Help with inappropriate elimination

[Evie]

Hi Patti and Deborah, I am feeling very stressed. Kitoko had a loose poo on her own bedding during the night. I think she had a bit of an upset stomach as she later used her tray to go again. Now her poo is back to normal. She had tried some different treats so I have stopped those and will put it down to that. She did wee again on my bed this morning and again this afternoon. The bed I refer to is in the spare room - her quarantine room - where I have been sleeping to help bond with her and help her to settle. The other cats do wander in during the day and do use her litter trays.- as she is out in the main house all day now - Kitoko seems chilled and relaxed when they are in there with her. There are three trays in her room and another four around the house - she is happy to use all of them. She seems completely chilled about weeing on that bed though and i have now closed the door. The bedding is in the wash! I really don't know what to do tonight. I could take the bedding off just leaving the waterproof mattress cover and leave her in their alone. Or I can open the house to her and sleep back in my room - upstairs - although I leave the door open for my boys to come and go as they please. So she will likely keep us up all night playing. I have just made some notes from both of your replies and will ring her breeder. I am trying to join the breed mentors group - thank you Patti. I have had females before and not had them spayed until their sixth month but never had this behaviour. I will also contact my vet for is advice. Thank you both very much.

 

[WitchyWoman]

Forgot to ask if any of the bedding is made from down. Cats have been known to be inexplicably attracted to peeing on feather bedding.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

What are you washing the bedding with also? Bleach is something that attracts some cats to pee, and as Witchy mentions, down can be an attractant too.

When you click to join SV Breed Mentors yahoogroup, you should be auto-sent a questionnaire to fill out and return. Until we get that your membership won't be approved. Let me know if you didn't get that and I can go investigate.

Was Kitoko raised in a house or in a caged cattery setup? Was wondering if that is part of the issue, before she came to your house she may not have seen beds etc?

 

[Evie]

Hi Brigitte and Deborah, I have bought a washing liquid especially designed to remove cat pee. I have to soak everything in that before washing. My mattress I have had to hope for the best with. I took it outside and soaked it after the first accident and it had the waterproof protector on it the second time so I am hoping for the best - the weather is changing here and we have had heavy showers its already been a nightmare getting sheets dry! Lol! Such fun!! I only have some down filled pillows which have been ignored - so far.

I believe that Kitoko was born indoors but she didn't have run of the house or probably see a bed.

I spoke to the breeder last night and she advised me to let her roam with the boys at night now as it sounded to her that the marking was linked to separation anxiety. We did this last night. I have closed off her old room. She did fine last night and we all managed some sleep! Lol! Her breeder said to get her into the same routine as the boys is if they go outdoors take her too. I think I will try this today. She hops in her carrier okay and although I think she will hate being carried down to the enclosure she will like it when she gets there. Just a little worried about getting her back. But I'm sure Moses can help coax her back later. I am just really hoping this will work. The breeder feels that I need to break the peeing cycle asap and was really sympathetic. She said that her F1 breeding female has never once gone outside her box and I shouldn't expect this behavior even if I breed. We will see but maybe the mix of indoors and out will help. I have plans to convert my garage into a room/nursery for breeding and or isolation purposes with its own run. I can't afford this right away as I have already had lots of building work, the enclosure and my cat. So I may have to cope best I can for her first litter..

I will contact my vet and see if he can come over and check she is in good health. She certainly looks great.

I have received the email questionnaire and will complete it a bit later.

Thank you all so much and wish me luck with the pee free zone!

 

[admin]

Evie, it could be that she has a urinary tract infection as well, which I saw someone ask about...every kitten/cat is different and will react differently to hormones kicking in...so because your breeder's F1 doesn't spray, does not mean your kitten will not...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Agreed with Paige, always check out the urinary tract angle before assuming it is behavioral. And realize that every cat IS different and what the mom does is not always what the daughter does. I've had generations down the line here to have observed that myself!

I hope your breeder's advice helps. I can see the sense in letting her run around with your other cats to see if that helps. Just make sure you keep a close eye on the rest of your house for pee spots that you can sometimes miss if not careful!

Good luck!

What's the name of the laundry detergent?

 

[Evie]

Hello, the product I am using to pre wash my linen is called Simple Solution stain and odour remover.
I am hoping my vet will be able to do a home visit to check she is okay.
Last night went okay and today she spent a few hours in her enclosure, with Moses, I managed to coax her into her carrier, she didn't like that at all and I hope she hasn't lost faith in me she certainly seemed to recover very quickly and has now crashed out with Moses. I am sure it won't be easy to fool her into getting into the carrier again tomorrow but I need to get her into a routine now I think. She looked amazing out there and really enjoyed herself. I missed a major photo/video opportunity as I was so worried about getting her down there as stress free as possible, I forgot my camera and phone! I will try and get some and share them on here.

I agree that all cats are different and how mum was is no real indicator. She has been randomly Peeing since I had her and I feel that its stress related - at least initially - I am obviously keen to rule out and illness or infection.

I am keeping everything crossed for another dry night! I will keep you posted and thanks again for all the advice

 

[Patti]

I'm not sure that Simple Solution will thoroughly eliminate the urine, you might consider investing in Unique Distributors, it is aSTRONG enzyme cleaner you can use in the wash, and you can purchase it online.

If she is happy in the outdoor enclosure that might be the most appropriate place to house her. You may need to make some adjustments to compensate for the weather but at least your home will then be pee free.

 

[Evie]

I'm not sure that Simple Solution will thoroughly eliminate the urine, you might consider investing in Unique Distributors, it is aSTRONG enzyme cleaner you can use in the wash, and you can purchase it online.

If she is happy in the outdoor enclosure that might be the most appropriate place to house her. You may need to make some adjustments to compensate for the weather but at least your home will then be pee free.

Hi Patti, I will order some of the Unique Distributors - in the hope I won't need it.

I would need to make alterations to the enclosure if she were to be down there permanently. I didn't think it would be used for anything other than a place to spend time in during the day and weather permitting! She seems like a different cat this evening so chilled out - she had a lovely time out today. I hope she will cooperate with getting in and out of the carrier so that i csn get her into a routine. I will keep everything crossed that she will be able to break the peeing cycle. If she does have an infection are they easy to clear up? I hope it isn't but I guess at least I would know the cause.
Thanks again and I will let you know how she is doing.

 

[Patti]

Perhaps daily outings in the enclosure will be enough to keep her calm and happy! Try putting treats in the carrier so it becomes an enjoyable activity to go into. You can do this several times a day, not just when you want to get her out into (or out of) the enclosure. That will help get her used to going in and out, and make it easier on you when it's time to transport her.

UTIs can usually be easily treated with antibiotics. The kicker is that they'll need to take a urine sample and if she is unhappy at the vet's they might need to gas her down to get the specimen. Giving her the antibiotic may be tricky (another reason to get her used to taking treats from you). If she is difficult to give medicine to and you're given a liquid antibiotic you might be able to mix it with a bit of wet food, if a tablet you can try hiding it in a piece of cheese or chicken. I have had a couple of cats that I had to withhold food all day long until time for their anibiotic to make sure they would eat it, then give them additional food after the antibiotic was all gone. There is also a one-time injectible antibiotic which is really nice, if the infection is susceptible to cephalosporin antibiotics.