*Ahem* I have a cat behavior-modification question.

[bertha katzenengel]

:blush: yeah, me

My sister moved into a new apartment. One of her cats - old - won't stop peeing on the carpet. She uses the litter box to poo, though.

She has tried everything. Now she's on to topical repellents.

I have heard of a spray called "Boundary" that is supposed to repel cats from areas where you don't want them to go.

Do you know of other such products?

Thanks!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. thats very strange. my exes cat poops outside the litterboz

but pees in the litterbox

sorry i cant give you any good advice. i tried a bunch of things but didnt succeed.

[bertha katzenengel]

2. thanks, Lioness

*rowr*

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. i have been meaning to telll you that i was very impressed by your weight loss

wish i had some of that will power.

pri

[bertha katzenengel]

6. oh, my

thank you

i've hit a plateau, but looking at how my behavior has changed, i'm not too discouraged

and comments like yours help keep me going

:hug:

[Qanisqineq]

3. I don't know what to tell you

I have 3 cats. One of them pees in the litterbox put poops outside the litter box in the pooper scooper. I guess it saves me some trouble but I'd much rather he pooped in the box!

[bertha katzenengel]

11. Hi, Ganisqineq

:hi: thanks for weighing in

[jobycom]

4. Modify the behavior of wanting a clean carpet

:)

One of my cats started peeing on my couch. Nothing stopped her. I spent a hundred bucks at least on repellents, and they only made my couch reek more. I took her to the vet to test for infections, and nothing (didn't stop them from coming up with something to charge me for). In the end, I could have just bought a new couch.

I did finally cure it. The problem was the litter box. It was a covered box, and my cat had never had trouble with it before. But as she got older, and fatter, she stopped using it. Maybe it was harder to fit in, or turn around in, or something. Anyway, I got her an uncovered box and she stopped using the couch. Probably not the same solution you need, just sharing. One thing I did that helped me figure it out--I locked her in a small bathroom with a litterbox, food, and water (Don't worry, I let her out when I was home, but while at work and while I slept, I locked her up). Since I have two cats, I had to use a different litter box, and my old spare was topless. She would use the box just fine, but when I'd put her back out into the general population, she'd pee on the couch again, until one day I didn't bother picking up the spare box, and I left the bathroom door open. She used it instead of the couch. So I thought maybe she didn't want to use the same box as the other cat, and set up two boxes. Soon, the other cat was using the topless box, too, but this didn't stop my older cat from using it. Eventually I took away the covered box, and neither cat resorted to peeing on my couch. So I could finally get a new couch!

[bertha katzenengel]

7. uh-oh... repellents made the couch stink MORE?

which ones did you use, so i can tell my sister?

i'm glad you found a way to fix your cat's behavior. ain't easy, is it? :)

[jobycom]

9. I don't know that it was one brand.

I tried a lot of brands, but I also tried several cleaner/spot removers (usually made by the same people as the repellant I was using). They were all supposed to be natural and enzyme based, and they usually had "nature" or "natural" in the title somewhere. After a while the couch smelled like a mix of old cat pee, citrus (several cleaners had a citrus smell), and an odd mix of herb-esque odors.

The thing wit the carpet is that it's also down in the pad (as I'm sure you know). It even stains the concrete after a fairly short time. So the odor is there, and the cat will think of the territory as his/her own.

Oh yeah, one thing I tried that did work, once, now that I think about the carpet. This same cat before the couch episode had started using a spot on the carpet. I treated it with bleach. Just a very small, faint amount. I remember a furniture person once telling me that bleach would stop a cat from clawing furniture. Anyway, it did make the cat stop using that spot, but she just found new spots. This only lasted a short while, because I took her to the vet and she did have an infection, which we treated, stopping the problem.

[hyphenate]

8. I would say that the stress of moving

has hit the little guy a lot, so your sister needs to pamper him/her a bit. The stress will finally subside, but it can take awhile.

As for the urine in the carpet, my guess is that there was a cat in the apartment before who might have been unaltered, and marked his territory around the house. If that's so, the odor might not be something she can smell, but the cat's finely tuned senses can detect more easily.

Two things I recommend: get the carpet professionally steam cleaned and then use plain white vinegar to dab the carpet in the places where the cat (her cat) had peed. Anytime the cat goes to that spot, clean it with the vinegar and if there is a stain, try Simple Green to clean it.

The second thing is the easiest one, but it might not help! Put something on the spot itself--a hassock, a table, anything that will cover the spot so the cat can't get at it. (This is after you've gotten the carpet cleaned, of course!)

You might also try googling for products to see if there is something out there you can order.

Good luck!

[bertha katzenengel]

10. thanks, Hyphenate

I'm giving her that suggestion. Also I googled and found a product i'd forgotten about: Feliway. That might work.

[Connonym]

12. I used the canine version of that with some luck

Normally I work at home and I was worried how my dogs would react when I had to do a training thing and be gone for 8 hours a day. The vet recommended the canine version of this and the dogs did seem calmer. It's kind of pricey but I was able to find it online for half the cost of what my vet was selling it for.

I agree also with whomever said that confining the cat with the litter box is a good way of retraining (with food and water available of course). Another tip is to put a litter box at the spot where the cat is going and then over the course of time gradually move the box to a more suitable location.

[bullwinkle428]

13. I'd suggest the Cat Attract litter, but if she's doing the #2 in the box,

then she's probably not feeling repelled by the box itself. I think the product comes with guarantee, so it might be worth a try anyway!

http://www.preciouscat.com/precious-attract-p-5.html

[davsand]

14. Are we sure there is no urinary tract problem?

Kitties will pee in odd places when they are sick, if they are unhappy with something in the social set, or if there is a problem with the litter box.

Cats can be really picky about litter products--has THAT brand changed any? Has ANYTHING about the cat box changed (like maybe is it a new one?) IF you can rule out any changes in the cat box itself, that would be the first step. Is it possible the cat has decided the box is not clean enough? Cats can become critics...

If this is a new thing with that cat and the there have been no changes in the cat population (like new kitties added to upset the social structure) I'd be wondering if the kitty was sick. Kitties are instinctively driven to cover excretions EXCEPT when they are either marking turf or if they are sick. If this is an older male I'd be especially worried about it because FUS is particularly dangerous for males with their narrower urethra. Frankly, I'd call the vet if it was my cat.

If the vet says the kitty is fine, then I'd suggest that your sister put down a dish of the cat's dry food where ever the cat is peeing. They don't pee where they eat. If THAT helps modify the behavior then I'd walk around cat food bowls fora while.

Good luck!



Laura