At wits end with this cat, what do I do?!

nwc

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Don't get me wrong. I love cats. They are the family, children, not just pets to me. But I am not going to turn the entire house upside down and cater to one cats every whim just because she wants to be difficult. They are family, not royalty. She is the issue and brought the issue in thus to get along the issue needs to be fixed or isolated in a way to fix it that does not involve bending over backwards and making everything perfect for one cat. That's not how things work.

Especially in a pandemic where we're not even supposed to leave the house except to stock up. Not willy-nilly go to the store and use emergency funds just to give the cat 3 extra crapping places because she's finicky. That is insane.

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Now to the people that had suggestions of anxiety meds, that may work. But I came here to fix one particular problem with the cat itself. Not the household which was perfectly fine before the cat.
Meh, most people aren't even this patient with their human family. Look, you're not going to convince anyone here that it is possible for the cat to be the problem, and not you. Just order the extra boxes from Amazon and give the cat its own space for however long. You don't even have to order a real litter box, just reuse an old storage container of appropriate size.
 

mani

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MOD NOTE:
We need to remember that we're here for the good of cats, and squabbling really doesn't help.
Let's remember our forum rules and play nicely.
 

minish

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I've been following this thread and it sounds horrible what you're going through. With my cat (she's been with me since kitten) I only had littering trouble once. She started pooping in the bathtub one day and kept doing for months. Afraid that she would choose a worse place, I never scolded her. After thinking very hard I found 3 reasons. 1 She didn't want to poop in silica litter (smells pretty bad and becomes moist in about 5 days however you try to clean). 2 she wanted a separate box for poop (my apartment tiny so I tried everything else before) 3 she started doing this after a weekend I left her with a stranger (they got along fine but..)
I switched to clumping litter keeping it squeeky clean and gave her extra love and attention. It took about a month and she still goes to the tub when I leave her (1 2 days tops)
Even with a mild problem I can relate to how frustrating it may be.
From the original post I think that the issue is mainly psychological. The cat doesn't feel safe and secure enough (maybe because of resident cats or her previous life or some neurological issue or being closed up and the reflection of your stress) and maybe needs to mark like this to feel safe.
Now how another creature let alone our species feels is not up to reason or us. We can only help changing it. There are many suggestions here in addition to multiplying boxes. Using a calming product during the phasing out made a lot of sense from my perspective. In the end, whatever your solutions, it will take time and extra patience. I hope it resolves
 

catwoman707

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I'm thinking as I see another member has mentioned, that a low dose of prozac may be a good start here.
Vet has already seen her, so it might simply take a phone chat to get a prescription for her.
I wouldn't say it will always be needed, but certainly get her back on the right track and her temperament under control. See how it goes, at this point I would be feeling frazzled and desperate for sure. Hang in there. :goldstar:
Prozac is quite commonly given to cats and dogs for reasons just like this.

I would also try as much as possible to give extra attention to her one on one if you can. Spoil her a bit, baby her, go out of your way to acknowledge her often. That can go a long way too. Even though at this point you might be feeling just the opposite.
Let us know! Fingers crossed. :crossfingers:
 

Mer.kitten

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I know you sais shes been to the vet, but what did they check exactly? Did they do urinalysis? Bloodwork? Ultrasound?
 
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