Awesome Cats...but They Are Ruining My House

[brian_catlover]

I have posted about this in the past and have worked on things but I need more advice. First I'll lay out the issues and then address what we've done to help fix it.

I have two cats, Doyle and Finn, they are both around a year and a half old (rescue cats so we aren't sure exactly)

Doyle has an issue that he poops in the house, generally in the same spots. He doesn't do it a ton, but often enough for it to be a concern. He does use the litterbox often and if I catch him while he's about to go outside of it and say no he runs down to the litterbox room and does it there.

Finn, pees in the house. Laundry baskets (we work on not leaving laundry out...although we should have to). Furniture etc. He has now started spraying in rooms. Those smells permeate the house. Doyle has since followed suit. All are generally in the same locations (more on that in a moment).

We moved into this house late December. There is obviously an adjustement period for all animals to get used to their new surroundings...but now it is really getting out of control. We want to replace the carpets on our first floor with hardwood and replace the carpets in the upstairs but are extremely wary because we don't want new things to be marked; that smell is very hard to get rid of. I also don't really like to pick up poop nearly every day.

They claw everything they can even though we have a ton of scratching items, which they do use.

One chews cables constantly. We've sprayed repellent on them, used a cayenne solution, pretty much everything we've read about. It still happens. My wife and I are both in IT and have a lot of equipment.

I've had cats all my life, I love and take care of them but nothing has been like this.

Here are the things we've done and I look for advice beyond this:

They have a very private space for their litter box and a cat door that they use to get in, that isn't a problem.

The litter box is very large and is changed daily. We've tried multiple boxes throughout the house but not only did it not work I kind of also have a problem with bathrooms for guests smelling like used litter boxes.

We've changed litter several times. The one we have most recently seems to help more than the others.

We clean and spray the spots that they go on the floor, immediately, in both in odor removal as well as repellent spray.

After we clean a spot and let everything dry we put down tin foil to teach them not to go there. It works but only when we have it down...after 6 months I don't want my entire house covered in tin foil.

We are in a house that smells like cat, especially on humid days. We have to keep all doors in our upstairs closed when we aren't around. I can't control what happens at night and would never put them in a crate while we sleep. When we see things about to happen we do what we can to prevent them and it works. I am woken up almost every night by the sound of a cat about to get in trouble, which means that I don't sleep a lot (plus Doyle likes to wake me up at 4:30am every morning, awesome).

I love these cats but this is getting ridiculous and I don't know what to do. We have a renovation house but are held hostage by animals that we can't reason with.

Oh, we've also taken them to the vet to see if there was a medical issue causing this but they are in good health

Any advice would be a great help.

 

[duckpond]

They are both neutered? And been recently check for UTI, or blockages?
What type of litter do you use?
what type of box, is it uncovered?
Are there outside cats or dogs that could be causing a territorial response from them?
What do you feed them? Wet, dry, combination?
Do they seem stressed by the move, or anything else?

 

[rubysmama]

So sorry you are dealing with all this.

Have you read the articles on litter box issues? I'll post the links, just in case you haven't.

Do the cats get along? Are they neutered? What kind of food do the eat? One of our members finds if her cat eats too much dry food, litter box issues arise. So, if you don't feed a lot of canned food, it might be worth trying. If, of course, they'll eat it.

Also, do you only have 1 litter box? Some cats are quirky and like to pee in one box and poop in another. Some also don't want to go in a "used" box. The "recommendation" is 1 litter box per cat, plus one. So in your case, that would be three.

Also, are you using an enzyme cleaner to clean up their "accidents"? That is the only time that will totally remove the scent.

Here are the article 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
Spraying: When Your Cat Uses Urine To Mark Territory

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

How Many Litterboxes Should You Have?
The 10 Most Common Litterbox Mistakes Cat Owners Make
16 Experts Reveal The Most Common Litterbox Mistakes (and How To Avoid Them)

How To Minimize Litterbox Odor
How Often Should You Clean The Litter Box?

 

[brian_catlover]

Hi, thank you for the responses

We have tried around many different types of litter: cedar, pine, crushed walnut shells, clumping, not clumping, scented, unscented.

We have used multiple boxes (three at one point), we have had them out in the open as well as private spaces (the latter has made it better). The latest solution has given us the best response...but we're still not there yet.

They are both neutered.

They don't seem stressed about the house. It is much bigger than we had previously and they like exploring and finding many different spots to perch up high and out of reach when they want to. Actually at our last place things were a lot worse. Our basement was terrible and required cleaning services.

We have taken both of them to the vet and there's nothing physically wrong with them.

We have been supplementing their foods with a probiotic to help with digestion issues. We give both wet food and dry food, the morning is wet, the night is a mix.

There are no dogs that come by our house nor do we have any. There is an outdoor cat that occasionally comes by the house but they don't seem to mind other than curiosity, there have been no signs of stress or trouble between them; honestly it looks like they'd want to play (we obviously won't do that).

 

[duckpond]

Did they do it previously, at the other house, or just since the move? Even if not acting upset by the outside cat there could still be a territory battle, cat style, going on. so hard to know, why cats do what they do. Or there may have been pets that lived in the house previously, and your cats are trying to over ride the scents left by them?

I know the normal suggestions are feed more wet, maybe try that cut out the dry for a bit and only feed wet. something to try.

After all else has been tried some people have had good luck with an anti anxiety medication from the vet. I would go to my vet for this i think rather than try over the counter type things. Maybe just a prescription from the vet for 2 or 3 months, then see if they can wean off of it without further problems?

 

[brian_catlover]

Hrm, yes that was both a dog and a cat at the house before we bought it. What would be the suggestion to help change what they probably smell or sense from what was there before we moved in? (the carpets are really gross to begin with which is why we want to rip them apart)

The place we were at prior was relatively new and had no pets before we got there, they actually seemed to have more issues there than they do now.

We love the cats a lot, they are very sweet. Just trying to iron issues out so that when we really get into renovations that we can be more confident that the changes will help the home overall.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - here are a couple thoughts;
Oh, duckpond and I were typing at the same time, with the same thoughts of either there are more outside cats than are visible to you, and/or there were pets in the homes previously, which you confirmed. (It's possible that during the build of the previous house that cats were frequenting the construction site including the excavation for the basement, but of course there's no way to know...)

One thing you could do is obtain a black light - (be sure and read consumer reviews, some are better than others) and definitely check walls, unless you're planning to paint anyway. There are odor blocking primer paints, which combined with a no-VOC non-toxic interior paint might do the trick, and new flooring would go a long way towards helping.

Have you tried regularly playing with them to the point they're worn out? Can you build a catio? It sounds like they really have energy to burn.

After all else has been tried some people have had good luck with an anti anxiety medication from the vet. I would go to my vet for this i think rather than try over the counter type things. Maybe just a prescription from the vet for 2 or 3 months, then see if they can wean off of it without further problems?

Speaking of, you didn't mention it but did you try any (over the counter) calming products yet? That's just a general term for them, these products are formulated to help reduce feline stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder behaviors, fear, inappropriate litterbox issues...lots of different styles, quite a few different ingredients.

Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist
Cats And The Zen Of Remodeling

 

[danteshuman]

Besides all of the above that Furballsmom said I would add cord protectors. Plus they sell cat chew toys you can give your cord chomped. Have you tried locking them in a catroom while you sleep? I would be trying to get them to not destroy one room first. Also a catio can safely let them outside and keep stray cats from entering their space.

If none of the above works I would ask the vet about Prozac.

 

[brian_catlover]

We wrap the important cords so they haven't been totally damaged but Doyle still tries to chew on the wrapping. They both play a ton together all day, which I think is great and why we have two cats.

We haven't tried any calming products, I'll give that a shot

I'm really not comfortable giving a cat prozac.

 

[Furballsmom]

You could try something called bitter apple on the cords?
although it doesn't work every time...
Question Of The Day, Sunday, May 6, 2018

 

[Furballsmom]

Here's a list of over the counter calming products.

Some cats such as my Big Guy are completely unaffected by Feliway. There are other products with different ingredients such as L-Tryptophan and casein.

In addition some people are using CBD oil.

There is Zylkene, Calming Care, Calm-o-mile, Sentry, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-ease, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has a calming product, Pet Naturals also has one I believe. Thunderease has a diffuser and so does Sentry.

Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course amazon and chewy, also there's Petwishpros, drsfostersmith, animaleo. Australia's Petbarn has a product as well.

There are a couple of recent discussions about calming items, here's the link to one thread. Post #6 in this has a link to the second discussion.
Calming Treats?

 

[brian_catlover]

So just circling back to this. We have done everything in the suggested comment section (more litter boxes etc). We also talked to the vet and got this calming wall powered scent thing, like a glade plug in except geared towards cats. We also have added calming treats into the mix.

That said, they are still peeing all over the place and pooping as well.

I can't have a litter box in my dining room. We have a good spot for them, with now three good sized litter boxes that we keep clean daily. I have two couches and a love seat that are basically ruined.

The previous house owners had a cat and a dog and seemed less than clean overall. I do think that if we ripped up all the carpets, added hardwood on the first floor and redid the carpets in the upstairs (which is planned anyhow) it would help...but it is also a huge concern because that's a lot of $$ to invest in a hope. I just don't know what to do.

 

[Furballsmom]

You can try a couple things. Contain them to one room where everything is covered, removed whatever else if you can and have several boxes scattered around to hopefully entice them.
Then, an enzymatic cleaner will help with previous and current animal odors, including on the furniture. You may want a black light to be sure you've gotten everything.
Then try a litter box with cat attract litter in the room they had the worst issues in. If they use it, gradually, incrementally move it to where you want it. It'll take time.
I'm hoping this is a less expensive option, that works for you.

 

[brian_catlover]

two year update

We ended up replacing the first floor rugs with wood floors. It has helped but..one of the cats, every day without fail, still goes once just outside the downstairs litterbox. It is an enclosed box, they climb in from the top. We change it twice a day and they also have two others in a basement room that they get in via a cat door, they use them often and again we keep it clean. They also pee on the couches if we keep the cushions down. We have an upholstery cleaner that we use each time we find them doing it. They also now pee on the dog's bed every chance they get. We have tried everything we can think of including one of those expensive air diffuser things that is supposed to calm them down.

After this long I guess we just have to put up with it which 1000% sucks. We are going to replace the furniture soon (hopefully) but now we've probably invested about $5k plus whatever new furniture for two living room costs.

ugh.

 

[kittyluv387]

Why don't you replace that enclosed box with a completely open litterbox? You need to make the box as attractive as possible, to the cats.

 

[brian_catlover]

Why don't you replace that enclosed box with a completely open litterbox? You need to make the box as attractive as possible, to the cats.

had that before we got the box we have now. This is the third type we've tried. They do use it through the day and at night, it is just that first thing in the morning without fail there's a treat left just outside the box, just that one time.

 

[kittyluv387]

had that before we got the box we have now. This is the third type we've tried. They do use it through the day and at night, it is just that first thing in the morning without fail there's a treat left just outside the box, just that one time.

Is it because the box already has treats in it? I wonder if you might need two boxes right next to each other so that it will be more fresh.

 

[brian_catlover]

Is it because the box already has treats in it? I wonder if you might need two boxes right next to each other so that it will be more fresh.

We clean it at the end of the day. When we get up there's not much in it, maybe one and some pee, and then the small pile on the floor. We did have two boxes in there at one point, no change.

 

[kittyluv387]

Then maybe you should try retraining him? Confine him to one room with a couple of litter boxes. If he gets the hang of that you can expand his range more and more.

 

[rubysmama]

They also pee on the couches if we keep the cushions down. We have an upholstery cleaner that we use each time we find them doing it. They also now pee on the dog's bed every chance they get. We have tried everything we can think of including one of those expensive air diffuser things that is supposed to calm them down.

Sorry you're still dealing with litter box issues.

About the couches, have you tried an enzyme cleaner along with the upholstery cleaner. If not, it might be worth a shot, as they might still be able to smell their urine scent on the cushions. Or looked into getting them professionally cleaned?
How To Get Cat Pee Smell Out Of Clothes And Linens – Cat Articles