[OT] Anyone good with cats?

[BVB]

blah blah blah Must Take Care Of Animal blah blah blah At All Costs blah blah blah Responsibility Forever blah blah blah Mean Mean Person ...

Whatever. Whiners.

Anyway...
The cat brain is very quick to pick up habits and retain them even after the action is no longer necessary. (Of course, it's got to be something useful or interesting to the cat to begin with -- they're not going to learn a new trick just because you think it's fun.) I'd guess that for whatever reason the cat decided to poop outside the litterbox initially, he's going to stick with it ... until you train him otherwise.

Firstly, I'll share some of the reasons I've seen cats do this in my own household and my friends' homes: the litterbox was full; a territorial conflict developed with another cat; the litter itself caused a chemical burn on his feet (this happened with a particular brand of 'clumping' litter). Solutions included new litter, a separate litterbox, and in one case of repetitive spraying, a readoption to a new home. In the latter, both cat and new owner lived happily ever after.

I can't provide solid suggestions for your own case, because it's easier for me to think like a dog than a cat. But cleaning the spot is obviously very important -- you gotta get rid of the scent markers. Providing a legitimate litterbox in the exact same spot is also a good idea ... then you can slowly move it over time to a more appropriate spot. (If this were a dog, I'd suggest putting a feed and water bowl on the spot, because dogs have an aversion to deficating in the same area that they eat. A cat, though? Dunno.)

Talk to your vet. And the most experienced pet supply store clerk, too. Be patient and creative. Very patient.

And if all else fails, do what you have to do to keep your HUMAN household comfortable. Pro-animal activist guilt trips are a pain in the butt. Species first! Power to the thumbed bipeds!

 

[Umbran]

Whatever. Whiners.

Hey, keep the insults out, okay?

Talk to your vet. And the most experienced pet supply store clerk, too. Be patient and creative. Very patient.

You're correct right here, except about the supply store clerk. Pet supply store positions are like any other retail job. You buy food and toys for you kid at the supermarket and the toystore. But you shouldn't go asking a grocery or Toys R Us clerk pediatric health questions.

 

[der_kluge]

It could be signs of a urinary tract infection. Like others have said (but for different reasons), take your cat to the vet.

And do it soon. My wife had a cat that never would use the litter box (cost us probably a thousand dollars in multiple apartments that he pee'd in). We ended up giving the cat (and my wife's other cat) to my sister, and he continued to pee in her house as well, despite numerous attempts at trying to get him to stop. Eventually, she had him put to sleep. But, that cat had been doing it so long, that it was impossible to get him to change his habits.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Hey, keep the insults out, okay?



You're correct right here, except about the supply store clerk. Pet supply store positions are like any other retail job. You buy food and toys for you kid at the supermarket and the toystore. But you shouldn't go asking a grocery or Toys R Us clerk pediatric health questions.

Thank you. And we are not whiners, we are simply people who took the time to consider long term before bringing any animal into our home. I have a puppy. I desperately want a kitten. But my dog *might* attack it (he's a hunting dog by nature) and even though the chances are miniscule that he would harm the cat, I'm not bringing it into my home , because I am not willing to take the risk , nor deal with the consequences. If I had a bigger house, where two animals who disliked each other could be kept safely seperate with adequate space I would take the risk. But I don't.

BVB,
I take it that you have never seen the faces of beautiful animals who have been put down by animal shelters who simply could not find homes for them after owners gave up on them. I have. I am not a whiner or an animal rights activist. I eat meat, wear leather, don't have a problem with hunting (for food) and I don't have a problem with pet stores. I would be more than happy to discuss this with you via email. But this thread is not the place for it.


Pet Supply Store Clerks are not trained enough to know much. Some are. Most aren't. They might be able to direct you to a good health book or to a good local vet, but that's about it.

 

[Elf Witch]

Hey, keep the insults out, okay?

I second that. Sometimes you have to find an animal a new home and you should not feel quilty about it. But it is true a lot of animals get dumped at shelters, out car doors ect because of behavioral problems that given time and patience could have been fixed.


You're correct right here, except about the supply store clerk. Pet supply store positions are like any other retail job. You buy food and toys for you kid at the supermarket and the toystore. But you shouldn't go asking a grocery or Toys R Us clerk pediatric health questions.

Don't listen to these people I can't tell you how many times I have been at a pet store and had to speak up because the advice they were giving was so wrong (sure you can put two siberian hmasters together, as long as you don't mind bloodshed).

A lot of the advice here as been great , vet, multiple litterboxes, enyzme cleaners. I had a problem with one of my cats after a clean bill of health from the vet I got a new litterbox without a lid ( he was just to big to use the covered ones and I kept him in one room with his food and water and the box in as small a room as possible. This was on my vets advice it retrained him to use the littterbox. Along with this went a lot of attention and supervised time out of the room. When he is using the litterbox all the time you start giving him unsupervisied time out. If he starts going outside the box you start over. This worked and up until the cat died at the age of 16 he used a litterbox.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

It could be signs of a urinary tract infection. Like others have said (but for different reasons), take your cat to the vet.

And do it soon. My wife had a cat that never would use the litter box (cost us probably a thousand dollars in multiple apartments that he pee'd in). We ended up giving the cat (and my wife's other cat) to my sister, and he continued to pee in her house as well, despite numerous attempts at trying to get him to stop. Eventually, she had him put to sleep. But, that cat had been doing it so long, that it was impossible to get him to change his habits.

Sounds like in this case there was nothing that could be done. Your wife's sister probably put the poor little guy out of his misery. I'd imagine he was in a lot of pain. My old dog was like that too at the end. But you tried.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

You're correct right here, except about the supply store clerk. Pet supply store positions are like any other retail job. You buy food and toys for you kid at the supermarket and the toystore. But you shouldn't go asking a grocery or Toys R Us clerk pediatric health questions.

depends on the store, I guess. I worked at a grooming shop and supply store where everyone there had worked for a vet in the past. People asked us about everything from health issues to training to picking the right breed and they got solid advice. I'm always willing to ask around a small locally owned shop, esp if there's a groomer in residence...

Now if you are talking about certain chain stores who all seem to have two sylable names starting with "Pet" then talking to the minimum wage kid at the register isn't gonna do you any good. But that wasn't the implication of the advice.

Kahuna burger

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

depends on the store, I guess. I worked at a grooming shop and supply store where everyone there had worked for a vet in the past. People asked us about everything from health issues to training to picking the right breed and they got solid advice. I'm always willing to ask around a small locally owned shop, esp if there's a groomer in residence...

Now if you are talking about certain chain stores who all seem to have two sylable names starting with "Pet" then talking to the minimum wage kid at the register isn't gonna do you any good. But that wasn't the implication of the advice.

Kahuna burger

I agree. I worked at a pet store for a while (independently owned) and it was run really well and only hd 6 full time employees who were trained extensively. I was the person who handled small and exotic pets. There were two aquarium fish people (one for salt and one for fresh) a dog guy, a cat woman and a bird guy.

When it finally went out of business (rent was too high ) I was recruited to work for a local chain store with stores in Quincy, Pembrooke and a few other cities in MA that sold exotics. I won't say the name but it was gawd awful. So I'll just refer to it as F,F&F. I was fired because I went off on a superior in front of a customer. The superior was giving the customer "advice" such as " Just wack your ferret on it's nose hard when it nips " and then proceeded to wack am 8 week old ferret (who had not been nipping) to show the customer how.
F,F&F management called my house the next day and told me not to show up anymore. For a while I crusaded against them but to no avail F,F&F still stands today.

I then went on to work in all three of the national Pet- chains and found most of the managers to be incompetant and all of the other employees to be clueless when it came to animal care. Quit each after about a month.

I'll probably never work in the pet industry again, unless I open up my own store.

The best place to get advice about your pet is from your vet. Groomers are good if you can't get to a vet because most groomers are trained in animal care, unlike pet supply store employees. But the vet should always be first. Esp. with an older cat.

 

[Particle_Man]

To keep kitty away from a particular area, some vinegar, or better, black pepper, in the "no-go" zone might keep kitty away (they have a delicate sense of smell).

Good luck.

 

[d4]

I've worked with animals and done shelter work all my life and it's heartbreaking the amount of people who dump their pets because they can't deal with the behavioral problems that come with old age, or because of the birth of a child.

it is a terrible shame when people do that. however, i inherited my two lovely cats when some friends of mine had a baby and didn't want the cats in the house any more. they were "afraid the cats might hurt the baby." strangely enough, they kept their Doberman.

i can't really give any advice here -- seems like all the good points have already been made.

is 8-10 years old really considered geriatric for a cat? i guess my perception is skewed because every cat my family has had (excepting one who tragically died of feline leukemia at age 4) has lived to be at least 17 years old. Old Mrs. Riley died about six months back, and she was 21. (old enough to drink! )