F4 Savannahs unsocial

[savannahmommy]

We recently, about a month ago, got two beautiful F4 Savannahs, brother and sister. Our female is Roxy and our male is Tank; they are 7 mos. old. I noticed Tank is twice the size of Roxy, which I have never seen before. We also have a Bombay cat named Midnight. All three cats seem to get along; they play all night long up and down our hallway.

Tank doesn't seem to come out much when we are up, however, Roxy comes out quite a bit, when she isn't sleeping. Neither one of them will let us hold them, yet. When we approach them they run. I know both of them see Midnight getting all this attention and love, and I figured they would see that they would get the same attention. However, I am having some issues with Roxy peeing on my daughter's bed. I have been reading that it is possible she isn't able to make it to the litter box, but that isn't the case here considering Roxy has to climb to the top bunk to use the bathroom.

Can someone help?? I would like to know what I can do to get them adjusted so they will allow us to hold them, and what I can do to stop her from peeing on my daughters bed.

 

[Patti]

I am not sure how you first introduced the two cats into your household but I'm guessing by getting older kittens they were already bonded to each other so have had no reason to bond with you. My suggestion would be to start all over from scratch. Put each cat in quarantine, meaning in their own room by themselves where their only interaction will be with the humans. These rooms should preferably be on opposite sides of the home so that they cannot call/communicate with each other. This can be a bathroom or a bedroom, but preferably someplace where they can't hide all day long (e.g., under a bed).

Spend as much time with them in these separate rooms as possible, but don't force your attention on them. Sit on the floor, read a book out loud, play with them using a wand toy, perhaps touch them as they walk by but don't grab them or try to pick them up until they seem receptive to the attention. If possible only feed them when you are in there. I would do this for a minimum of two weeks, but in reality it might take longer before you start to see a positive response from them in their interactions with you.

As for the urinating on the bed - this may be spite peeing, but if you start over with the quarantine you should be able to break this cycle. Be sure to wash the bedding and the mattress thoroughly with a strong enzyme cleaner such as Anti-Icky-Poo or Ultimate Distributors (I have yet to find a good enzyme cleaner in the local pet store). Make sure none of the bedding is down - that seems to attract cats to pee for some reason. If this behavior persists my next move would be to cover the bed with a waterproof tarp - cats will not pee somewhere when their urine will possibly get on their feet or splash on them - or even simpler, keep the bedroom door shut and the cats out.

If all else fails, consider consulting with a cat behavioralist such as Marilyn Krieger www.thecatcoach.com

 

[KMcgown]

It could also be the litter. We thought my daughters cat was spite peeing but we had changed the litter 6 months prior and we thought, what the heck, lets change it back. She actually did stop going outside the box. I thought it was odd that is was month later but that is a kitty for you

I like Patti's suggestion for bonding and re-introduction. I think that sounds like a good plan.

 

[Trish Allearz]

And make sure you have enough boxes! Role of thumb is one box per cat, plus one.

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