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- Jan 13, 2019
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My family and I have 14 cats: 2 adopted from shelters, and the rest found us. Some of them found us as kittens, others adults that became friendly after wth spayed/neutered them. Four are female and the rest are male (all 14 fixed). They are listed below with the dates and ages they found us:
1) Molly--adopted at 2 months from shelter in 2014
2) Penny--adopted at 2 months from shelf in 2015
3) Bertie--born under the porch June 2018
4) Butters--born under porch June 2018
5) Freddie--born under porch June 2018
6) Lil Bear--showed up on porch March 2019 at about 4 months
7) Marshmallow--November 2019--adult
8) King Henry IIIV--April 2021--6 months
9) Mama Kitty (Mom of previous)--Came back and stayed April 2021--adult
10) Coco--March 2022--adult
11) Pip--March 2022--4 months
12) Bobby--August 2022--2 months
13) Oliver--May 2023--2 weeks (bottle baby from parent's co-worker)
14) Emily--September 2023--4 months
*note: there were a few other cats/kittens pre-2019 but they died of illness or injury or ran away. Also several other TNRs that didn't stay around after they were returned.
*Also, most of these have had an injury or illness when they came to us
Issue:
We used to have trouble with the second-oldest female marking all over the house when 5 new cats/kittens were added to the family. She was my sister's cat primarily and after keeping her separated from the others and confined to part of the house, after YEARS, this cat finally stopped peeing!!!
...Only for the others to start.
1 and 2 were raised as single kittens (my sister had hers while living with our parents and I had #1 with me while I went to college) and they don't like any other cats but are fine. #3-7 get along and 8-14 get along. Some get along with everyone, but most don't cause trouble with anyone.
The peeing stopped with Penny and started with #3, 4, 8, and 10 with the addition of Coco in 2022. He found us during an early spring snow, had 2 broken fang-teeth (can't remember name), and an infected toe that needed to be amputated. We neutered him and kept him on the catio until we could take off the bandage from his foot. He was scared of us but not completely feral like Mama Kitty was. We let him go when he was well and he came back for good after a month. He is the sweetest and must have lived inside for some time because he is not afraid of the vacuum and jumps in my arms when I hold them open.
But Butters HATES him. Coco is one of three black cats and Butters now attacks them all if he is in a mood and thinks it is Coco. The fights can get bad, but we are vigilant and it rarely happens. It took Marshmallow about a year for everyone to accept him but now he is loved by all the cats.
We live in a rural area and they can go outside during the day and come in at night. In the winter they don't go out much, but we do let them out at night because they only stay out for a few minutes to go potty.
(Oh, I say "pee" instead of "mark" or "spray" but they don't make puddles on the floor. It is just a stream of pee on a usually vertical surface.)
I know you aren't supposed to put human emotions on cats, but Henry seems to get jealous and exact revenge when he doesn't get his way. If we don't let him out, he pees in my kitchen on the stove or lower cabinets and turns while he does it to cover the most space.
Coco pees ON my cabinets and counters and on the jar with wooden spoons. He has also peed on me while I was standing in the kitchen and he pees on my dad, his blanket, and his TV. He might do it elsewhere, but I haven't seen it.
We've worked with Butters a lot and he is much better and doesn't pee as often. My mom has been putting him in the litter every morning and treats him and we have been playing with him more and trying to calm him as he is naturally anxious (Napoleon complex as Jackson Galaxy describes it). He is also on a small dose of gabapentin 3x daily. When he does pee, it is random--chairs, couch, doors, my bedroom...)
Bertie marks everywhere and anywhere like Butters but he does it right after he comes inside.
We have tested them for health issues and infections and there are none.
We have 7 litters (most open and big) that get scooped daily and access to the outdoors.
We have a large catified house with a catio, screened porch, climbing access, perches, beds, lots of windows, and water fountains everywhere.
I would be fine re-homing Coco because he would like to be the center of attention and get all the cuddles, but I don't know who would want an FIV+ cat with half his teeth and missing one toe. And I would miss him. So that is the last result.
When we find pee (which is multiple times a day), we use an enzyme spray to fully get rid of the smell and clean it.
I tried adding a scent soaker (catnip-infused cardboard scratcher) to the kitchen, but they peed on it within 12 hours.
Most of the time, everything is peaceful and fine. But I'm getting tired of cleaning all the pee and I'm starting to have trouble getting the smell out of the couch.
Has anyone had issues with this? Has anyone solved this problem?
Sorry this was so long!
1) Molly--adopted at 2 months from shelter in 2014
2) Penny--adopted at 2 months from shelf in 2015
3) Bertie--born under the porch June 2018
4) Butters--born under porch June 2018
5) Freddie--born under porch June 2018
6) Lil Bear--showed up on porch March 2019 at about 4 months
7) Marshmallow--November 2019--adult
8) King Henry IIIV--April 2021--6 months
9) Mama Kitty (Mom of previous)--Came back and stayed April 2021--adult
10) Coco--March 2022--adult
11) Pip--March 2022--4 months
12) Bobby--August 2022--2 months
13) Oliver--May 2023--2 weeks (bottle baby from parent's co-worker)
14) Emily--September 2023--4 months
*note: there were a few other cats/kittens pre-2019 but they died of illness or injury or ran away. Also several other TNRs that didn't stay around after they were returned.
*Also, most of these have had an injury or illness when they came to us
Issue:
We used to have trouble with the second-oldest female marking all over the house when 5 new cats/kittens were added to the family. She was my sister's cat primarily and after keeping her separated from the others and confined to part of the house, after YEARS, this cat finally stopped peeing!!!
...Only for the others to start.
1 and 2 were raised as single kittens (my sister had hers while living with our parents and I had #1 with me while I went to college) and they don't like any other cats but are fine. #3-7 get along and 8-14 get along. Some get along with everyone, but most don't cause trouble with anyone.
The peeing stopped with Penny and started with #3, 4, 8, and 10 with the addition of Coco in 2022. He found us during an early spring snow, had 2 broken fang-teeth (can't remember name), and an infected toe that needed to be amputated. We neutered him and kept him on the catio until we could take off the bandage from his foot. He was scared of us but not completely feral like Mama Kitty was. We let him go when he was well and he came back for good after a month. He is the sweetest and must have lived inside for some time because he is not afraid of the vacuum and jumps in my arms when I hold them open.
But Butters HATES him. Coco is one of three black cats and Butters now attacks them all if he is in a mood and thinks it is Coco. The fights can get bad, but we are vigilant and it rarely happens. It took Marshmallow about a year for everyone to accept him but now he is loved by all the cats.
We live in a rural area and they can go outside during the day and come in at night. In the winter they don't go out much, but we do let them out at night because they only stay out for a few minutes to go potty.
(Oh, I say "pee" instead of "mark" or "spray" but they don't make puddles on the floor. It is just a stream of pee on a usually vertical surface.)
I know you aren't supposed to put human emotions on cats, but Henry seems to get jealous and exact revenge when he doesn't get his way. If we don't let him out, he pees in my kitchen on the stove or lower cabinets and turns while he does it to cover the most space.
Coco pees ON my cabinets and counters and on the jar with wooden spoons. He has also peed on me while I was standing in the kitchen and he pees on my dad, his blanket, and his TV. He might do it elsewhere, but I haven't seen it.
We've worked with Butters a lot and he is much better and doesn't pee as often. My mom has been putting him in the litter every morning and treats him and we have been playing with him more and trying to calm him as he is naturally anxious (Napoleon complex as Jackson Galaxy describes it). He is also on a small dose of gabapentin 3x daily. When he does pee, it is random--chairs, couch, doors, my bedroom...)
Bertie marks everywhere and anywhere like Butters but he does it right after he comes inside.
We have tested them for health issues and infections and there are none.
We have 7 litters (most open and big) that get scooped daily and access to the outdoors.
We have a large catified house with a catio, screened porch, climbing access, perches, beds, lots of windows, and water fountains everywhere.
I would be fine re-homing Coco because he would like to be the center of attention and get all the cuddles, but I don't know who would want an FIV+ cat with half his teeth and missing one toe. And I would miss him. So that is the last result.
When we find pee (which is multiple times a day), we use an enzyme spray to fully get rid of the smell and clean it.
I tried adding a scent soaker (catnip-infused cardboard scratcher) to the kitchen, but they peed on it within 12 hours.
Most of the time, everything is peaceful and fine. But I'm getting tired of cleaning all the pee and I'm starting to have trouble getting the smell out of the couch.
Has anyone had issues with this? Has anyone solved this problem?
Sorry this was so long!
