OT - Joe, I need help with a cat...

[Hobie]

Now I know this will go south quickly but I was going to ask you and being we are in the dog days of summer, a little fun is likely in order...

Anyway, my mom has seven (7) cats. She has 3 larger litter boxes. Up until recently, all 7 cats used the litter boxes. Then, suddenly (from my perspective) one cat started urinating and defecating right NEXT to the boxes. I discovered which one and only my wife's calm voice saved the cat's life. What can I do to get this cat to use the litter boxes again?

[JimT]

Get it to a Cat Therapist

http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/newsle ... herapy.htm

If you love your pets, money is no consideration.

Note: ......logical, easily implemented methods for preventing and/or correcting common feline emotional and psychological problems.....

[deerwhacker444]

Should I immediately take this South or should I wait for a few posts.?



This doesn't answer your question Hobie, but it's kinda along the same lines..!

Kitty Litter Cake..!

[Jay Bird]

I always used lead. Guarantied to work every time. Just put alittle right between the eyes.

[Yodar]

Hobie,

Check out Warren Eckstein's book "How To Get Your Cat To Do What You Want It To Do".

Check out his website.

Call his Saturday radio program and ask your question. I am sure this has come up before.

Good luck.

[J Miller]

Now I know this will go south quickly but I was going to ask you and being we are in the dog days of summer, a little fun is likely in order...

Anyway, my mom has seven (7) cats. She has 3 larger litter boxes. Up until recently, all 7 cats used the litter boxes. Then, suddenly (from my perspective) one cat started urinating and defecating right NEXT to the boxes. I discovered which one and only my wife's calm voice saved the cat's life. What can I do to get this cat to use the litter boxes again?

Hobie,

We have 7 cats and 7 litter boxes. I can't say that each cat has his/her name on one, but they are always full. Don't ask me how I know that ...........

One of them is a 16 yo female that does as you say, next to the box, but not in it. But she's sorta brain damaged I think. I stepped full on her with my boots on one night when she was maybe 4 weeks old. Never been right.

As for your mothers cat, I'd do three things.
>Take the kitty to the vet. A sudden change in their behavior is a definite sign of something wrong. May be physical, like my Boopie cat that died a year ago from diabetes, or emotional. But he/she needs to be checked out.
>Scrub all the rest, and the area they are in, and put in fresh litter.
>Add 4 more cat boxes. I know, yuck, but I've read more than once that each cat should have one of their own.


That's all I can think of. I'll show this to my wife and she might have some more ideas.

Joe

[Hobie]

Thanks Joe.

Ok, you guys can take it for all its worth now...

[alnitak]

As someone once said,

"Women and cats are going to do what they dang well please, ... and men and dogs just have to get used to it."

[Old Ironsights]

I have 3 cats & 3 litterboxes.

That said: the more humid the more the boxes must be cleaned/changed.

You don't say what type of litter is being used, but if you can smell "cat" in the box then it needs cleaning.

Just imagine being forced to go into a portajohn right after Bubba at a Chili Cookoff.

That's what an even faintly odiferous box is like to a cat nose.

[J Miller]

Hobie,
One more thought, we use scoopable kitty litter. This seems to be more agreeable to their different personalities.

Mrs J Miller

[Old Ironsights]

Hobie,
One more thought, we use scoopable kitty litter. This seems to be more agreeable to their different personalities. Mrs J Miller

Ditto.

[Hobie]

There are three large boxes using scoopable litter. Boxes are emptied/cleaned/scooped at least daily, sometimes 2-3 times a day. I have followed recommendations for depth of litter. There are 4 males and 3 females although all have been neutered. They are due a vet visit. I've been getting each of them accustomed to me picking them up. Need to do that to get them in the crate for transport to the vet.

[RSY]

Alright, this is officially "the Mother of All Off-Topic Threads."

Can I get a "meow!"?

Scott

[AJMD429]

Now I know this will go south quickly . . .

I'm really hurt that you would make such an assumption...

...but of course it is correct!

One of them is a 16 yo female that does as you say, next to the box, but not in it. But she's sorta brain damaged I think. I stepped full on her with my boots on one night when she was maybe 4 weeks old. Never been right.

Did you try stepping on the cat again? Mebbe it's like some kinda' switch you can turn on and off...

Seriously though, a girl I knew in college had in her apartment a 'broom closet' type little closet in the kitchen (of ALL places!), and a board in the door opening, right up against the litter box, that was maybe 3 feet high, with a pet-door in it. She said her cat would do the same thing if she just left the door open a crack, or wide open. When she did the thing with the pet door, it evidently provided a clearer 'boundary' between the go and no-go zone. If it were my house, I'd probably have put the pet door right in the closet door, but it would likely have cost her an apartment deposit or a new door.

[Hobie]

The boxes are down in the 1600+ sq ft basement. They aren't moving unless the cats do. Might not have too long to go on that having nothing to do with the cats.

[HATCHETTJACK]

id just shoot the cat... and show the others what happens when they dont mind

[bj94]

My wife had 4 cats and one litter box- no problems in 11 years.

[Ysabel Kid]

Segregate the offending cat into its own room for a week, with its own new litter box. See if it begins using it again. Without the distraction/interruption from the other cats, it will probably start using the litter box again.

When our old cat did this years ago we also purchased a plastic basin (the kind you put below a washing machine in case it leaks). This helped as well.

Good luck!

[kimwcook]

Thank God, my wife hates cats.

[OJ]

Dunno what this business is about "cats" - but, whateverr they are -somehow we don't see anything like that here -



Are they food - or friends?



WHATEVER ????

[Doc Hudson]

Dunno what this business is about "cats" - but, whateverr they are -somehow we don't see anything like that here -



Are they food - or friends?



WHATEVER ????

Those Mastiffs are gorgeous, especially the tawny!

[OJ]

Those Mastiffs are gorgeous, especially the tawny!

Thanks - my sister thinks she's so cute - she doesn't even know football from baseball !!



Brothers are really uncouth clods - let's visit

[deerwhacker444]

Have you tried Whacking it with a rolled up newspaper and rubbing it's nose in it...?

After that, I'm out of ideas..

[J Miller]

Have you tried Whacking it with a rolled up newspaper and rubbing it's nose in it...?

After that, I'm out of ideas..

Deerwhacker,

Cats are sometimes like children. Whacking them or rubbing their noses in it don't work. Yeah, I tried it. There is something that's changed with the kitty. Either physical, or psychological, but somethings changed. Cat's don't normally do things for spite.

Joe

[AmBraCol]

Cats are sometimes like children. Whacking them or rubbing their noses in it don't work.

Then there was the fellow who was "cat sitting". He'd come home from work and find a pile right in the middle of the floor. He'd grab the cat, rub its nose in it and toss it out the window. This happened three times. The fourth time he came in and saw the pile the cat ran over, rubbed its nose in it and jumped out the window...

Who says you can't train 'em?

:mr green:

[rjohns94]

Hobie, sometimes, on cats that have been declawed, they don't like granulated cat litter. The paper product "soft" litter does well for them and can stop them from going outside the box.

[JohndeFresno]

...my mom has seven (7) cats. She has 3 larger litter boxes. Up until recently, all 7 cats used the litter boxes...

Dang! Hobie. I always hated those word-math questions!

[RSY]

For the record, I am in the J Miller camp on cats. I love dogs, as well, but they gotta be small to mid-sized. I will not abide an animal that eats more than me and, as a result, has bigger poop than me (and leaves it in my yard).

We currently are a 2-dachshund household. I tried to insert a kitten into the situation once, and it was not pretty.

Scott

[Hobie]

I just love the responses. So far NOBODY has offered to take ANY of the cats off my hands.

John, if you don't like those word problems, add in one (1) fool who said he'd do his best to see that the seven (7) cats weren't reduced to zero (0) cats by giving up three (3) to five (5) hours per day. FOR CATS!

Me, I like dogs. Big dogs are fine, smaller dogs are fine, useless or psycho dogs are not fine. However, I've never handled even one dog that was akin to holding a buzzsaw turning at 2500 RPM. Cats such as that seem to be a dime a dozen.

Oh, and NONE of these cats have been declawed and I am unanimous in that.

[AmBraCol]

I just love the responses. So far NOBODY has offered to take ANY of the cats off my hands.

Well, Hobie, it's a shipping problem. Getting them down here would be expensive or I'd gladly volunteer. I like cats. They taste like chicken.

[Hobie]

Paul,

People say they taste like chicken but how in the heck do you get enough meat off one to know? These darn cats don't have muscle, they have flab in a belly or are just about the same one to another. I did have one that was skin and bones (darn near starved to death by a former neighbor/owner) but 2 months of feed and that cat looks just like the others. No more and no less. Maybe coyotes like them, maybe alligators like them but I'd bypass them for a hog, cow, deer or even a red squirrel!

[AmBraCol]

Paul,

People say they taste like chicken but how in the heck do you get enough meat off one to know? These darn cats don't have muscle, they have flab in a belly or are just about the same one to another. I did have one that was skin and bones (darn near starved to death by a former neighbor/owner) but 2 months of feed and that cat looks just like the others. No more and no less. Maybe coyotes like them, maybe alligators like them but I'd bypass them for a hog, cow, deer or even a red squirrel!

Well, I prefer other critters for my chow mein or other dishes, but the US bred cats I've seen have a lot more meat than a squirrel does. They'd probably be best roasted as that'd get rid of the excess fat. Or you could render them down. I wonder how good of a bullet lube you could make out of cat grease??? The ones I've been forced to put down over the years were NOT the pampered "Whiskas and Meowmix" house bound pets you see up north but rather lean, mean hunting machines that had gotten out of hand and obliged me to end their depredations. It's amazing how the same feline breed can produce such vastly different individuals, although most house cats - if forced by circumstances - could easily revert to their wild state.

[Hobie]

Well, you can get all you want. I've ended a few. These I can't do, I made a promise. *sigh*

[AmBraCol]

Family pets, they have such an emotional attachment to us. As much as folks 'round here joke about felines and such I know that the majority of us understand (even if not share) the emotional attachment one can have towards a furry companion. And I tip my hat to you for taking good care of your mom's furry friends.

[J Miller]

HOBIE, IF YOU WANNA GET RID OF THEM YOU GOTTA POST PICS. AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT MY WIFE SAYS.

SERIOUSLY, ARE THERE ANY NO KILL ADOPTION SHELTERS IN YOUR AREA? THAT WOULD BE MY SUGGESTION WHEN THE TIME COMES TO FIND THEM NEW HOMES.

JOE

[OJ]

Paul,

People say they taste like chicken but how in the heck do you get enough meat off one to know? These darn cats don't have muscle, they have flab in a belly or are just about the same one to another. I did have one that was skin and bones (darn near starved to death by a former neighbor/owner) but 2 months of feed and that cat looks just like the others. No more and no less. Maybe coyotes like them, maybe alligators like them but I'd bypass them for a hog, cow, deer or even a red squirrel!

I know this isn't helpful with the problem but, Charley says they do taste a lot like chicken



We've been looking for more but we seem to live in a cat free area -



FWIW -cats do whatever on the floor ( or furniture, I guess) - the problem we live with here is drool and slingers - on walls, pictures, furniture, and even on the ceiling. i guess if you kove your pets, you more or less have to live with some of their animal habits. Sorry I don't know as much about cats as I do Mastiffs.

[popeye44]

Hobie. I got a copy of a book called "101 uses for dead cats" put out by Squish Kitty Productions.
You want I should send you it?

[Duff L Bagg]

Hobie, according to Dr Duff L Bagg you mothers cat is showing all of the classic signs of pre-lead poisoning. Should the symptoms persist for any length of time the best cure would be to induce high speed lead poisoning.