Our "problem child" is about to drive me insane! I am sitting here writing this, smelling of cat urine because she just sprayed in my chair and I didn't notice it until after I sat down and my shirt was soaked.
For over a month now, Gidget has been peeing and spraying (see thread) constantly, although the first time it happened was six months ago (see thread). Yes, she's spayed (backed up, tail up and squirted urine). No, she did not have a UTI when we took her to the vet (and he put her on antibiotics, just in case). This is purely behavioral, and I don't know what else to do - especially since the vet won't return my calls about putting her on a short course of anti-anxiety medication to help her as we work through whatever is bothering her.
Since we figured out this was behavioral, I have spent more time with her, showed her more affection, and engaged her in play more. I've tried scheduling my shifts at work so they don't fall back-to-back-to-back, and I have tried to schedule them opposite my husband's nights to work, so she doesn't feel "abandoned" for three nights in a row. I even got my husband to help me clear the clutter out of the front room so she would have more "space" in case she was feeling too confined with all of the other cats around.
In past month, she has peed on the counter twice, the bed where I sleep when I have to work, the bath mat, and my husband's shorts. She has also sprayed in six different spots on walls in our living room/dining room/kitchen and two different spots in the bedroom, as well as on the ottoman in the sun room, my favorite recliner (which we had to throw out because we could not remove the smell), the other recliner that I started sitting in when we got rid of the first recliner (which she sprayed on tonight), and the sofa. All but a couple pieces of furniture in our home have been peed / sprayed on - I'm almost out of "clean furniture" and I can't justify buying anything new if she's just going to pee or spray on it. I dread inviting our small church group over because I know they will smell the urine smell (which, to me, sends the signal that the house isn't "clean").
The only other thing I can think that might be leading her do this is the feral cats outside, but they have been there since before we rescued her. The reason I say this is because she "screamed" at someone last night when she was near one of the open windows (and none of our other inside cats were around), and there was a cat outside the window when I looked. Since that time, she has peed / sprayed four times that I know of. I doubt my husband would agree to something to scare the feral cats away from our yard, since we've been feeding some of them ever since we moved into this house.
What am I doing (or not doing) to make her pee / spray almost exclusively on my things???
What else can we do?!?!?!
For over a month now, Gidget has been peeing and spraying (see thread) constantly, although the first time it happened was six months ago (see thread). Yes, she's spayed (backed up, tail up and squirted urine). No, she did not have a UTI when we took her to the vet (and he put her on antibiotics, just in case). This is purely behavioral, and I don't know what else to do - especially since the vet won't return my calls about putting her on a short course of anti-anxiety medication to help her as we work through whatever is bothering her.
Since we figured out this was behavioral, I have spent more time with her, showed her more affection, and engaged her in play more. I've tried scheduling my shifts at work so they don't fall back-to-back-to-back, and I have tried to schedule them opposite my husband's nights to work, so she doesn't feel "abandoned" for three nights in a row. I even got my husband to help me clear the clutter out of the front room so she would have more "space" in case she was feeling too confined with all of the other cats around.
In past month, she has peed on the counter twice, the bed where I sleep when I have to work, the bath mat, and my husband's shorts. She has also sprayed in six different spots on walls in our living room/dining room/kitchen and two different spots in the bedroom, as well as on the ottoman in the sun room, my favorite recliner (which we had to throw out because we could not remove the smell), the other recliner that I started sitting in when we got rid of the first recliner (which she sprayed on tonight), and the sofa. All but a couple pieces of furniture in our home have been peed / sprayed on - I'm almost out of "clean furniture" and I can't justify buying anything new if she's just going to pee or spray on it. I dread inviting our small church group over because I know they will smell the urine smell (which, to me, sends the signal that the house isn't "clean").
The only other thing I can think that might be leading her do this is the feral cats outside, but they have been there since before we rescued her. The reason I say this is because she "screamed" at someone last night when she was near one of the open windows (and none of our other inside cats were around), and there was a cat outside the window when I looked. Since that time, she has peed / sprayed four times that I know of. I doubt my husband would agree to something to scare the feral cats away from our yard, since we've been feeding some of them ever since we moved into this house.
What am I doing (or not doing) to make her pee / spray almost exclusively on my things???
What else can we do?!?!?!
