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This is not a cat problem - this is a people problem. Until you "fix" the people you live with, unfortunately you don't have a prayer at fixing the cats you live with.
Well, let me add a few more details so maybe things make a little bit more sense.
I am NOT able to move. I moved here--to Washington State from Florida--just last month to get away from a 12 year long abusive relationship. While I live with disabled folks, and am the primary "caretaker" of the household chores, I myself am facing having to go on Disability soon and everything is just in horrible flux.
No, none of the animals belong to me at all. It actually took me several years to get to the point where I could tolerate being around cats again, as my fiance in aforementioned abusive relationship had a cat for the first 8 years we were together that was permitted to pee and vomit all over the place, and he would rage if I told him to clean up after her/keep her in the garage at night so she would stop puking on my couch/peeing in my shoes/anything that was "repressing his kitty".
I knew what I was getting into as far as the hoarding here, and the OLD cat messes. I have an ample arsenal of Nature's Miracle for both carpets AND laundry, as well as a blacklight and carpet steam cleaner (and luckily the carpet here is actually pretty new and has Scotchguard which is helping a lot).
I was okay with doing the cleanup because it was going to make a huge difference in the quality of life of both the people and animals here--and because I thought it would only be three cats, all three of whom have lived together for about 8 years and never had problems like this until the first 2 were introduced. What I DIDN'T expect was for there to be 2 new cats added back in as soon as the first 2 were finally given the boot with their jerk of an owner.
The 2 foster cats were kept separate from the rest of the others for about a week and a half--they were kept in the large bathroom upstairs. So it wasn't an IMMEDIATE introduction, and to be honest they didn't start getting nasty till about a week after they had been let loose amongst the masses.
The 4 female cats as well as the single male cat have all been spayed and neutered, many years ago. All the cats in question are at least 8 years old.
There are presently 3 litterboxes in the home, but they are not maintained as well as they should be. This is both the fault of the owners as well as my own. The owners have rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and several other things that often make daily functions difficult. And because I do the cooking, errands, and general cleaning (for free room and board among other things, so it's not one-sided), and am so sick of dealing with soaking up pee and picking up poop, I will not deal with the litterboxes too--not anymore. This means they get cleaned about once a week, although I have been told that if I remind the one who actually does the boxes that he will to it more often--he's just gotten into such a habit of ignoring it until the old roommate finally did it that it's taking some time to retrain HIM, too. For what it's worth tho, even when I WAS keeping up with the boxes much more frequently with scooping (every other day) they were still going all over the house.
The "going at the door" thing isn't a territory thing. It's a "this spot is out of sight and quiet and away from those evil new cats" because the front door/landing is sort of.. in between floors? You come in the front door and you either go up stairs to the main floor or downstairs to where I live. I'm nearly certain the primary cat responsible for this is the-floor-is-lava cat as the railing she stakes out is right above the landing. I actually have a video camera set up down here now so I can try to catch the culprit on tape so I know for sure.
The back door got peed and crapped at all the time before because 2 of the boxes are back there and the 2 former cats, one of them had litterbox anxiety so badly that he would go right in front of it, consistently. (And no measures were taken to protect the carpet/the old roommate would never sop up the pee and would leave the poop to sit there and gather for days, so that area of the house is last on my list to clean because it is just going to take so much work.) Since that cat has been removed there have been no further issues with anyone going at the back door, aside from the occasional oops where the one with a bad leg hikes her butt over the side (and this is being remedied by replacing all boxes with "dome" boxes--we have one left to replace the other 2 have already been swapped out).
The roommates in question--well, let's just say that it's more than a simple "they're only roommates" situation and leave it at that. They are people I care very much about and want to help through this. They acknowledge that it is a big problem and they are extremely thankful that I have done as much as I have and am trying to do. That is why they are doing the Feliway and the cat tree and all that. I have spoken to the "head of household" and they acknowledge that they could "put up the cat signal" to try find a new foster home for these latest 2 but they just don't trust strangers. These 2 fosters actually belong to an ex girlfriend. That being said however both roommates are very aware of how badly this is affecting me and how much it is affecting their own personal cats so if this cat tree/Feliway thing doesn't help I suspect the matter of finding a new foster home will be looked at more seriously.
Also, there is no way in hell I'm letting any of them live down here with me. Both fosters have shown they are perfectly fine and willing to pee on anything and everything and I simply will. Not. Tolerate. that on MY things. My room will remain MY ROOM and cat free. Otherwise I will go batty. (I already struggle from anxiety disorders, so this is definitely a challenge for me.)
It is simply not normal for a cat to evacuate anywhere where it can't be buried.
SOMEONE has to provide sufficient litter boxes and keep them very clean. SOMEONE has to clean the whole house from top to bottom and keep it clean. Step up to the plate, or suffer the consequences!
Poor cats.
They would be better off if you took them all to your local humane society, with any kind of financial donation you can scrape up. That's my recommendation.
None of the people in your house have any sympathy from me.
There is no fixing the problem it's already out of control and will never get better. The 2 new cats should have never been allowed into the household, its insulting that you weren't even given a say in the matter, since you are the principle cleaner!
Not only is this a cleanliness issue, this can make worse any health issues that the residents have.
1) Can any of the cats be turned into outdoor-only cats?
2) There should be a litter box in EVERY room. I know that's a lot of work but it might help a little.
3) You need to have a talk with the people you are renting this room from. Since the initial agreement when you moved in was that 2 of the cats would be gone with the ex-roommate, it sounds like they have broken that promise. Maybe you need to give them an ultimatum: somebody's gotta go, either me (you) or the cats.
Good luck with all of this. I lived like this for about a year, my roommates and I, we had 5 cats among us and it got so bad, the place stunk like cat pee and friends didn't want to come over any more because of it. We never realized the extent of the smell while we were in it. The cats didn't leave anything untouched. I moved away with one of my cats (who was the main offender) and he's so good now and not stressed out like he was before, he's like a kitten again.
At one point they were all indoor/outdoor cats. Unfortunately there is a neighbor here with a vicious dog in their yard that apparently has the ability to get out, and it dug its way into the yard here a few months ago and attacked and killed one of the cats (there used to be 6 here and that is why there is now 5). The local law enforcement seems to think it's below their ken to actually address the problem so until the vicious dog is gone the cats stay inside.
At the time the decision was made I was not yet a permanent resident, I was only visiting with the knowledge that I would be moving in--but at that point we weren't sure WHEN that would be because I had so much stuff to take care of with the now-ex. Ended up I was able to move about 6 weeks after my return "home" from here.
There is literally no room for a box in every room. The master bedroom is full of boxes that were never unpacked when these folks moved from East to West coast about six years ago. The two upstairs offices are in about the same state. I've declared war on all of it since it's mostly been permitted to lay fallow for so long due to the former roommate and the two current ones being so passive (and sick).
The people I stay with know that its affecting me poorly and that it's severely impacting quality of life for their pets as well as the rest of us. Right now we are just waiting to see if the cat tree/Feliway are going to help any and if after a couple months there is no change between that and the cleaning (and thus the neutralization of so much marking and the reclaiming of some semblance of peace and order in here) then there will have to be some serious discussion about rehoming the fosters. The peeing may not totally come to an end due to the one original cat (the one with a bad leg) being a revenge peer, but with only 3 cats and 3 boxes and not having to bear the burden of cleaning up puddles and piles all the time at that point I wouldn't take much issue helping keep up the boxes.
Additionally: If only the males are "fixed" that's not good enough. Spaying the females might cut down on the psycho aggressive behaviors and other issues, too.
By "neutered" I meant "spayed and castrated" both. I should have made that clear.
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But again...I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to put in the kind of extensive work it's gonna take to get this problem under control. At minimum:
-Multiple litter boxes (at least 2 if not 3 IMO) that are scooped EVERY day, possibly twice daily, and kept clean.
Brevity snips.
They may need even more in case one or two cats are litter-box-guarding. There should be one box per cat and a spare, and not all in one area.
Also, there is no way in hell I'm letting any of them live down here with me. Both fosters have shown they are perfectly fine and willing to pee on anything and everything and I simply will. Not. Tolerate. that on MY things. My room will remain MY ROOM and cat free. Otherwise I will go batty. (I already struggle from anxiety disorders, so this is definitely a challenge for me.)
Something is seriously wrong with that home you're now in. Cats by nature don't poop and pee all over the place when even moderately clean litterboxes are available. Cats have a strong desire to relieve themselves in sand or litter or even garden soil, not on other surfaces, then bury it. A few will go in litter and not bury it but at least it's in the box. Also, I have to wonder why people are leaving clothes and things on the floors instead of using the closets and dressers and laundry baskets. One cat may have accidents or refuse the box.... but almost all of them?
I think we need more information to be of any real help.
Several cats using a box that's cleaned once or twice a week may be the main cause of the problem, along with at least one cat litterbox-guarding. Also poor locations for the boxes may also be part of the problem.
And so they may never have been used to using a litterbox. That can be a real problem unless "taught" to use the box. Another whole thread.
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There is literally no room for a box in every room. The master bedroom is full of boxes that were never unpacked when these folks moved from East to West coast about six years ago. The two upstairs offices are in about the same state. I've declared war on all of it since it's mostly been permitted to lay fallow for so long due to the former roommate and the two current ones being so passive (and sick).
Are they using their sickness to avoid doing what they know they need to do and should do? There are effective pain medications for fibromyalgia that allow people to do many of the things the rest of us do. Pack their boxes a little higher and add a litterpan to each of these rooms. Or store some in the garage or attic if they can't be bothered to unpack them. Passive and laziness are not the same thing.
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The people I stay with know that its affecting me poorly and that it's severely impacting quality of life for their pets as well as the rest of us. Right now we are just waiting to see if the cat tree/Feliway are going to help any and if after a couple months there is no change between that and the cleaning (and thus the neutralization of so much marking and the reclaiming of some semblance of peace and order in here) then there will have to be some serious discussion about rehoming the fosters.
Are all these cats spayed and neutered? Can you convince these people to put things away rather than leave clothing out where the cats are tempted to use them as a toilet?
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The peeing may not totally come to an end due to the one original cat (the one with a bad leg) being a revenge peer, but with only 3 cats and 3 boxes and not having to bear the burden of cleaning up puddles and piles all the time at that point I wouldn't take much issue helping keep up the boxes.
Why are YOU cleaning up after these cats when they're not yours? Are these roommates in wheelchairs? What do THEY do all day long?
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