Help needed with rescue cat

[Melinda]

I told you all about the himmi my sis in law adopted from the spca, well we have a giant problem, she pee's everywhere, on mattresses, throw rugs, couch, kitchen chair and in her litter box.

here is all that she tried, took her twice to the vets, no crystals, no fever no illness at all, everything checked out ok, she bought a larger litter box, changed litter, changed food, bought feniway (forget what she called it), shut bedroom doors so she then started peeing on the couch/kitchen chairs, clean clothes in a hamper fresh from the laundry matt. she's bought calming stuff, new toys, changed the litter box spot, she's at her witts end. can anyone suggest anything else at all??? oh she also bought a spray to deter cats from peeing in certain spots...

[Frenchy]

I think it's time for medication. I went through the same years ago with one of my cats and a prescription from the vet was the only thing that helped. It was a long time ago , I don't remember the name of med. It was a type of valiums for cats , it didn't change her behavior other than for the pee issue.

[NoahGrey]

When did you sister adopt the cat? Cats sometimes urinate outside of their litter boxes, because of behaviourial issues. It might be scared, peeved at the owner,etc.

At this time, having the whole run of the house, might be overwhelming for the cat. Try putting her in a room, with the door closed, some feliway and give her attention throughout the day in the room.

Does your sister inlaw, have lots of people over? Even a few people can make a cat wary and act out. How does your sister in law act, when this happens. Does she scream and get frustated? If so, trying remaining calm,talk in a low voice and reasurre the cat. I would hold out on the meds for now.

Some cats, depending on how long they have been at the shelter, what happened to them before they came to the shelter, etc..it can take weeks/months for a cat to gain trust and not act out.

ACO22

[Melinda]

sister in law doesn't have a lot of people over, mostly her grand daughter and great grandaughter a couple times a week, there is only her and her husband at home. she doesn't freak out or yell at Ms Kitty, she picks her up, tells her firmly "you know you can't do that, you have your litter" and takes her to it, its a quiet household, she was at the shelter for 4 days and before that a stray found on the street, the vet said she wasn't a stray long because she wasn't matted or dirty and had recently been spayed (it was all healed up). where can you buy feliway?? she has the litter box in the washroom and her food on the other side of the room. When she leaves now she puts the cat in the room.

[Melinda]

any suggestions of a good wet canned food??

[Bailey_]

I agree with AC022; it can take a while for cats to adapt to new situations, especially new situations all at once.

It sounds like this cat is very stressed out. If she wasn't at the shelter for very long, and she wasn't a stray for very long, chances are she came from a home and is missing her old environment.

Either way it's great that your sister in law continue putting her in her litter whenever she catches the kitty in the cat.

We give Wellness to our cats for a soft food treat. They love it!

[TwinTails]

Majik does that as well - we found she needed a box close to where she slept, with no cover, with always clean litter. When she first started peeing on other things, it was because we had adopted a male cat (big bossy dude). 11 years and many vet visits later, it's now a bad bad habit of hers. We did originally solve it by placing a used ragged towel over the litter - she could piddle on the fabric that she wanted, but it was confined to the pan. Of course now we keep the boxes clean and within reach for her. Hope you find a good solution!

[NoahGrey]

Originally Posted by Melinda

any suggestions of a good wet canned food??

Wellness dry and wet is a good. It is a great brand, however some find it expensive. Cans are around $2 and a big bag (5IB) is around $30.

ACO22

[chico2]

Melinda,she can get Feli-Way at the vet(very expensive!)or buy it on E-Bay from the US,much cheaper

[Love4himies]

Himalayans are very, very sensitive to change. They are sweet timid kitties that prefer a quiet home, but it sounds like this home is quiet.

There are 3 reasons a cat will pee,

Health, you have eliminated that one.

Litter box fear (something happened to scare the kitty while in the litter box).

And territorial.

Is the kitty litter box in a quiet place that the cat can easily get to at all times? Is there a particular time that the kitty pees outside the box, like only when there is company over, just after company has been visiting or is it random?

Also, some cats won't pee near their food. Try moving the food to the other end of the house. A cat doesn't need access to food all the time.

It could also be possible the the cat is quite happy in her new home and is marking her territory just to make sure no other cat moves in. Do they have scratching posts around for the cat to scratch at to leave her scent? Close to the cat's sleeping areas would be best.

[TacoGrl]

May sound dumb, but is the cat maybe blind? A friend of my mom's had a Himalayan once...cute little thing, but it peed on the bed and didn't go too many places in the house...she was spayed and the only animal in the house...turned out she was blind

My friend ended up putting a cover on the bed and moving the litter box into the bedroom (only room the kitty went in) and then the kitty got used to things and the peeing stopped...

[Melinda]

thanks all, she's removing the top from the litter, bought the feniway that you plug into the wall, moved the food from the same room. She isn't blind Taco girl, beleive me *L* she saw the string hanging from my camera in my pocker from about 10 feet away and came running. I'll keep you guys updated.

[catlover2]

You say you have just one litter box? Maybe she wants more boxes. Some cats like to have one for peeing and one for pooping.

If extra boxes don't work within a week, your sil will have to try and retrain her . If it comes to that, she should buy/borrow a large wire dog crate. Get her used to it by feeding all her meals and treats in it. Set it up with cat bed or blanket, litter box & water in a warm draft-free place, in a room where cat spends most of its time. Confine cat to the crate any time when your sil cannot observe it constantly to catch her if she looks like she's going to pee somewhere. Any time she sees cat use the litter box, she should praise her with lots of "Good girl!"s. When she does let her out of the crate, your sil should lavish lots of attention on her by playing with her, petting her or grooming her (if she really likes it). Himmies are sensitive to changes, and I do hope your sil can get this inappropriate elimination behaviour turned around. Hope you'll keep us updated.

[Melinda]

little update, sis in law had a company come in and steam clean her mattresses and couch, removed the cover of the littler box, changed brands of litter, slowling changing the food, moved the food to another room completely and so far *knock on wood* Ms Kitty has not had a peeing out of the litter box episode since saturday morning. In fact, we were on the phone at 9 am when she looked over and saw her peeing on the couch. We also found out about some "cat attract" litter with we suspect catnip in it that is 100% to work, so that will be our next try. but so far so good, thanks guys for all your suggestions, we welcome anymore you can think of

[Love4himies]

Oh, yes, catlover , I forgot about that. There are many cats that prefer two different boxes for pooping and peeing.