Cat pee!

RE: Cat pee!

ih220 — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 17:22:13 GMT

I believe in general girls tend to get the hang of it more quickly and easily than boys (though obviously doesn't apply to everyone), so it might not all be rose tinted specs if yours were both girls!

RE: Cat pee!

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 13:44:41 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]Maybe its the mists of time or the rose tinted specs but I don't recall problems toilet training my daughters.[/quote]

Of course you don't. I thought you worked 24/7 when they were growing up?

[/quote]Yup and they spent a lot of the time at the surgery with me, on occasions in a baby bouncer or push chair in the op theatre while performing a caesarian in the middle of the night with my wife assisting. I did my fair share of nappy changing.

RE: Cat pee!

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 13:26:32 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]Maybe its the mists of time or the rose tinted specs but I don't recall problems toilet training my daughters.[/quote]

Of course you don't. I thought you worked 24/7 when they were growing up?

RE: Cat pee!

Dagmar Steele — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:53:35 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

[quote user="Julie Innes"]Good luck with the toilet training ih220! I remember those days well!!![/quote]Maybe its the mists of time or the rose tinted specs but I don't recall problems toilet training my daughters. The elder one has the constitution of an ox, was out of nappies in the blink of an eye and could hold on all day. Even now she can outlast and is quicker than most men. When younger one said she needed to go she needed to go there and then but accidents were still few and far between.

[/quote]

Kids are ver different. Mine were the two ends of the spectrum, one had no issues at all, the other one lost urine when asleep until the age of nine. And had some stool issues as well. I have come to accept that we can't actually influence much of it but clean it up and be kind. Now that they're both teenagers all this is forgotten, you just brought some memories back.

RE: Cat pee!

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:33:04 GMT

RE: Cat pee!

Julie Innes — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 09:13:08 GMT

Update: We've been shutting him in the upstairs bathroom last thing at night for a week now, and while he doesn't always use the litter tray overnight, he doesn't appear to be peeing anywhere else! He tends to go out now in the morning and stay out till the kids come home from school, when daughter watches him (he's usually in her room anyway). I have once caught him attempting to pee on the lamp stand on the way past, but caught him in time. have soaked the downstairs with totalcare, so we shall see....

Good luck with the toilet training ih220! I remember those days well!!!

RE: Cat pee!

ih220 — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 19:03:01 GMT

Urgh, sounds horrible.... I am dreading it, but he's three now and I can't put it off any longer. Though still probably easier to deal with than a cat peeing round the house!

RE: Cat pee!

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:37:37 GMT

[quote user="ih220"]and at least he'll probably tell me when he's weed on the bed or something![/quote]

I wouldn't bet on it!!

(My toddler started toilet training...and then got a bout of gastroenteritis. Wasn't nice. )

RE: Cat pee!

ih220 — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:25:58 GMT

I'm sure you've thought of this but could another cat be coming in from outside? I had a client whose cat's indoor toileting issues were entirely solved by a microchip catflap. I have also had quite a few clients who had two cats apparently cohabiting amicably until one died and then the other one became much more confident and relaxed - the clients often interpreted this as a grief reaction ('Fluffy is missing Tiddles so wants lots of cuddles'). I didn't have the heart to tell them that I thought it was more likely that Fluffy was much happier having the house to themselves.... Tension between cats can be very subtle I think so it may be that there is something going on between the two cats in your household.

Also, having another cat to stay just for the weekends does sound like an extra source of stress (even if it seems to improve the peeing situation temporarily). Maybe the resident two cats can deal with each other when it's just them but adding another cat into the mix is just a bit too much with the resources available? Could another option be the practice cat staying in the garage or confined to one room rather than having the run of the house?

You have my sincere sympathy about living with this though - I'm about to start potty training my toddler and am dreading cleaning up all the accidents (housework is not my strong point...) and at least he'll probably tell me when he's weed on the bed or something!

RE: Cat pee!

George Cooper — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 20:13:30 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

[quote user="George Cooper"]insists on accompanying me on my own personal toiletting excursions....it made me think I had a leaky hot water bottle.... [/quote]Crikey George do you live in a hovel with no heating and an outside 'convenience'!

[/quote]

HA - a chuckle out loud moment! At 1300 feet up on the Epynt it can often be brass monkey-ish! And the only 'thing' outside is my very own, garden "Gin Room"!

RE: Cat pee!

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 18:56:30 GMT

RE: Cat pee!

George Cooper — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 15:44:23 GMT

Despite being a SA poofter (as my LA 'colleagues' unkindly labelled me years ago) I am on the side of the ejectors.

Living as I do up a Welsh hill, with more sheep than humans for immediate company, in a hamlet of 5 houses and a listed church, we were, until a trapping offensive was effective, running the gauntlet of a rural feral feline battalioN. And about 5 years ago I elected to rescue a delightful grey tabby thing from deep in a thorn hedge - who has turned out to be the recurrent winner of the most gormless cat in Powys. Since then one of the small army of enforcedly neutered decided to move in, won't be stroked or touched yet insists on accompanying me on my own personal toiletting excursions. He, with his amputated pinna, is unimpeachably trustworthy and is my guard cat when I'm out at work, patrolling the premises extensively.

the gormless one, however, is, as my esteemed and aggressive anti-peeing-cats-colleagues on here eschew, banned. That is BANNED. Unless I am around to put him under surveillance. Constantly.

His crime? He pissed on my bed. Twice. Once whilst I was in it, and it made me think I had a leaky hot water bottle, until the aroma arrived at my nostrils. Since then, despite his entreatment to make friends, and his loving glances, and his patrols of the garden, faithfully, at my heels, he will never cross my threshold by day or by night. Ever.

And so - the point! OUT, damn pisser, out. Banishment is thine. (Brilliant coat, though!)

as a footnote I have used, with success, Fluoxetine liquid in cases where stress seems to be the root of the evil, whatever that might be.

RE: Cat pee!

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 15:00:39 GMT

[quote user="Julie Innes"]maybe little sweet Mo has been bullying him![/quote]Not necessarily bullying, just one cat may be more dominant in one part of the house than the other and vice versa and by pooling each cat's resources in a place they are comfortable with they don't have to run the gauntlet unless they choose not only when they are forced by the need to access those resources if they are split.

RE: Cat pee!

Michael Woodhouse — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 02:13:18 GMT

[quote user="Julie Innes"]You can't just bin pets when they get behavioural issues![/quote]

Oh you absolutely can, I think what you mean is whether you should!

It double edged and I agree that a solution should be sought first but there is no way on earth I am living with a cat pissing in my house. Some behavioural issues cannot be fixed. My point is valid that replacing pissy cat with a nice one who will coexist with you could be the better option.

We don't have to fix everything.

RE: Cat pee!

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 19:54:05 GMT

Good luck Julie. it wears you down I know , constantly finding pee and cleaning up after a piddling pet. Sounds like you're on the right lines now so hang on in there for the long haul.

RE: Cat pee!

Julie Innes — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 19:27:49 GMT

I'm locking him in the upstairs bathroom unless we're around to watch him or he's outside. He actually seems a bit happier for having his own space in the bathroom so maybe little sweet Mo has been bullying him! Have soaked everywhere he used to pee in totals are and will continue to do so. Husband is happy that I am making the effort too

RE: Cat pee!

Jill Butterworth — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 17:02:32 GMT

I think it's definitely going to take 2 weeks to do a few cleaning laps of the house.

RE: Cat pee!

Rob Davis — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 15:53:38 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

[quote user="Jill Butterworth"]Could use soil...[/quote]

To bury the cat? That's where my thinking would be going. Like Wren there is no way I would tolerate this. Either live outside or become an ex-cat. Lots of kittens looking for homes that won't piss in the house

[/quote]

I've given you one star, but only because Wynne's no longer here to do it for herself....

RE: Cat pee!

Julie Innes — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 12:32:49 GMT

Thanks, Holly, that's really useful. I did buy some of that totalcare stuff from animalcare, it's supposed to have biological enzymes to do the job. Anyone used it before?

RE: Cat pee!

Julie Innes — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 12:29:59 GMT

Oh you large animal vets are harsh!!! I feel, rightly or wrongly, that the cat's issues are my responsibility. You can't just bin pets when they get behavioural issues! Especially as they are usually somehow the owners fault...

RE: Cat pee!

Holly Norman — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 09:16:32 GMT

Just as an adjunct, here is the advice Jon Bowen (RVC) sent me when I was asking about a persistent pee-er!

Cleaning up urine and faeces marks

House-soiling and indoor marking can begin for a number of reasons but, in some cases it continues purely because the cat can detect the trace smell of urine or faeces. Removing these odours is essential to stop the problem.

The best way to remove odours from existing sites is as follows:

Make up 3 sprayer bottles, labelled 1, 2, and 3. They should be filled in accordance with the following instructions:

1: A solution of biological clothes washing powder or liquid in water [approximately 1 part of powder/liquid cleaner to 10 parts of water].

2: Plain water.

3: Surgical spirit [clear surgical spirit, not coloured methylated spirit]

You also need a bucket and rolls of paper kitchen towel. Do not use reusable cloths to clean with because they tend to spread the scent. Keep the spray bottles and towel in the bucket to avoid leaving scent marks where they have been placed on the floor.

Each soiled site should be cleaned in the following way:

Use paper towel to remove any urine and faeces. Dispose of the towel
Spray the area with bottle 1 and then wipe clean with paper towel. Dispose of the paper towel.
Spray with bottle 2, wipe clean and mop dry with paper towel. Dispose of the paper towel
Spray with bottle 3, and allow to dry completely before allowing the cat into this area.

You should test this cleaning method on a small and inconspicuous area of the wallpaper, furniture, carpet or fabric you are cleaning to ensure that it will not be damaged. If you are cleaning curtains or furniture covers that can be removed and washed then machine-wash or dry clean them according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

How often to clean?

Once you have cleaned a particular spot once, it is tempting to leave it until the cat soils there again. In fact, this means that urine odours will continue to accumulate because one round of cleaning will never be enough to remove all of the odour.

Make a chart of all the places where your cat has ever left urine or faeces.
Clean every one of these places once to start with, so that the whole house is clean.
Then clean them all a few days later to remove any remaning odour.
Then regularly clean check all previous places where urine or faeces have been found and clean them accordingly.

RE: Cat pee!

Michael Woodhouse — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 23:02:42 GMT

[quote user="Jill Butterworth"]Could use soil...[/quote]

RE: Cat pee!

Jill Butterworth — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 22:36:06 GMT

Excellent news! It's saved you having to swap cats with Wren to settle Martin down...

RE: Cat pee!

Julie Innes — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 09:06:42 GMT

Lots of good advice! Update- still waiting for cage to arrive, but have shut him in the upstairs bathroom with bed (beside the radiator), food and litter tray- and he has used the litter tray both nights !! been going out during the day, and don't think peeing in the house! Will see how it goes, but lots of good advice on here to fall back on, so thanks!

RE: Cat pee!

Wren — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:31:20 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]It shows that you're not an SA vet! Forcing the cat to change its behaviour against its normal preference will only make matters worse. Bad advice Wren. If you're that mean the cat is better off re-homed in a different environment.[/quote]

I'm as usual mostly on the tongue in cheek side, hence the smilies. However it was a perfectly sensible option for our cat, who has moved home with us several times and was originally an outside cat on our farm. In almost all of her homes since the farm she's had free and direct access to the outside world (window, cat flap etc), however this is not possible in our latest house and I can't cope with the mess/smell so kicking her out at night (with free access to a warm tackroom, which she uses) is not really significantly changing her behaviour, and I refuse to believe she'd be better off rehomed.