I am desperate for help! I've had my female cat since she was 10 weeks old. She's now 10. A few years back, I was living with my parents after graduating college. My cat starting marking on the carpet, something she had never done before, shortly after my sister's cat peed on our stairs. I spent $100s of dollars getting every test run at the vet, buying different products/medications, etc. I tried everything, and I could not get her to stop. I eventually moved into an apartment with my boyfriend, who already had a cat. We lived there for a year, and my cat never marked there, even when when our other cat got a UTI and had a few accidents on our carpet. Last year, we bought a house. When the weather started getting warmer last Spring, there was a horrid cat pee smell coming from the room we keep our cat boxes in. We could not figure out why the smell was so horrible. As I'm sure you can guess, we finally discovered last month that one of the cats was peeing on the carpet, and after setting up a camera, discovered it was my cat. I immediately took her to the vet to see if she had a UTI, and she did not. Given that she has done this before, her vet believes this is behavioral. We ended up having to tear up the carpet in that room, and the amount of urine against one wall was SATURATED. It was horrible. I bought her a calming collar, and we replaced the carpet in that room with wood laminate flooring. I also purchased another litter box, in addition to the 2 we already had, in the hopes that giving her more options would help. Despite all this, I discovered this afternoon that she is now peeing inside a bookshelf and next to the bookshelf in our living room. We shampooed the carpet and cleaned the bookshelf with an enzymatic cleaner, but given her track record, I'm not hopeful this will make her stop.
The situation is this: Financially, we do not have extra money to pour into renovating the damages she is costing us. I also lost my job in January, and while I have since found another one, the small savings I did have is completely gone. I don't have money to run more tests at the vet, to buy more gimmicks/products, and I especially do not have $1000s of dollars to renovate my home when she destroys every room in my house. In addition to that, my boyfriend is at his wits end. He has told me that if we catch her doing it again, I have to find somewhere for her to go. While this upsets me gravely, I understand that we cannot risk our livelihoods and everything we've worked hard for, for a cat.
I love my cat. She is sweet and friendly, and has been my little buddy for the last decade. She is very attached to me, and the thought of abandoning her in shelter makes me sick. Even if I were to bring her to a shelter, I do not think that she is adoptable. In addition to the marking, she is also an older cat with a heart condition, which requires daily medication. I guess I don't have high hopes that many people will want to adopt an elderly cat with a heart condition who was surrendered because she pees outside the litter box. I'm worried she will spend the rest of her life in a shelter, and I worried her vet might recommend that it would be kinder to put her down.
As I said, I am desperate. Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Is there anything I can do to save my cat?
The situation is this: Financially, we do not have extra money to pour into renovating the damages she is costing us. I also lost my job in January, and while I have since found another one, the small savings I did have is completely gone. I don't have money to run more tests at the vet, to buy more gimmicks/products, and I especially do not have $1000s of dollars to renovate my home when she destroys every room in my house. In addition to that, my boyfriend is at his wits end. He has told me that if we catch her doing it again, I have to find somewhere for her to go. While this upsets me gravely, I understand that we cannot risk our livelihoods and everything we've worked hard for, for a cat.
I love my cat. She is sweet and friendly, and has been my little buddy for the last decade. She is very attached to me, and the thought of abandoning her in shelter makes me sick. Even if I were to bring her to a shelter, I do not think that she is adoptable. In addition to the marking, she is also an older cat with a heart condition, which requires daily medication. I guess I don't have high hopes that many people will want to adopt an elderly cat with a heart condition who was surrendered because she pees outside the litter box. I'm worried she will spend the rest of her life in a shelter, and I worried her vet might recommend that it would be kinder to put her down.
As I said, I am desperate. Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Is there anything I can do to save my cat?