Need some advice please!

[doriansmomma]

Hey Guys, I have a real issue on my hands & need some advice! My kitty Pear is a year & a half old & initially had litter box issues when we first got him. Being a rescue, I expected a few issues. We overcame it by placing 3 litter boxes in the places he would frequently go. We were problem free for around 6 months. But then....We got Baby Pear! (February/March of this year)

Things were fine for about a month after getting Baby Pear. But I noticed here & there that Pear would take a crap in the corner or on clothing. I cleaned it up, and didn't think much of it. By June, it became a real issue. We took him to the vet, ran every test the vet could think of that would elude to a medical issue. (Even put him on antibiotics for a UTI to be on the safe side) Once we ruled out medical, I figured that maybe he just was having issues with the litter. So, I bought pellets, clay, clumping, non-clumping, crystals, newspaper type, all to no avail.

By the end of June to early July, he stopped using the litter box all together. Previously, it was only poop on my floors & pee in the boxes. Now he is pissing & pooping wherever he feels like it. I took him back to the vet in the beginning of September & had the vet re-run all of tests, again, he received a completely clean bill of health.

My vet told me it is a behavioral issue & that he is 100% sure it has to do with Baby Pear. And basically Pear will need to live in a 1 cat home. (And that since he is so used to defecating wherever he wants in mine, it will most likely never be hopeful he will stop in our home)

My husband is seriously ready to throw the cat on the front porch or drop him off at the Humane Society. I have tried everything & I just don't know what to do. Obviously I would never allow anyone including the man I am married to bring my cat anywhere. But I am at a loss for words & really have NO idea what to do. I just keep cleaning up the pee & poop hoping to god I see it before my husband does.

This has been causing allot of issues in my home, hubby is at his witts end, I get so mad at him for not being sensitive to the situation, and we have fought more about what to do with this cat in the past 4 months then we have for 8 years. Does ANYONE have any words of advice or feedback? --Heather

 

[sphynxie]

Wish I had some advice but I am new to all of this. Hopefully one of our multi- sphynx owning lair members has some advice that will help. You are a great owner being so patient with baby pear!

 

[doriansmomma]

Thank you =(

I hope so too....My only solution I can come up with is to find him a new home, but how would I find someone that would understand a sphynx & be patient with him until the behavior is fixed? (And someone without another cat) I am in tears just thinking about. This cat is truly like my child.

 

[ilovemysphynx]

Well Heather first let me say that I can totally understand because I have been thru this and cat pee is the #1 worst thing to have around your house and very hard to get out once a cat has gone just wherever forever.
First off are they both males? Because if so I have found that that is very hard because usually one of them wants to mark to let the other know who is boss especially when one is a rescue and used to this kind of thing.
Second are they both fixed? I not this may help.
It sure sounds like you are doing your best but eventually you are going to have to make a choice before your home is a giant pee pot. It may be that a one cat home is what is best for him.


Best of luck and please keep us posted.

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

It sounds as if you have tried every litter available. I have never used Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract Litter, but have heard great thing about it. Is there any way to have a space in your home that exclusively belongs to Pear that Baby Pear can't go. I wish providing Pear with a space to call his own might relieve his stress and jealousy.

 

[doriansmomma]

Hey guys, thanks for the replys....

They are both males & both fixed! and I have tried the attract litter too! I exhausted all of the options I could possibly think of & I am just now to the point where I honestly don't know who to turn to or where to turn too.

Baby Pear uses the litter box loyally & because of that, giving Pear his "own" litter box would never work. Baby Pear will even purposely will throw the litter out of the boxes to cover Pear's messes. (He is mortified that Pear uses the floor!)

 

[ShadyLaine]

If it is behavioural/hormonal in nature, then Feliway diffusers/spray may work. they calm cats down. There are also drugs you can use for inappropriate urination, if it is anxiety caused.

 

[laurame]

I had to retrain my cat to use the litter box by keeping him in a small space for awhile. I kept him in a tiled bathroom for a few weeks with a litterbox and food and water. It sucked for him and I but it retrained him. I Feli-way and Catlitter attracted him all at once too. Hope this helps!!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

It looks like you have already gotten great advice. I sure do hope you find a solution so you don't have to part with your baby. I couldn't even imagine!!

I agree with those that have mentioned the Feliaway diffusers and the anxiety/behavorial medications that may help. Maybe mention the medications to your vet and see if he can help. If not find a vet who can.

 

[susi794]

Pear may be telling you he doesn't like his litterbox. Try a different kind, or just a new one of the same kind he is used to. Some cats have rules about how the box bottom feels--the depth of the litter has to be just right, some don't like to feel the bottom, some do. As the box ages, the texture of the bottom changes and he might not like it. A couple of mine started doing that and I was beside myself--got a litter robot and the problem is gone. You just have to learn Pear's rules. Try a new box. Try the Feliway. What are you using to clean up the pee and poop? You need to use a good enzymatic cleaner and nothing with ammonia in it. Then if all else fails, kennel him with his litterbox or restrict him to a small space with just him and his food/water and a litterbox until he gets the idea. Google urinating and defacating outside the litterbox too for some other ideas too if none of those work. It's worth a shot.
Keep us posted.

 

[Bella07]

I have a female (DLH) who is spayed. Last year, for about a year, she stopped using her litter box. She would go anywhere in the house she wanted. I was really frusturated...after all, cat pee is disgusting. Someone once told me that if something "traumatic" happened to a cat while they were going to the bathroom in the litter box, this could lead to this behavior.

So, I ended up buying a brand new litter box, and placing it in the opposite end of the house. And, I'm happy to say that she started using her box again and stopped going all around the house.

I can't offer any other advice, but best of luck! I really hope that you are able to find a solution so you can keep your boy.

 

[doriansmomma]

Hey everyone, my internet was down for a few days! (AT&T SUCKS!)

I have 3 completely different types of litter boxes, one is covered & deep, one is an automatic & the other is just a simple shallow uncovered box. We went through that when the first issue. I never did try different depths of litter though.....

We also tried putting him in the tiled bathroom with a litter box figuring the smaller space would work, but I came home every night to pee behind our toilet. (Stopped trying after a week of him traumatized from being locked in the bathroom alone)

I am going to mention the anxiety root to the vet & see what he thinks of that, but I am really afraid that if we "fix" the cat, my husband is really beyond "repair." He hates Pear. Well, let me rephrase, he hates the way our house smells, and can't stand stepping in a warm puddle of pee in his socks, which has caused him to really dislike Pear. (And he wants him to go)

Do I continue to fight with him over it & keep trying? Or, do I find Pear a new home & lose my baby to someone that may not have the patience I have with him? Talk about a catch 22. No easy answer I guess.

 

[Gizzymom]

Maybe I am just slow... (LOL)... but you have Pear and Baby Pear, right? And Baby Pear came 2nd? How old was Pear when you got Baby Pear? Maybe just a jealous reaction?

Or maybe I read everything wrong... I can be scatterbrained!

 

[Gullivers Keeper]

Have you tried Feliway yet? Get a couple and plug them in around the house, give it some time and see what happens. They are not cheap but most people say worth it. I really think it's why the new addition is already welcome in our home after 2 days. Just make sure you get one for every 500 sq feet.

 

[gizmo6370]

If i had to rehome anybody.....i should go for the last one who came in....when you had one....there was no problem...then you took another one in and the problems started....
I would feel very sad if i had to rehome my first cat....because of an intruder
( from the cats point of view )...so in my opinion....last in...first out....

 

[gizmo6370]

But you can always try the feliway first....or seek help in behaviour therapy....

Dog behaviour therapy. Counselling and training for dogs, cats and other pets. Teacher's Pets

 

[Gizzymom]

If i had to rehome anybody.....it should go for the last one who came in....when you had one....there was no problem...then you took another one in and the problems started....
I would feel very sad if i had to rehome my first cat....because of an intruder
( from the cats point of view )...so in my opinion....last in...first out....

That is what I was thinking, Gizmo6370.... I would be broken hearted to get rid of my "first born" when the problem only occurred after the new addition... Just glad I am not in a position to make a decision like that!

Good luck, Dorians mom...

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

It does sound like an anxiety/stress issue. I would start with the feliway for Big Pear and a really good enzymatic pee cleaner to help relieve your husbands stress over the smell.

Is there any way to test out the Baby Pear trigger theory by placing baby Pear with a friend for a couple of weeks and see how Big Pear does?