Three Cats, A Multitude Of Problems

[CatHotelConcierge]

Okay, I need advice, please! My wife and I have three cats - Crickett (about 9 yrs old), Kazi (about 3-4 yrs), and Sonar (just over 1 yr). Prior to adopting Sonar last year, Crickett and Kazi were perfect cats - always indoor, cuddly, self-sufficient, playful, happy with each other, and perfectly litter-box trained. They had the run of nearly the entire house together.
Since adopting Sonar last summer, things have changed drastically. As I'm not sure what to do with them now, and as I'm not sure what set everything off, I'll give more details here:
> We adopted Sonar as a kitten, and while Crickett and Kazi were stand-offish about her, nothing really changed.
> We discovered Sonar had ringworm and she began a regimen of frequent sulfur-lyme dips to take care of it.
> We took the other cats to the vet, but they were ringworm free.
> Sonar would spend the afternoon and night in a separate room with her own litter box while the smell dissipated a little, then rejoin the rest of the family.
> Somewhere around this time, Kazi began bullying Crickett. We thought they were just being tempermental because of the smell, and Crickett has always been one for staying out of sight until she wanted to cuddle.
> After the treatments ended, we noticed that Crickett stopped coming out at all. We found her hiding under the couch afraid to come out. She had lost some weight from not eating, so we moved her into our bedroom (with attached bathroom) with her own litter box and food/water. She has recovered quite well and enjoys her own little two room kingdom.
> Somewhere around the time we moved Crickett out, we began to notice that one of the cats was peeing on the baseboard in a back hallway. After some investigation, we discovered that it was Kazi.
> We've added a second litter box and put it in that hallway and removed the lid from the original litter box. This seemed to work temporarily.
> Sonar began exerting her own dominance (she is already larger than Kazi), and this has created more stress between them.
> Kazi returned to peeing on the baseboards (which I've had to remove due to damage), so I taped aluminum foil covered with baking soda in the areas she was peeing.
> She, this week, started peeing in new places (still baseboards, and right above the baseboards), so I moved her and the second litter box into a bathroom with her own food and water dish to try to "re-train" her to the litter box.
> However, after letting her out today (she HAD peed in the litter box), she peed on the baseboard within 30 minutes.

I'm at a loss. I don't know how to stop Kazi from peeing outside of the litter box, and I don't know how to bring balance to my felines again so that Crickett can rejoin the general population. I'm going to make an appointment for Kazi at the vet's office to see if she has some kind of urinary tract infection or anything, but since everything, to me, seems behavioral because of Sonar's introduction, Crickett's removal, and now Sonar's dominance, I feel like it may just be money wasted.

In short:
> One cat (Sonar - the 1-yr-old) is bullying another (Kazi - the 3-yr-old).
> Kazi is peeing on baseboards and won't stop.
> Crickett (the 9-yr-old) is isolated in our bedroom/master bath and doesn't want to come out (freaks out if I try to carry her out), and immediately runs to hide if the others are allowed in.

Any advice on how to get Sonar to be nicer to Kazi? To get Kazi to use the litter box consistently again (she does poop there)? To get Crickett safely among the other two again?

I'm okay with tough love, but I just need more ideas. I've had cats my whole life and never had this problem (but until I was 21, they were primarily outdoor cats unless having kittens).

THANKS!

 

[ArtNJ]

I'm not real sure what is going on. On one level, anytime you have a young kitten getting big quick, new problems & stresses can crop up. However, from your description, it doesn't necessarily sound like this is it, at least not in the usual straightforward manner. Post vet visit stress and "smelling different" is also a real thing, except that you did attempt to prevent that.

Anyway, let me at least offer two concrete suggestions -- first, you know you need to clean pee with an enzymatic cleaner right? Petzyme is the brand name, and available pretty widely these days. If you don't use an enzme cleaner, the cats can still smell it and that is a signal to them that its a legit spot to go. Second, one litter box per cat is standard advice and I'd definitely do that now that you are having problems.

P.S. Indoor/outdoor cats are different. They burn a lot of energy outside chasing stuff, and are much less likely to fight with each other inside. We see this every winter, when they start not wanting to go out and get a little stir crazy.

 

[CatHotelConcierge]

Thanks. We officially have one litter box per cat now, and we do use the enzymatic cleaners every time she does this.

 

[calicosrspecial]

Hi,

I am happy to try to help.

How did you introduce them originally? Did you go through the formal introduction process?

Are they all spayed or neutered?

How does Kazi walk around Low to the ground? Tail not up? Avoiding any areas?

How does Kazi act around Sonar?

Kazi sounds really territorially insecure. So I think we need to build Kazi's confidence. I would like to step up play with Kazi especially in areas where Kazi is going outside of the litter box and where Sonar bullies. During this play for now I would like Sonar to be occupied by someone in another area. After a good play session feed either treats or a meal. Also, can you add some cat trees and scratching posts? Cat trees allow a cat to go high which builds confidence. It also is an escape route. It also gives them a chance to get their scent on it so they can "own" more territory. Same with scratching posts that a cat can get their scent on it to convey ownership. Also, if you see Sonar focusing on Kazi distract Sonar with play, or food, or calling Sonar's name. Anything to avoid a negative encounter. Also, are you able to feed them treats near each other without them getting into a negative encounter? If so, let's do that. We need to associate them with good things (food especially) and for them to be together without anything negative happening. Finally, be as calm and confident around them as possible and let them know they are loved (If you can do it safely).

I would also like to add some more litter boxes if at all possible especially where the marker is happening most.

Confident cats are less likely to be bullied/or attacked or to bully or attack.

I would like to do this with Sonar as well. I want Sonar to feel ownership and confident but if time is a constraint let's focus on Kazi. If Kazi acts more confident Sonar should be less likely to bully and therefore Kazi should feel more secure and should stop marking.

For Cricket we need to build confidence in the room for now and then slowly expand the territory. Same things as above to build confidence. I want Cricket to be secure in that area then we can expand. We want Cricket to want to come out. We'll want to keep the others out for now and reintroduce them. But we need to build Cricket's confidence first and take it step by step.

And we want to avoid any negative encounters by distracting the cat's with something more enjoyable and interesting than chasing or bullying the other cat.

I am a little short on time right now but I am happy to help and answer any questions. We can solve this and get things back to normal. Please feel free to ask anything anytime. Don't worry, we can improve this situation.

 

[Summercats]

@cathotel, Any updates on your situation?