and only a 15 year old toy poodle, about the size of
a
mini-soccerball. He also uses his litterbox frequently, which completely
stuns me. It just seems as though he has adopted this one 4X4 area of our
living room.

It seems he has adopted it..what you need to do is physically prevent
him
from being able to use it long enough for him to "un-adopt" it

We're not really sure what you mean here; do you mean to say that we want
him to understand that it's NOT okay for him to **** on the wall and floor
there by adding his litterbox as a deterrent, or do you mean we should
have
more than one litterbox...?

More than one litter box may help but if you clean the one he
has daily than it probably isn't the problem. The idea was to get
him to use a litter box INSTEAD of the carpet area. I know he
does use it some but he also thinks the carpet is ok..it's like another
box for him. I know when I am trying to convince Sasha not to scratch
something I put one of her cardboard scratch pads in front of it...but on
second thought the litter box would probably just reinforce the spot
as a potty area. It would still help to block it off somehow. A big
plastic mat or some thing that prevents him access.

We'll try the litterbox-in-the-spot thing tomorrow.
Any other suggestions? We're considering shelling out the mega moolah for
the Feliway...

To all: Rutherford is a neutered, declawed hobo-kitty that we found on a
jobsite and adopted. He's been to the vet, and he checks out. No
infections, no Leukemia.

Feliway may not work. It's basically a mood alterer like an
anti-depressant.
It doesn't seem to an emotional or stress issue...more like a bad habit that
needs to be unlearned.

He's a cute *******, which is why this is so difficult.
Check him out (I know I posted this before...):
http://music.jimhutchison.com/myrutherford.htm

Please keep the suggestions coming.
Jimmy and Emily

He is a cutie. I'm sure you guys will work it out. I can understand
the difficulty in dealing with a spraying cat. It makes it physically
difficult to share living quarters with them :-) but you don't sound
like your giving up yet.

AG

Seems like there are two veins of thought here - one is revolving
around how to get the smell out of the rug and the other related one
is how to improve his litterbox habits.

It's the second one that puzzles me. Jim, you did say he "sprayed"
right? Spraying is not the same thing as peeing, and cats do it for
totally different reasons - so I don't think that playing litterbox
games is going to do the trick. You've got a formerly outdoor cat,
who's now marking territory inside the house. Not only that, but he's
doing it in a manner that is designed to attract _your_ attention
(spraying right in front of you).

Question is why?

Getting the nasty rank smell out of the rug is going to help, but I
think that the problem solving ought to revolve more around why the
cat now needs to mark territory inside.

You say there are no new pets.

How about new members of the household? How long has Emily been
around? Is she pregnant (not being nosy - cats can smell these things
& sometimes flake out)?

Have you moved recently?

Have you moved the furniture recently, exposing a spot in the room
where a former tenants cat marked?

Have you brought any used furniture that might smell of other cats in
recently?


Have your brought in new furniture that was treated with
anti-flammables and is outgassing and creating smells that are
invisible to you, but not to him?

Have you or Emily changed your patterns of being home - started
spending more time away due to job or whatever, so that Rutherford
feels like he needs to call you back, or spending more time there so
that he feels infringed upon?

Is your relationship ok? Have you been fighting or engaging in
situations that cause tension in the household?

Have you had new friends start spending time in the house?

Something has changed - cats are flaky, but they're not insane, and
they don't do things at random. I'm not suggesting that you've been a
Bad Cat Dad or anything - just that sometimes cat psychology responds
in very different ways than people psychology. Rutherford sounds like
a well-adjusted cat, and judging from these pictures, loves you and
Emily - he's suddenly started spraying, ergo, something has changed.
Issue is to figure out what...

Hope this helps,

TG

Cats will not **** where they eat. Put a bowl of food in the area
where he has been ****ing. Right now, the fact that he keeps using
this area shows that he sees it as a toilet. With the presence of
food he will be forced to see it as a dinnertable.

Also use cleaning products to try to remove the **** smell, and maybe
put out another litterbox somewhere--he may think it's too far to walk
to the other one and just wants a potty closer to that location.
Especially at his age. A more convenient second litterbox may be a
more appealing alternative than ****ing at the "new table".

--Fil

Seems like there are two veins of thought here - one is revolving
around how to get the smell out of the rug and the other related one
is how to improve his litterbox habits.

It's the second one that puzzles me. Jim, you did say he "sprayed"
right? Spraying is not the same thing as peeing, and cats do it for
totally different reasons - so I don't think that playing litterbox
games is going to do the trick. You've got a formerly outdoor cat,
who's now marking territory inside the house. Not only that, but he's
doing it in a manner that is designed to attract _your_ attention
(spraying right in front of you).

Question is why?

Getting the nasty rank smell out of the rug is going to help, but I
think that the problem solving ought to revolve more around why the
cat now needs to mark territory inside.

You say there are no new pets.

How about new members of the household? How long has Emily been
around? Is she pregnant (not being nosy - cats can smell these things
& sometimes flake out)?

Have you moved recently?

Have you moved the furniture recently, exposing a spot in the room
where a former tenants cat marked?

Have you brought any used furniture that might smell of other cats in
recently?


Have your brought in new furniture that was treated with
anti-flammables and is outgassing and creating smells that are
invisible to you, but not to him?

Have you or Emily changed your patterns of being home - started
spending more time away due to job or whatever, so that Rutherford
feels like he needs to call you back, or spending more time there so
that he feels infringed upon?

Is your relationship ok? Have you been fighting or engaging in
situations that cause tension in the household?

Have you had new friends start spending time in the house?

Something has changed - cats are flaky, but they're not insane, and
they don't do things at random. I'm not suggesting that you've been a
Bad Cat Dad or anything - just that sometimes cat psychology responds
in very different ways than people psychology. Rutherford sounds like
a well-adjusted cat, and judging from these pictures, loves you and
Emily - he's suddenly started spraying, ergo, something has changed.
Issue is to figure out what...

Hope this helps,

TG

Cats will not **** where they eat. Put a bowl of food in the area
where he has been ****ing. Right now, the fact that he keeps using
this area shows that he sees it as a toilet. With the presence of
food he will be forced to see it as a dinnertable.

Also use cleaning products to try to remove the **** smell, and maybe
put out another litterbox somewhere--he may think it's too far to walk
to the other one and just wants a potty closer to that location.
Especially at his age. A more convenient second litterbox may be a
more appealing alternative than ****ing at the "new table".

--Fil