Advise me on our Cat's problems

[MissDoe]

Within the past year I have taken in 3 stray cats. One was an emaciated kitten, the other hung around on the patio all hours of the day, and the final one would follow me whenever she saw me.

I had two cats to begin with. Now for a grand total of 5 cats. Since I will be moving out soon I planned on taking my original 2 and the now one year old kitten considering he thinks I am his mother and leave the other two to stay with my mum. She had wanted cats after I had left and since these little ones needed homes I brought them inside to be with us.

The only problem is the last one I mentioned, which is actually the first stray I had taken in has behaviors that I can not find a fix for. She hates the others. Hissing, swatting to stay away. Thus the others now hate her as well. An occasional scratch will appear on someone's face during a scwabble but this has happened with the original two siblings when they have a spat. So nothing major.

Another of her problems is she often chooses to use beds, chairs, furniture in general to urinate on. I have gotten rid of my bed and am now sleeping on one of those 3 inch memory foams. She has tried once to pee on it before I quickly moved her off before too much was done. I usually place it back into the box to avoid this. She has urinated on my mother's bed before as well. The thing is I had taught her to use the litter box and she had for a couple of months but then stopped. She stopped months back, it was not during an introduction of the newer two. Side note: we have three litter boxes.

After she has now just urinated on my chair. Something she has not done before. My mother wants to find her a new home. I am not fond at all of this idea, but I was wondering is she perhaps unable to adjust with the others? Would she be happier being a single cat? I'm frightened that if she did end up with a new family and her problems persist, she'll end up on the streets. Does anyone have any advise on how to fix her problems?

(She seemed to be an adult when we took her in. The kitten was only 2lbs, the other had been hanging around our patio since he was a baby.)

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Actually, reducing the number of cats in each household might fix the issue. Every individual cat has a "this many and NO MORE" point. She may just be over hers. Only time will tell you that.

Let me ask...are you cleaning the areas where she goes with a good enzymatic cleaner? If not, ORDER SOME! No matter how you clean, she can still smell herself, even if you cannot. Also, has she been checked for a possible physical cause? Painful urination will cause cats to avoid the litter box. They tend to associate the pain with the box, rather than with their own bodies.

As a last resort, she could be crate trained. You would need a large enough crate to hold her box, her bed, and her dishes. If the only choices were to use the box or to use her bed or dishes, she'd choose the litter box. HOWEVER...this takes at least 2-3 weeks to establish a pattern, which is rough on everyone involved. The cat can spend short periods out of the crate for play, but has to be watched constantly for attempts to "go" in inappropriate places (and returned to the crate before they can).

 

[hexiesfriend]

I would seriously consider ruling out a medical reason for the urinating before making any decisions. Many many times it’s caused by a medical condition usually a Urinary infection.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Thanks for giving the strays a home.

Are they all spayed / neutered? And, as has already been asked, has the one that pees on things been vet checked to ensure it's not a UTI.

TCS has some articles on litter box avoidance that might be helpful. Here are the links:

How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Litterbox Problems? Here’s Why You Should Call Your Vet

Inappropriate Peeing, Spraying, Toy Obsession And Leg And Hand Nipping | TheCatSite
Spraying: When Your Cat Uses Urine To Mark Territory | TheCatSite

Combat Cat Urine | TheCatSite
How To Remove Cat Urine Odor From Your Home | TheCatSite
How Get Cat Urine Smell Out Of Carpet: Effective, Non-toxic Solutions | TheCatSite
How To Get Cat Pee Smell Out Of Clothes And Linens | TheCatSite

 

[fionasmom]

I agree with all the previous posts and hope that one or some of those solutions help you. What resonates with me is that she does not like someone....seems obvious, I know. Our story is that Chelsea, 10 years old now and not in great health, was rescued askitten and brought to my house to live with several other cats. She has never bonded with cats but is mad about my GSD. One cat in particular, Billy, she really hated but Billy, who was a love, was much bigger than she is and so she never confronted him....but she did pee in "soft spots" any time she saw him. Fortunately it was usually on tile or vinyl.

Billy passed away from CRF at the end of 2017. When I came home from the vet with his empty carrier and Chelsea figured out that he was never returning, she immediately stopped peeing in corners and began to use a litter box permanently.

 

[Caspers Human]

I agree with the others. I think it's a territorial issue. Behaviors like fighting and peeing almost always have some kind of territorial roots.

Cats are naturally territorial and like others say, every cat has a different tolerance for other cats in their territory. It sounds like your cat is over her limit of tolerance.

Since this cat is a former stray or feral cat, it is likely that she had to fight for her territory, as a means of self-preservation, in order to protect her food supply and areas of safe shelter. If another cat came into her territory, she might have had to fight for survival.

If this is true, the cat's behavior is probably pretty well ingrained. She is going to need a lot of time to learn that it's okay to have other cats around and get used to living as a family. I'm sure it can be done but it's going to take a long time.

Make sure that this cat has her own space that she can call her own. You might even want to give her a separate food supply that no other cats have access to. Since she was an all-outdoor cat, it might be okay to let her be an indoor/outdoor cat. Maybe you can build her a shelter some place like a back porch. That area would be her spot where no other cats are allowed.

If you are moving and plan to take some cats with you and let others live with another family member, it might also help if you let her live in the smaller group where there will be fewer cats for her to "defend" her territory from.

If you work with this cat enough, I am sure that you can teach her to live more harmoniously with other cats but, since she is an adult cat that has had to live outdoors by her own wits for so long, I have a hunch that, even when you do break her in she's likely to be rather "bitchy" when she is around other cats. I think that's just her personality that she learned from living outdoors for so long.