Posted on 08/10/2008 9:17:48 PM PDT by Huntress
Dear FReeper Cat Fanciers:
I've had a one human, two cat household for the past six years. I moved into my current home about nine months ago. Since then, both cats, Norman and Betty (see my homepage for pics), have lived in relative harmony and shared one large litter box. Recently, however, I've started to hear yowling at night from the litterbox room, and one of the cats has taken to urinating on the carpet in the corner of the dining room. I've cleaned up numerous messes, and have been trying to figure out what the problem is.
My first theory was that one of them has a urinary tract infection, and is going outside the box because it associates the litterbox with pain. In order to figure out which cat has an aversion to the litterbox, I picked up each one and attempted to place it in the box. Betty resisted vigorously, and I was unable even to force her inside. Then I tried the same thing with Norman. He seemed displeased, but didn't resist too much. I got him halfway in, when Betty went absolutely berzerk and attacked him. I've never seen her behave this way, and she stayed mad for a long time, growling at me whenever I approached.
After this encounter, I came up with my second theory: they are having a litterbox territorial dispute. So I got a second litterbox. I wanted this one to be Norman's, so I picked him up and set him down inside it. He jumped out and ran off as Betty went berzerk again. Norman sought refuge in the garage, where he and Betty are in the midst of a standoff.
Betty is the dominant cat of the two, and she is definitely the agressor in this situation. I am now at a loss. I can't figure out why this problem is happening now, after six years, why Betty is behaving this way, and what to do about it.
Any ideas, theories, or possible solutions?
Thanks.
Huntress
very carefully
one cat is just “peed” off at the other one
why not consult the “anointed one”? he can do everything?
bring people and cats together (sarcasm)
Take her to the vet. You’re probably correct to assume she has a medical problem.
I have three neutered boys and there are rarely any issues with them. Reilly, my mouser, suddenly started spraying the house and urinating everywhere *but* the box or outside. He also started attacking the other cats. We had lots of fights for awhile there.
I was so fed up I was about to give him away or put him down. As a last ditch effort I took him to the vet. She shot him up with antibiotics and all the problems went away.
The poor guy just had a bad UTI. He was stressed, in pain and grumpy.
I will try this. Thank you.
See my post #83.
How does one collect a urine sample from a cat?
_____________________
We set up a clean litter box, and at each end bring a fold of the liner down over the litter forming a little pocket or depression on top of the underlying litter across the tray at each end about two inches wide. The cat usually pees at an end and some or most of the urine will be collected in these liner depressions without the underlying litter contaminating it.
The cat may scratch up a few grains of litter into the urine but it is biologically clean and should be OK.
This is usually enouch of a sample (one or two tablespoons) to take in for analysis.
The other option is to give the cat a cup and tell him to go in the bathroom and pee in it.
I suggest the first method.
Sam's Club or Costco are good places to get peroxide. Two one-quart bottles for less than two dollars.
First, add more litter boxes. Second, makes sure you clean up where the cat urinated on the floor with a cleaner designed to clean up cat urine. You can find enzyme cleaners in pet stores. Third, try locking the aggressive cat up for two weeks. That sometimes will “reset” their behavior. Finally, there are “happy cat” pheromone sprays that you can buy that are supposed to calm cats down. They aren’t cheap but they might reduce the aggressive behavior.
Remember that cats don’t train like dogs. They don’t care what you want and punishing them will only make them afraid of you. You need to convince them that they want to do what you want them to do.
I also assume you have both cats fixed. If not, do that.
Cats are just killers in disguise. My daughters kitty will ambush me from anywhere, and I never know where the attack is coming from!!!!
This is my suggestion also. And boy kitties are particularly prone to UTI/bladder infections. If that's the problem, antibiotics should fix that right up.
yup. Sounds like a UTI or something to me, too. Male cats get UTIs a lot from dry cat food, apparently.
Cat, the other white meat.
Olympic boycott?
It's worth a few bucks.
Did you take them to the vet to make sure it wasn’t a urinary problem? Also, the two litter boxes in each end of the house is good.
Yeah...because there is nothing like a noisy barking needy smelly drooling poop eating dog to walk at least 3 times a day.
They need two litter boxes. I am a “one” person, “two” cat household also. I use two boxes, and they each have their favorite box. The only problems I have outside the boxes is when they find a dark towel, or article of clothing on the floor — they think it is an invitation to poop/pee on the item. I suggest laying a while towel in the urine corner to discourage going in that place.
while = white
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