Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    O.k. this is going to sound a little strange maybe to some people.
    But... as an avid reader of Cat Fancy they do have a section having
    to do with a cat "shrink".  In one of the issues they did have one
    writer who wrote in about the exact same problem.  I don't remember
    it off hand but I know I still have it somewhere.  I'll try to find
    it tonight and write in about it tomorrow.  It may be just a shot
    in the dark but what the ....!!!!  I'm sure your open for anything
    if it comes down to having to get rid of the sweetheart and seeing
    the vet said no problem...???  You may also want a second opinion
    from another vet.  He may have missed something the first time around.
    Good luck and I'll see what I can find tonight.....
    
                                                                   
    KIM

    Is this a recent development? If so, had anything new happened in
    your household just _before_ this behavior started? Maybe your cat
    is reacting to a new situation.
    
    Sometimes cats get jealous of someone, or mad at someone, and react
    by urinating on that person's possesions. Could that be the case
    here?
    
    An idea that might stop the cat from urinating on the bed:
    Cover the bed with a piece of plastic. Make sure that the bed is
    totally covered with the plastic. I know that this sounds funny,
    but what happens _sometimes_ is that the plastic will cause the
    urine to pool up under the cat's feet, getting them wet, and the
    cat will dislike the feeling so much that he/she will not use that
    area as a litterbox ever again. I don't know if this will work for
    you, but it's worth a try.
                                                             
    Good luck, and keep us posted.
    
    Marleen
           

    Hi,
    
    Thank you all for your suggestions.  Regarding my cat, she is very
    much a people cat.  She is so affectionate, she can sometimes get
    on your nerves.  However, she does share a kitty box (with my neutured
    male).  She also urinates on bath mats.  I will try the plastic,
    different food and maybe a new vet.  I hate to think I will ever
    have to have her put to sleep, I'm willing to try anything, but
    I don't want my house smelling like the bottom of noah's arc.
    
    Thanks again
    Pat
    

    My mother has the same problem with her male persian.  She has tried
    many things to remedy this and nothing seems to work.  At first
    she thought he was doing it before he was neutured, she had him
    fixed years ago and the problem has not gone away.  He will sometimes
    get in the bathroom and go on the mats (she solved this problem
    by always having the door shut) and sometimes he goes on the rug
    in the livingroom.  He does share a kitty box with a spayed female,
    so that may be the problem.  He's always been a little different
    from other cats we've had.  He doesn't always go on the rug, just
    once in a while.  Really can't figure him out.  I know it would
    drive me nuts if either one of my cats did that and I know how upset
    my mother gets, so I can sure understand your situation.  Sorry
    I can't offer any solutions, except for keeping the doors to the
    bedrooms shut.  Good luck.
    
    Erin

    A friend of mine use to have a cat who tinkled on the childrens beds
    when she was angry or upset about something.  The way she stopped
    the cat from doing it was whenever the cat tinkled on the bed to get
    back at momma, momma would get back at kitty by not letting kitty
    sleep with the children ( she loved sleeping under their covers)
    for a week.  It took a few times but kitty finally got the hint.
    
    I think using two litter boxes is a great idea.  You should keep
    the other kitties litter box in the same place and put the problem
    kitties box in a very new and distinct place.  If it is the sharing
    that bothers her then she will be happy to have her own spot!  Kitties
    are smart; they will know!
    
    Suzanne

    A stray cat (a very pretty fluffy grey tom) tried to adopt my friend
    John, "owner" of good old Nugget (my "foster-cat": I feed him when
    John is out of town; Nugget's a good critter).  Nugget didn't like
    this at all, some strange cat being fed next to HIS bowl, so he
    went ups tairs and peed on John's pillow, where he normally sleeps!
    John took the hint and found another home for the grey kitty rather
    than keeping him.  Nugget went back to his normal behavior.  Since
    cats can't talk, it is sometimes hard to figure out what they are
    "punishing" you for.
    
    One time when I was on vacation, the door to the basement got closed
    somehow (yeah, I should put a cat door into it, but I haven't gotten
    around to that one), and the cats were cut off from their litter
    box.  They pulled the bathmat down off the shower curtain rod and
    used it, apparently for at least a couple of days judging from the
    mess, until I got home.  Boy, were they panicky!  They knew they
    had been a couple of BAD GIRLS!  They hadn't been trying to make
    a mess out of spite, but they had to do their business someplace...
    
    Hmm, maybe your cat is having trouble getting to the box, if the
    cat is getting elderly?  If nothing else has happened lately to
    upset the kitty, it probably is a good idea to get another box and
    put it somewhere away from the first one, maybe someplace easier
    to get to (like not in the basement, though that wouldn't go over
    big in my house; don't know what we'll do when the cats get older).

    One of my cats likes to pee on my bath mats as well.  Seems to
    prefer the fluffy ones.  I have a different type in the upstairs
    bath and he's never peed on that one.   I just don't have bath
    mats anymore.  It's not a big deal really.  Every now and then
    I bring them out again, thinking maybe he's forgotten the affec-
    tation and sometimes they'll even last a week or so, but then
    I'll find one peed on again, so I'll take them off the floor.
    Rather have my cat than bath mats, no contest.
    
    Donna

    Holly developed the habit of going on my bed.  It was awhile ago,
    so my recollection is fuzzy, but at the time she preferred the bathtub,
    and a couple of days in a row she couldn't get to it, so she used
    the bed.  Unfortunately, that started a habit.  (She just liked
    the bathtub;  she's okay physically and emotionally).  What finally
    corrected this was I noticed that she went in the morning when I
    was getting ready for work, and in the evening.  So, those times
    of day, I shut the bedroom door.  Finally she'd use the tub, and
    I'd open the bedroom door again.  After awhile she forgot about
    the bed.  I hate to think how many loads of wash I did.  You might
    try washing stuff a jillion times, in case the smell (undetectable
    to humans) is attracting her.
    
    Sears has a type of (plastic?) mattress cover in their catalog.
     The problem went away before I had to resort to that, but you might
    try it, just to protect the mattress itself.
    
    Bath mats and shag bath rugs seem to be irresistable to cats, so do
    cloth covered bean bag chairs (because the little beanbag pellets feel
    like litter, I guess).
    
    

    Re. 963.3; you could try using tinfoil rather than plastic (although
    it would look even more peculiar!) - cats hate the feel of it.
    
    Or perhaps you could even feed her on the bed for a while, until
    she forgets about thinking it's a giant litter tray?  Or even giving
    her some catnip (if she's a catnip loving cat) on there (I know
    this would make a mess too, but it's less revolting than cat pee).
    
    I have a part-Persian spayed female who sprays, and has done off
    and on for about three years.  There is nothing physically wrong
    with her.  She had hormone tablets for a while, which (she said)
    tasted delicious, and made her grow a thick coat, but didn't have
    much effect otherwise.  Otherwise, she just does it in fits and
    starts - we can't figure out why.  Feeding her in the spot, etc.,
    works to an extent, but stopping spraying is much more difficult
    as we don't know where she's done it unless we see her (and usually,
    of course, we don't).  So we mainly live with it.  Moving house
    helped quite a lot (not really a practical suggestion, and that
    wasn't why we moved).
    
    

    All this reminds me of a story a friend told me.  He and his wife
    wanted to sleep in one Saturday morning, so they tried to ignore
    their cat, who was doing the "where's my breakfast?!?!?" number.
    Finally, the puss settled himself down next to one of them and peed
    on the pillow. :-) :-) That'll teach 'em.
    

    Have you changed brands of litter recently?  A few years ago we
    changed brands of litter because we had moved and the stores near
    us did not carry the brand we had always used.  One of our cats
    decided he did not like the new litter and would not use it.  So,
    he'd go into the bathroom and go behind the toilet.  As soon as
    we went back to the old brand of litter, he began using the box
    again and never went anywhere but the box.
    
    Ande, Sherlock, and Serena
    

    There was an excellent article in Cat Fancy about litter box training
    for the impossible cat - August 1987.  I strongly recommend you read it
    and try some of the suggestions.  I can loan you my copy if you don't
    have access to it from someone else.  I also have the name of an animal
    behaviorist in MA who was referred to me for a spraying problem with
    one of my previous cats.  Please call or send mail if you're interested
    in her name and number. 
    
    I tried the technique described in the Cat Fancy article with Alex II
    and it worked!  Behavior modification with very positive reinforcement
    for correct performance.  I also used all the other suggestions that I
    had read about over the years.  Don't know what exactly worked, but all
    together they did the trick!  Some are listed below: 
    
    (1) I put plastic down to discourage urination where he tended to
    go outside the litter box.
    
    (2) I set up a separate litter box for him from the other cats and
    showed it to him frequently.

    (3) I kept the litter box very clean after each use or as often as
    possible.  I also changed to a very white litter without a lot of extra
    additives.  Some cats really dislike certain brands of litter. 
    
    (4) I put his food dish where he misbehaved and fed him there.
    
    (5) If I ever caught him urinating outside the litter box, I
    immediately picked him up, said "NO" in a harsh voice, took him to the
    litter box and when he urinated, rewarded him with his favorite treat
    and lots of praise. 
    
    (6) I rewarded him with treats and lots of praise whenever I noticed
    him urinating in the litter box on his own. 
    
    I also recommend checking for whatever may be causing your cat
    distress, particularly a new brand of litter or a soiled litter box or
    something changed in the house for family that she may not like. A vet
    checkup is essential to rule out medical problems, and you have
    done that.  It has also been suggested to shut the cat up in a room
    with the new litter box and food and water for an extended period
    of time, but with lots of personal attention, til the behavior is
    corrected.  The time suggested was 2-4 weeks.  Then reintroduce
    her to the rest of the house.  It may be necessary to leave a
    litter box in the room as well as its regular place for a while
    until she readjusts to free access to the whole house.
    
    My sister also tried these techniques on one of her cats who started
    urinating indiscriminately, and they have worked for her, too. 
    Good luck, and I hope some of these suggestions help.