- Joined
- Jul 21, 2017
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I hate when people make assumptions, so I'm going to try to include any potentially noteworthy info to avoid that here. Sorry for how long this may be.
I moved into a duplex a few months ago. It's a small 2 bedroom, currently housing 2 adults, a baby, and 4 cats. I've done my best to arrange everything in a way that accommodates ALL of us here, there's even a cat tower in the baby's room. Now when we were applying for the place, the landlord was hesitant to let us have multiple cats at all, and originally agreed to all 4 only temporarily. When she and my fiancé discussed everything alone, he gave her some background info that convinced her to let us keep all 4 cats. She made it clear though that if she notices any litter box-type odors, 2 cats will have to go, maybe all 4. We have 2 large storage totes as boxes, there's no way to make room for more, but the number has yet to be an issue. They are in the same room, our bedroom (furthest from the front room which helps hide odor too), but this also hasn't bothered the cats. We have experimented with various litters in the past and chose walnut husks as the best option for us, the cats, and odor control. We first changed 1 box to walnut, and just changed the second a few days ago. Here is where the problem begins. My cat, Mittens, is sometimes sensitive about certain changes, and now she pees on the furniture instead of the litter boxes. She completely ruined a mattress 2 years ago that we couldn't afford to replace until last tax season (talk about a funky odor.) Our new one has a waterproof cover, but our couches are suffering. We have 2, both were old and free and we can't afford to replace them.
They smell like pee of course.
It's really hard to find the pee soon enough to clean effectively because we are busy often running errands etc and also taking care of the baby. So these smells aren't coming out. If we change the litter, the smell will be worse and so will the mess (they spread litter around the house much worse with other types), which means Mittens will be happier but we might lose all 4 cats. If we wait for her to get used to it, her pee everywhere else will cause an odor and we will still likely lose all 4 cats. And we may well be evicted if Mittens ruins the carpet too.
I had to send 9 cats to a shelter before moving here, and I hated it and I don't want to send her away too. I helped deliver her 6 years ago and she's very important to me. But it doesn't feel right or fair to risk sending all cats to the shelter so I can try to keep Mittens.
The shelter I chose before is a no-kill shelter, they have a no-cage cat house with a nice catio, their adoption process is extensive and great, and the other cats were doing great there when I visited them (only one is still there.) I trust the shelter, I just don't want to lose Mittens. It may be my best option though. I would really really appreciate some opinions, hopefully without harsh criticism. I'm not taking the decision lightly
I moved into a duplex a few months ago. It's a small 2 bedroom, currently housing 2 adults, a baby, and 4 cats. I've done my best to arrange everything in a way that accommodates ALL of us here, there's even a cat tower in the baby's room. Now when we were applying for the place, the landlord was hesitant to let us have multiple cats at all, and originally agreed to all 4 only temporarily. When she and my fiancé discussed everything alone, he gave her some background info that convinced her to let us keep all 4 cats. She made it clear though that if she notices any litter box-type odors, 2 cats will have to go, maybe all 4. We have 2 large storage totes as boxes, there's no way to make room for more, but the number has yet to be an issue. They are in the same room, our bedroom (furthest from the front room which helps hide odor too), but this also hasn't bothered the cats. We have experimented with various litters in the past and chose walnut husks as the best option for us, the cats, and odor control. We first changed 1 box to walnut, and just changed the second a few days ago. Here is where the problem begins. My cat, Mittens, is sometimes sensitive about certain changes, and now she pees on the furniture instead of the litter boxes. She completely ruined a mattress 2 years ago that we couldn't afford to replace until last tax season (talk about a funky odor.) Our new one has a waterproof cover, but our couches are suffering. We have 2, both were old and free and we can't afford to replace them.
They smell like pee of course.
It's really hard to find the pee soon enough to clean effectively because we are busy often running errands etc and also taking care of the baby. So these smells aren't coming out. If we change the litter, the smell will be worse and so will the mess (they spread litter around the house much worse with other types), which means Mittens will be happier but we might lose all 4 cats. If we wait for her to get used to it, her pee everywhere else will cause an odor and we will still likely lose all 4 cats. And we may well be evicted if Mittens ruins the carpet too.
I had to send 9 cats to a shelter before moving here, and I hated it and I don't want to send her away too. I helped deliver her 6 years ago and she's very important to me. But it doesn't feel right or fair to risk sending all cats to the shelter so I can try to keep Mittens.
The shelter I chose before is a no-kill shelter, they have a no-cage cat house with a nice catio, their adoption process is extensive and great, and the other cats were doing great there when I visited them (only one is still there.) I trust the shelter, I just don't want to lose Mittens. It may be my best option though. I would really really appreciate some opinions, hopefully without harsh criticism. I'm not taking the decision lightly
