Cat issues, no hope in sight!

[kitten]

I'm a clean freak, and I'm really suffering right now. Our ten-year old female cat has destroyed a fourth of our tiny living space - made it uninhabitable for humans, anyway. She has a box, but she pees on the floor in a wide swathe that runs from my clothes closet to a place about four feet away under some computer cables. I keep mopping, but the mop head is basically picking up urine - and I somehow can't rinse it all out, so the next day, I mop up the new urine and end up spreading some of the old back on the floor again. It's a wood floor, and it's totally dried and cracked from the chemicals I've tried as I attempt to keep up with this flood of pee every day.

The smell around my clothes was so bad I had to move them all out of the closet. So my clothes and our winter coats were just in piles on a couple of chairs in the main room for months. It got so bad that my hubby went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got us both some two-tier retail racks on wheels. So our clothes are now arranged on the racks, far removed from the pee-soaked floor. But the cat is still peeing in the closet, and she's also doing it on the computer cables in the far corner.

I had tried taping the cables to the wall but they kept falling down. I was going to staple them up, but never got around to it. It's hard to mop under them, and sometimes I get so discouraged that I just - don't.

DH and I couldn't work in this terrible smelling place anymore, so we rented a separate office and studio in a different building. Every day I go down there and work happily in a cat-free room, but I have to come home every night to peemageddon. We're in a cold damp climate - nothing ever dries here. So now there's a bunch of weird mold growing in the closet from the endless urine deposits and my attempts to mop up with cleaners. I would like to hire a cleaning crew to deal with it. DH and I are sneezing like crazy. But I'm actually embarrassed by this stuff and I hate the thought of anyone else seeing how we've been living.

The vet said she might have a bladder crystal condition. They gave her some medicine and we put her on wet food, and she seemed to be doing pretty well - was using her box for a while. Now we're back to square one.

We'll be moving soon to an apartment closer to where our offices are. There's no reason for me to think that the cat won't keep peeing on the floor in our new place, so I'm pretty much out of hope...

In a case like this where the cat is going to pee outside the box no matter what, would it be better to rent a place with carpets, wood or linoleum? Any other thoughts welcome...

[folkypoet]

Hi, kitten. We're in a similar situation, at the moment, but we're lucky to have tile throughout the house. I've found that, instead of mopping, paper towels and a multi-purpose cleaner are the way to go. (I'm not usually a fan of paper towels, but in this instance, I'm really thankful they exist.) I'd go for the linoleum, I think.

Hoping for some insightful answers....

Good luck!

[Miss Cellane]

First, take the cat back to the vet. She might need more treatment, or there might be something else wrong.

Second, close the closet door and don't let the cat in. If possible, don't let her in that room at all.

Third, get an enzyme-based cleaner like Nature's Miracle--they sell them at pet stores. Pretty much the only thing that will get rid of the urine odor. And at long as that area smells like cat pee, the cat is going to continue to go there.

If you can't get your mop clean, use paper towels or rags that you can just throw away--you really need to eliminate the urine odor and that may be the only way to do it.

Try re-training her to use the litterbox, after she's gotten an all-clear from the vet. Sometimes after a UTI, the cat associates the litter box with pain and refuses to use it. To re-train her, start with a completely clean, fresh box and a brand of litter that you know she has used before (cats can get fussy about litter and refuse to use the box if they don't like it). Shut the cat and the box and some food and water in a small room, preferably with a tile or vinyl floor. This usually is a bathroom. Keep the cat there for most of the day for 5-7 days, allowing her out only under strict supervision, and don't let her anywhere near the area where she used to pee. You might also try using the Feliway spray, also available at pet stores, which is a calming pheromone spray for cats. Another thing to try is Rescue Remedy in her water bowl, as that also can have a calming effect.

[kitten]

Good ideas - I can't really keep the cat out of the main room, since we live in a TINY one-room apartment - it's kind of open, and that's all there is to the place, other than our bedroom. The kitchen is largish and one end of it might be a good place to do the training thing - also it has natural light, so I wouldn't be keeping her in a dark room all day. But it's doorless. Is there anything I could put across the door? I imagine she could jump over almost anything, LOL

[Miss Cellane]

Good ideas - I can't really keep the cat out of the main room, since we live in a TINY one-room apartment - it's kind of open, and that's all there is to the place, other than our bedroom. The kitchen is largish and one end of it might be a good place to do the training thing - also it has natural light, so I wouldn't be keeping her in a dark room all day. But it's doorless. Is there anything I could put across the door? I imagine she could jump over almost anything, LOL

There's a lot in a kitchen that a cat could ruin if she sprayed. I'd use the bathroom and leave the light on. It's only for a week. You can put a cat bed and toys in there to keep her entertained. And lots of catnip. And you can let the cat out--but only when you can be right there with her to pick her up if she starts to pee on the floor, so you can run her back to the bathroom and plop her in the litterbox.

Another thing--if you have a covered litterbox, try taking the cover off. Some cats just don't like them.

If you want to, you can clean your closet really well and then get a work light and turn it on in there to dry things out. Just the heat from an incandescent bulb can be enough, in a closed space, to stop the mold and mildew.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

When my elderly cat (before the ones I have now) wanted to go outside his box and pee in the hallway instead, I put a littler box in the hall. Maybe a change of location (or an addition rather) would help, but as Miss Cellane said, take her back to the vet. There is a reason she keeps going outside her box. Also as has been pointed out, as long as the smell is there she thinks that is the place to go. Baking soda is good too to help with the smell. Good luck.

[sweetana3]

Miss Cellane had the best ideas and they all have to be used. When one of our cats was sick or refused the litter box (sick to me), we caged him in a huge wire dog crate. More room than any shelter and we could carefully watch what was going in and out. he was only in it when we could not supervise and only for a few weeks.

It is not cruel as the cat has to live with you and your situation is intolerable. The cat pee smell will !!! permeate everything unless you deal with it.

[pony mom]

I would definitely take the cat back to the vet and have it rechecked.

Is her food kept near her litterbox? That would make her want to do her business away from where she eats. Maybe the litter is different? Different liner? Has it been washed with something different than usual? Is it picked out regularly? Definitely use Nature's Miracle to clean the stains. I've used it on male cat spray on our shed and it worked great.

Cats usually have a reason, either physical or mental, that causes these types of problems. Check out the Animal Planet show My Cat From Hell. The guy on there is great at figuring out why cats behave the way they do, and I'm sure you're not the only one with this problem.

[jp1]

I would agree with the other posts to re-confirm with the vet that there's nothing else going on and to get nature's miracle and try to truly get the smell out because cats tend to keep going where they've gone before.

I do feel your pain though. Our cats are relatively young and healthy but they've always had a habit of occasionally going outside thier box. We've moved every couple of years for the last 6 and have had to deal with getting the space cleaned up. Our last place their box was in the 2nd bedroom closet, which was carpeted. I'm still somewhat surpised that we only got dinged $208 from our security deposit after we moved out because my best efforts at cleaning the carpet were not successful, at least IMHO. In our current place the box is in teh bathtub of the 2nd bathroom. The floor of that room is ceramic tile. THey never pee outside the box here, but occasionally do #2 on the floor. But since it's hard tile it's an easy clean. My dream home would have an easily accessible basement where we could put their box.

[Bastelmutti]

Is her food kept near her litterbox? That would make her want to do her business away from where she eats.

This is what the problem was at our house & moving it did the trick. I also second the Nature's Miracle.

[merince]

Once you get rid of the stains you can also try dog training pads, which are basically a giant floor diaper. That way you can only pick it up and toss once you get home instead of having to mop, etc.

[Bastelmutti]

Yup, I use those dog training pads under my litter boxes for, um, poor aim.

Another thing you might want to try is calling a local shelter & asking if they have a cat behaviorist. No kidding - I had no idea such a thing existed, but the person I spoke with solved our problem with the food/litter tip.

[loosechickens]

back many, many years ago, I used to breed dogs, and had quite a sizeable kennel in another universe far, far away from my present life.

I can't help the cat, but I can help you with the odor problem. There is a wonderful product called OdorMute that kennels and vets use, which completely neutralizes the urine smell. And I just checked on the web and it's still available......(might even be able to get it at pet stores, etc......at this point in life, I've developed allergies to cat and dog dander, so am petless this period of my life, so haven't been in any pet stores in recent years......)

but,if not, it's available online...here's the website. http://www.odormute.com/

hope this helps.

[Mer05]

That sounds truly awful! Nthing the vet visit in case there's a medical issue there, and trying to retrain the cat...

My current cat has terrible aim, so I can vouch for Nature's Miracle. And the puppy pads. I didn't discover those until last year, and they are wonderful.

[Shari]

Try Cat Attract litter. I have some friends with a similiar issue and it is working wonders. You can get it at Petsmart and Petco.

Also, some cats do not want to pee and poop in the same box - you may need 2.

[Joyous_5]

I don't have any helpful suggestions that haven't already been mentioned but just want to say I feel for you! We have a male cat who was having "accidents" all over our carpet at our old house. It's such a hard smell to get out and I'm sure I never got it out fully as he kept using the same area. One thing we noticed? If there was any dampness, he'd pee. For instance, he started peeing where our shoe rug was in the entry way, because our boots had melted snow there--he'd also baptize the bath mat if we left it down, and under the Christmas tree one year when water from the basin sloshed onto the carpet. If the area where she's peeing now is moist as you mentioned, that might be making the situation worse.

Good luck--it's a big stressor and I hope you find a solution very soon.

[kitten]

Wanted to say thanks for all these ideas, guys! I appreciate it! She's driving us nuts, but she's a sweet old lady and we wouldn't trust anyone else to treat her as well as we do, given her issues. I'll try these suggestions :)

[rose]

My vet said cats with kidney infections associate the litter box with the pain. I'd go back to the vet. Sorry to hear about your problem -- sounds difficult!