Anyone Have Experience With Cat Behavior Specialist?

[bwilson]

I'm going to try and make this post as succinct as possible. So my girlfriend and I adopted our cat, Cooper, from a rescue group about a year and a half ago. From day one we had some bathroom issues with him as he had chronic diarrhea. This led to him pooping on blankets and occasionally peeing on them. After a lot of vet visits and trial and error we were able to correct the issue with a change to a higher quality food.

After the food change months went by with no issues. Then this past thanksgiving we went away for a few days and when we returned we found Cooper had peed on the couch im guessing because we were gone. We rented a steam cleaner and I cleaned the couch and we washed all the couch covers etc... Things were fine again for a few weeks and then he peed on a blanket on the couch but in a different spot then the original pee site.

We have now resorted to removing all the blankets from the couch and stacking the cushions like a teepee every night before we go to bed. When we block his access to the couch or blankets on them he uses the litter box with no problems. We have two additional cats and we have 4 litter boxes so I don't think that is an issue. We are also very clean and scoop their litter boxes twice a day everyday. He also has access to our bed in our room with blankets on it and has no accidents. We have feliway diffusers throughout the house and he is neutered.

We then started to think that he was associating the couch and anything on it with going to the bathroom. Recently we had my girlfriends parents over to visit and they purchased a guest bed for us. Well this morning he peed on the guest bed! I'm so confused as to why he pees on some blankets/surfaces but not others and when he does not have access to these sites he uses the litterbox without any issues.

It's become very frustrating and I hate having to keep doors shut and stack couch cushions every night. We love him and he's is so sweet otherwise but he is supposed to be our pet not the other way around. I have been told that getting rid of him is not an option by my girlfriend. Has anyone had experience with a behavioral specialist and if so was it effective? I'm at my wits end. Sorry for the lengthy post.

 

[Draco]

Have you thoroughly cleaned the urine spots with a good enzyme cleaner? Cats can smell their urine, even if you think you've done a good job. They tend to go in the same spot if the smell themselves there.

Also there's some training pads that you can put on the couch that emits a high-pitched sound when stepped on. it worked for me to keep my cat off the counters. i Amazon has it! This may help prevent her from thinking about getting up on the couch.

 

[bwilson]

Have you thoroughly cleaned the urine spots with a good enzyme cleaner? Cats can smell their urine, even if you think you've done a good job. They tend to go in the same spot if the smell themselves there.

Also there's some training pads that you can put on the couch that emits a high-pitched sound when stepped on. it worked for me to keep my cat off the counters. i Amazon has it! This may help prevent her from thinking about getting up on the couch.

I did use an enzyme cleaner and I also have a black light flashlight that helps show urine markings but this is still a possibility he can smell it in there. The only thing that it doesn't explain is why he peed on our brand new quest bed? I can't figure out if it's the feel of the blanket or what. But then it begs the question why he pees on some blankets but not the blankets on our bed.

I am intrigued by the pads though. That is something I think I'm going to look into. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[moorspede]

It is something to do with the feel and/ or smell of natural fibres. I found placing a large, thick plastic sheet like a painters sheet or a ground sheet over the couch and stopped them. Also, after thoroughly cleaning the couch I fed mine on the spot where she'd urinated.

Some members also swear by cat attract which you can get premixed with litter or by itself to be sprinkled on clumping clay litter .

Your subject title suggested you wished to consult a behaviourist which reminded me of this article:
16 Experts reveal the most common litterbox mistakes (and how to avoid them)

 

[bwilson]

It is something to do with the feel and/ or smell of natural fibres. I found placing a large, thick plastic sheet like a painters sheet or a ground sheet over the couch and stopped them. Also, after thoroughly cleaning the couch I fed mine on the spot where she'd urinated.

Some members also swear by cat attract which you can get premixed with litter or by itself to be sprinkled on clumping clay litter .

Your subject title suggested you wished to consult a behaviourist which reminded me of this article:
16 Experts reveal the most common litterbox mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Thanks for the response and link to that article. I've read a ton on the subject and I am still perplexed on what the issue is. Like I said in earlier posts we have enough litter boxes, they are in different locations throughout the house, and we actually went with the storage bin idea instead of traditional litter boxes so the litter boxes we do have are quite large.

If he were peeing in the same spot I would assume he could smell his scent and urine from before but it's in different spots. Our guest bed is brand spanking new. My girlfriends parents slept in it two nights and we changed all the bedding afterward and put fresh bedding on there and he still peed on it. Yet our bed is open to him all day and he does not pee on it.

Also like I said above if his access is blocked he uses the litter box without a hitch but when given the opportunity he will go on the couch or other blankets just not the ones on our bed. It's so bizarre. He usually does the deed at night while we are sleeping and when I wake up in the morning I'll find a bunched up blanket with pee underneath. It's like he prefers to pee on blankets but if that's not an option he's uses the litter box. It's become very frustrating as we feel like we have tried all the traditional pieces of advice.

 

[moorspede]

I think I've confused you with the links, I apologise for frustrating you further. I just added them because of the title of your post. It was just along the lines of "This is what experts say", it was not particular to your problem.

It's not bizarre that cats love cotton and wool, it's common. There are all sorts of opinions on this, some people say they love the smell of lanolin, others say they love the feel of it underneath them because it reminds them of their mother, personally I have no theories to explain it. The methods I suggested worked for me, that is cleaning the area thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner, placing heavy plastic sheeting on the beds and couches, feeding your cat in the places where it urinated.

Some people swear by cat attract, for others using plastic bath mats upside down, cats hate those little spikes that are on the bottom of bath mats which keep them from slipping.

Good luck!

 

[bwilson]

I think I've confused you with the links, I apologise for frustrating you further. I just added them because of the title of your post. It was just along the lines of "This is what experts say", it was not particular to your problem.

It's not bizarre that cats love cotton and wool, it's common. There are all sorts of opinions on this, some people say they love the smell of lanolin, others say they love the feel of it underneath them because it reminds them of their mother, personally I have no theories to explain it. The methods I suggested worked for me, that is cleaning the area thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner, placing heavy plastic sheeting on the beds and couches, feeding your cat in the places where it urinated.

Some people swear by cat attract, for others using plastic bath mats upside down, cats hate those little spikes that are on the bottom of bath mats which keep them from slipping.

Good luck!

Oh no you didn't frustrate me at all! I appreciate the link. The frustrating thing is that I have tried most of those suggestions to no avail. I guess I said bizarre because there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern by Cooper. Some blankets he pees on some he doesn't. Some spot he pees other's he doesn't. I appreciate your advice though. The plastic covers is something we can try. The guest bed is easy enough to block by shutting the door but the couches are a pain.

 

[kashmir64]

Just a thought. Is he fixed? Do you have any other pets? Do you or your girlfriend have another scent on your clothes and then sit on the couch? This could be a territorial thing going on with him.

 

[bwilson]

Just a thought. Is he fixed? Do you have any other pets? Do you or your girlfriend have another scent on your clothes and then sit on the couch? This could be a territorial thing going on with him.

We got him from a rescue and he was fixed when we got him he is about 1.5 years old, we have a female who is 8 years old, and another male that is two years old. Initially he had some bathroom issues when we got him but we were able to solve that and things went well for a few months. We went away for a few days this past thanksgiving and when we returned we saw he peed on the couch while we were gone. That kick started the problems again. Most recently, just last night actually, he peed on a brand new quest bed. It had been slept in two times and all the bedding was changed to fresh bedding. We were nervous about leaving the door to that room open given his history but decided to test it out ,the first night he had access to it he peed on it. However he has full access to our bed at all times and never pees on it.
I can't seem to figure out what the trigger is for him. We have plenty of litter boxes on both levels of our home. If we leave a blanket on the couch he will pee on it. But if we leave that same blanket on our bed he won't pee on it. Also if we block his access to these trigger spots he will use the litter box with no problems. We blocked his access to our couch by leaning the cushions like a teepee for months and had no litter box problems the first night I left the cushions down he peed on them again. Each time he has peed we thoroughly clean the area with enzyme cleaners and have rented a steam cleaner on many occasions. Sorry for the long response but I just wanted to show how thorough we have been with no success.