Wee Wee Woes!

[maple syrup]

Our little Kipper the Hunter is almost 6 months old.  Neuter scheduled for Monday.  This week has been disappointing.  He has peed twice on my sons bed.  We went and got a new mattress... the old one was ready to go anyway.  But I had washed his duvet 3 times this time and had it sitting on the counter upstairs, and lo and behold he got up there and peed on it AGAIN! 

I am the Laundry lady this week, but I have also been smelling interesting smells in our guest room.  My hubby keeps his suits in the closet down there, and it usually doubles as our laundry room.  Well today I found the mother load.  There was a fleece blanket in the closet on the floor.  It was Pee SOAKED and had poo on it too. I didn't have the stomach to put it in the wash.  It is now in the trash.  Floor washed up etc etc.  THEN the guest bed in my laundry load ready to be folded.  Yep.  Half the load back to the washer , all bed clothes as well Cursed duvets. The only saving grace is that we had a memory foam layer on top of the mattress so the mattress is clean.  Memory foam Bites the dust. 

Did I mention I am the Laundry lady today.  The fact that my youngest son Puked in his bed last night doesn't help.

Kitty relegated to the litter room... my office.

After the poop find it clicks that he must not like the litter I purchased last week...   Still trying to find a good fit.  This one had a scent and I purchased against better judgement.  I've noticed a steep decline in the amount of clumps on my daily scoop.  Attributing it to the fact that we have been letting him out on tether during the day in the back yard. ...not so.

I had purchased a bag of the Walnut shell litter still unopened in the closet, so out goes the scented pine and in comes the Walnut.  Kitty relegated to the litter room.  Successful pee in the walnut litter... 3 actually in a couple of hours. 

However as I sit here to do some work I think.... Hmmm Clean litter, but urine smell.  Investigate.  Motherload #2 behind the reading chair in the corner.  Sons bookbag, My cycling saddlebag, and sun hat.  Woo Hoo!   Bought some enzyme cleaner this evening while kitty was relegated to the room.  I guess we see if it works right NOW.

Also nagging at the back of my mind is that he had his first vax 2 weeks ago.  Could this be contributing?  UTI?

Lets hope tomorrow is a better day.  Maybe he'll catch me another mouse and a peace offering.

 

[mani]

The first port of call is to check for a UTI.  Since it's so out of character, it could just be the culprit.

It could even be that he's 'become a man' and is madly urinating everywhere, just to celebrate

So if he's booked in for Monday the vet can check for a UTI and if none exists, go with the neutering.  That may just fix him up, but have a good talk to the vet about it.  And of course you know to be absolutely scrupulous about removing any remaining smells.

Of course if it exacerbates and he's looking uncomfortable in any way he'll need to go to the vet sooner. 

Good luck... At least you have a good attitude

 

[tulosai]

I think it is probably the litter.  Switch it back to whatever it was before (or at least something unscented) ASAP.  The only issue I ever had with either of my cats going outside the litterbox was when I tried to switch to scented litter.  I has switched back within 12 hours.

 

[maple syrup]

Luckily we can close off the kitchen and hallway door so that Kipper only has access to my office, kitchen and hallway.  This morning there are 2 pee clumps in the litter.  One big, one small.... Lots of love and praise this morning for our hunter.   I had noticed that his belly has felt big and full this week, but it seems fine this morning.  My odd one this morning is that there were 2 water puddles on the floor in my office... Not pee, No smell with little frothy bubbles on top.  Spit up?  Hmmm.

 

[callista]

Most likely, yeah. Do you think he may be having trouble with hairballs? If so, he'll probably manage to throw up the hairball at some point. If he hasn't been eating much lately, that's probably the trouble. But if he's still eating and eliminating regularly, then it's not an emergency. If on the other hand he can't eat and/or doesn't use the litter box, then it's vet time for the little guy.

 

[maple syrup]

He is eating just fine.  He's raw fed.  I'm very particular about food storage etc.  He ate yesterday evening, so if it is spit up It would have had to be this morning sometime before we got up.  He's been drinking a lot of water recently.. It is hot here right now.  He ate this morning, and is out on the tether now.  I was out watering the plants this morning with him, and he did Wee in the garden. Raw fed don't poo that much so I'm not really worried about it at this point.

I've just been researching odor eliminator options.  Anyone use Zeolite? 

 

[maple syrup]

The Litter box is back in action... Yay!

 

[catlanta]

Looks like your problem is solved, but I thought I'd go ahead and throw my two cents in.

I fostered a litter this spring who had previously been living outside. 4/5 understood the litterbox concept right away, but one wasn't into it. After doing all the training stuff (putting him in the box, showing him how to dig, putting him in the mix mid-poo) I tried the Precious Cat litter attractant herbal mix, and it totally did the trick.

I was hesitant at first, because I'm really careful about what I expose my kitties to, but I saw no adverse reactions. Moreover, I only used it until I changed out their litter (about 4 days later) and he never had another issue.

 

[maple syrup]

Oh no, Problem not solved.  We have had a very trying 2 weeks. Mr Kitty has had pretty much a daily pee 'somewhere' so when we go out we keep him confined to the kitchen, hallway and my office where the litter is.  2 Sunday's ago now we went out for dinner at a friends place.  left at 4:30.  My hubby took the kids home at about 8:30, only to find our kitten with his paw caught in the window!  WE have an old house with double hung windows that I only leave open about 2 inches when we're not home.  Kipper must have been playing with flies at the kitchen window and knocked the prop out, and got stuck. Don't know how long, but he has a fracture and partially dislocated his wrist.  This was  the day before we were to get him neutered, so no neuter which we thought would fix the problem?  He's in a splint that he has taken off twice now and we've had to get him sedated to reapply.  And now he has to wear a cone at night that I can only keep on if I attach it to his harness and make him wear the harness all night.  The first time we had him neutered as well.  We have pretty much had to keep him to the confines around the clock.  If we don't he finds a bed and pees on it. We do give him back yard access as well.  Now I have found him peeing on the floor.  In my office, in the kitchen , and in our spare room that he sometimes works him way into.  Totally frustrated.  I know this is a lot of 'reasons' right now, and he still does use the litter during the day.  I put the cone on him yesterday and he RAN upstairs and PEED on MY bed! I know it must be the stress.  Gonna go get some Bachs rescue remedy today and see if that calms hiim any.  Poor little guy.

 

[mservant]

Oh poor you, and poor Mr Kitty. I have sash windows that sound a bit like yours and it sounds awful. Mouse does the fly chasing thing too and I can just picture your little guy. 

Have you ever tried Feliway? It does sound like he's really stressed out now. May be Bachs remedy for you and Feliway for Kipper?  If he's using the tray during the day at least there's still a starting point once he manages to settle down.  Hope things start to improve soon.

 

[maple syrup]

Update.  I got a Feliway about 2 weeks ago.  We put it in the spare room that seems to be the biggest place to offend.   Left that door closed for about a week. Then left it open.  He has had one incident in there since.  It is always on the douvet though, so I have removed it from the bed, and have had no incidence since.  I'm afraid to put the douvet back on however.   Anyone else had the same issue with feather douvet and kitty pees?  He ONLY pees on a douvet.  I've been keeping extra blankets on the kids beds as we have a douvet on every bed in the house.  This seems to work.  I have caught him twice ready to go on my sons bed as we are doing the bedtime routine and the extra blanket has been removed.  I've swiftly pushed him over to stop the squat, and then brought him down to the litter box where he promptly goes.

I think I need a second litter box upstairs... maybe he just needs a closer option to go to when the need arises.

However I think the feliway is having a two pronged effect.  Our spare room is where my husband keeps his clothes.... it is essentially his dressing room and a laundry folding room.  So while our laundry is in there it is getting pheramoned, AND my husband is a newbie pet owner, and has not built a bond really with our little guy - I think it is going to take some time for him.  He doesn't dislike him, just has no experience to draw upon when it comes to animals in general.  Since all of his clothes are in there, he is being 'scented' essentially without being in as much contact with Kipper. 

Before the feliway there was an evening that my hubby came home with a friend.  These two men walked in the door and Kipper promptly raced upstairs and peed on my sons bed.  He hasn't done anything like that since the feliway... it's been more of an.. hey I'm here, it's bed time.. I gotta go and this looks like a good place to do it sort of scenario.

Lets hope the improvement continues.

Ps - the splint is also off, and Kipper is walking normally again. and everything is back to routine.

 

[mservant]

I am so relieved Kipper's leg has healed well and he's back walking like normal. I really could feel your pain and panic when you saw Kipper there. I have been ultra careful with my sash windows ever since I read your post! Thankfully mine were totally overhauled a few years back and are quite stiff to move up and down but I know if Mouse were to jump up to the middle frame when the window was open slightly his weight could push it down and his paw get stuck between the two frames... 

From what you describe it may well be that some of the behaviour has been anxiety related.  It's good to hear Simon is more relaxed with visitors and the douvets are a little less at risk. The second litter tray upstairs sounds like a really good idea at this stage. Feliway also has a spray you can use on specific problem areas to deter spraying - I've only used it for calming in car transport but assume it works for the spraying too - others may be able to comment from experience though.  (You could use that on hubby's clothes for an ever stronger relaxation effect if you like!)

If there's a more persistent problem with any of the douvets and you want a slightly more durable/harder texture 'unoccupied' bed cover -  when I had a cat with chronically inflamed bladder and regular acute cystitis I used to cover my furniture with picnic rugs - ones that looked like throws, were washable, but had the advantage of a waterproof backing! 

 

[maple syrup]

The thing is.. Kipper is the biggest 'People Cat' that I have ever met.  He is as social as my hubby... which is saying something.  If someone comes over... he is the first there to greet them whether they've met before or not -  Request to be held and scratched.  We are a drop location for CSA boxes for our neighborhood. One of the members comes to pick up a box - the first that we'd met, and while we were having a short chat, Kipper is half way up the steps (He's leash trained) So he can be face to face with this new person -  Howling and reaching for him because he NEEDS to say hello.  My Girlfriend has even brought her Maltese over one day and Kipper was TOTALLY fine with her being there, and followed her around like a puppy for hours.

So I am pretty sure it is not visitor related in the least.  Could be male hormoes, but I really think it is his need to be everyone's best friend... and he's frustrated that he isn't my hubbys best friend yet.

Having his paw back in shape is definitely a relief.  It was terribly hard to have the playtime squelched for so many weeks.  We were finally back to playing chase and tag today running around the house.  So much fun!

 

[mservant]

Oooooh, if only they could speak or we could read their minds. Here's hoping that his having no splint, able to play and get about faster AND another litter tray with litter he's OK with starts to make a difference. 

   Stick with the Feliway and let us know how things go from the new litter tray introduction now his leg's better.

My boy likes to rush to the door and greet all visitors too, I think it's so cute though I know part of it is he thinks it's his house (territory) and he's checking out who I'm letting in!  

 He loves all the extra attention when there's people in too though.