Help me de-stress my cat!

[Leids]

Hi ladies!

I have 2 cats, a girly cat and a boy. They're both very young cats, around 2 years old. My boy cat loves the baby, wants tons of baby cuddles, tries to give kitty cat kisses (which I won't allow because I know where that mouth has been )! My girly cat on the other hand is super stressed and peeing in the living room.

She pees in the same exact spot. She was peeing on the couch, luckily it's leather otherwise it would be ruined. We had it cleaned and now have a big plastic sheet over it. Now she just pees in the corner of the living room, and it's driving me bananas. I don't know what to do to help her! I took her to the vet about 2 weeks ago - did a urine sample, they said that she did have an infection and had crystals! They gave her an antibiotic and told me she should be fine, but that the stress of the new baby had likely caused her to work herself into an infection. Not really sure how, but hey the vet said it, and she knows a lot more than I do about animals.

Well.. 2 weeks on, and $200 (will be $400+ on the 31st) later, she's still peeing in that spot! We have 4 litter boxes, on each floor of the house. There's one literally 5 feet away from that spot on our screened patio that we leave open for them. I've tried feliway plugs too. It's just getting so expensive. She has another appointment on the 31st, and they're going to do an overnight urine check, so she'll stay there the night. Hopefully they can give me some more tips, but everything they've suggested I've already done so far.

I really don't want to get rid of her. I'm trying everything. I would make sure she only stays on one floor of the house, and it's a very large house, but I'm worried that she would get more stressed out. One floor of the house though is the size of a 3 bedroom apartment, and there are 3 1/2 floors. I'm debating trying it, but DH is against it, and I'm not even sure if it would work, plus the possibility of her being more stressed makes me hesitant as well.

In 3-4 months LO could start crawling, and I would flip if he crawled into a patch of pee on the carpet! We've literally been steam cleaning the carpets every day! It's too much. We play with her every day, and give her lots of attention, but she's never been much of a social cat.

Help.

 

[bananaz]

It sounds like you may need to bring her back to the vet to get checked again and to potentially talk about a change in diet. Cats that are prone to urinary crystals often need to be put on a special food, otherwise the problem keeps coming back. Trying to increase her water intake is also important for preventing crystals and UTIs. Cat fountains can be helpful for this purpose, or you might also want to try adding water to her current food.

For now I would keep her contained in a small room with a new litterbox (I say new because sometimes after UTIs cats will associate the old ones with pain and consequently avoid them). Once she's using that box reliably then you can slowly start giving her access to the rest of the house, one room at a time.

Also, be sure to clean her pee spots around the house with an enzyme-neutralizing cleaner like Nature's Miracle, otherwise they are still going to smell like a litterbox to her.

You might find this site helpful: https://www.catinfo.org/?link=litterbox

Good luck with your kitty!

 

[robinator]

Feliway has worked wonders on my psycho kitty Axl, totally mellowed him out. It may help with your kitty.

https://www.amazon.com/Feliway-Plug...e=UTF8&qid=1346293505&sr=8-1&keywords=feliway

 

[flibbrtygibbt]

I have been having a similar problem only my cat is climbing behind my entertainment center. Its aweful because I cant get back in there to clean it out (and she is using it as a full out litter box) took her to the Vet and the vet said physically everything seems ok no infections or anything and jokingly (I HOPE) suggested we find the baby a new home.
This weekend, Being a 3 day weekend Dh and I are tearing that corner apart and deep cleaning starting with scrubbing and shampooing and then I do swear by Natures Miricle.
I have Dogs AND cats and its really good stuff.
In the mean time I have started keeping her shut up in my master bath with a new litter box of her very own. I will keep her there for a week or two untill I now that corner is good and neutralized and am sure she is using the box.
I am hoping it works out
Good luck!

 

[maysiemoo]

put some pepper down in that corner cats hate it.

Catnip makes my cat all soppy and dopey might be worth a try.

 

[erikab922]

Feliway has worked wonders on my psycho kitty Axl, totally mellowed him out. It may help with your kitty.

Came on here to post the exact same thing. We use this when we move house so the cat doesn't freak out. My sister is a vet nurse and they swear by this at their practice.

 

[Siuan]

Hmm, its really hard to say. BUT I can say that Feliway doesn't always work. In fact, it made our male cat pee instead of stopping him. The vet thought it was because the pheremones it released made him think another cat was on his territory and Bernie was marking to get rid of the smell. Just a viewpoint from another angle

Regarding the peeing in the same spot - you need to get rid of the enzymes. Even if it's clean to human eyes/noses, cats can still smell it. You can get some stuff from pet stores that breaks down the enzymes which effectively helps to break the peeing in the same spot cycle.

Can you get someone else to look after your cat for a couple of weeks to give her a break from whatever has her stressed? New babies are a well known reason for cats to get stressed. It's very hard because if it is LO then its obviously difficult to remove that reason for the stress.

Something else you could try - our cats love small enclosed areas to sleep. Could you get a cat bed that is like a little hut for her? Or even just a cardboard box? It enhances their feeling of security. Something as simple as that may help?

 

[erikab922]

Hmm, its really hard to say. BUT I can say that Feliway doesn't always work. In fact, it made our male cat pee instead of stopping him. The vet thought it was because the pheremones it released made him think another cat was on his territory and Bernie was marking to get rid of the smell. Just a viewpoint from another angle

That's really interesting, I've only ever used it on female cats - good point

 

[Dragonfly]

Feliway has worked wonders on my psycho kitty Axl, totally mellowed him out. It may help with your kitty.

https://www.amazon.com/Feliway-Plug...e=UTF8&qid=1346293505&sr=8-1&keywords=feliway

I second this and you can get a spray which is cheaper to.

 

[rubydoo1]

I would put silver foil down on the spot where she pees to break the habit as cats do not like the feel of the foil on their paws. As PP said you need to clean it with special cleaner which removes the odour to the cat. It does sound like she needs to see a vet again though. Hope u get it sorted x

 

[lhancock90]

Put a box in that corner then gradually move it away