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The carpet in the office is ruined. We can't get the odor out of it and it's stained. We tried everything from peroxide to several pet products with Oxy in them plus 2 not made for pets. They just seem to cover the smell and it's back the next day. We priced Allure flooring today at Home Depot as the carpet has to be removed and discarded. We wont replace it with another carpet. It's simply too saturated with urine to do anything with. That alone will be a major production since one half of the room is used for storage. Everything will have to be moved into the dining-room and sunroom.
We can't catch the cat urinating on the throw rugs now that the office door is kept closed. Within 12 hours of putting one down it's saturated in urine. Same thing like my SD endured for for months before having the guilty cat PTS. We're scooping 3 to 4 times a day, even if the totes look unused, so there is always a tote with no feces or urine available. It's making no difference.
I can't help feeling betrayed because we gave them everything cats could possibly want including clean large litter totes and we have this to deal with.
I would say that this is being done by Callie, based on your thread about her travel issues. Stress induced cystitis is actually the most common cause of litter box avoidance, NOT UTIs. However stress does also cause UTIs. This is because the inflammation hurts, causing a cat to lick more "down there" which increases the chance of a bacterial infection.
Take Callie to the vet to determine if there is a bacterial infection. Do NOT let the vet prescribe antibiotics until a urine culture has been done to determine if there is actually an infection, or if there is a problem with crystals formation and what type. Do not allow yourself to be sold poor quality "prescription" food.
Install feliway plug in diffusers. Put Rescue Remedy in her food.
Feed low carb wet food only. No dry, no gravy foods. Cats need a high meat content low carb diet to maintain the proper urinary pH. Acidic.
And find a pet sitter and leave her home when you travel.
Other supplements that help a cat with cystitis are d-mannose and glucosamine. The d-mannose can be purchased as a pure powder. Add it to the food (1/8 teaspoon dose) twice a day for two weeks. Then go to a pulse method, one week on it, three weeks off it.
D-mannose is an adherent, grabbing whatever doesn't belong in the bladder and washing it out. Including sludge and crystals and certain bacteria.
The best way to give glucosamine is in cosequin for cats. One capsule mixed in food, once a day. Forever.
Glucosamine is an anti-inflammatory.
I would say that this is being done by Callie, based on your thread about her travel issues. Stress induced cystitis is actually the most common cause of litter box avoidance, NOT UTIs. However stress does also cause UTIs. This is because the inflammation hurts, causing a cat to lick more "down there" which increases the chance of a bacterial infection.
We also assumed it was Callie but I think we're wrong. We're watching them as closely as we can in a house with this layout. She uses the litter totes as always. Also, if she feared the totes were causing her pain, she would also suspect the carpet and throw rugs were doing the same and not use the same place and rug over and over again. We think it's one of the other girls. Either Phaedra or Zephyr. But being very discreet, we can't catch them at it. And none are licking their private area more than normal. The urine, when fresh, has no detectable odor. I left the bathroom door open for no more than 5 minutes this evening - to find one went in there and peed on the freshly washed carpet again. Not one cat was in sight.
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Take Callie to the vet to determine if there is a bacterial infection. Do NOT let the vet prescribe antibiotics until a urine culture has been done to determine if there is actually an infection, or if there is a problem with crystals formation and what type. Do not allow yourself to be sold poor quality "prescription" food.
Install feliway plug in diffusers. Put Rescue Remedy in her food.
Feed low carb wet food only. No dry, no gravy foods. Cats need a high meat content low carb diet to maintain the proper urinary pH. Acidic.
We don't think it's Callie. We catch her using the totes as she always has. She's not shy and will use them when we're near or watching. They will not guarantee Feliway plugs ($43 here) and the other 2 products sold us were worthless. We would need 3 or 4 of them for a house this size and you can't open windows using them or the fresh air dilutes them. We're watching very carefully and there is no animosity or litter-tote guarding going on among any of them that would stress any of them out.
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And find a pet sitter and leave her home when you travel.
That's out of the question unless we win a lottery or someone leaves us a small fortune. Besides, we don't have things like that out here. I don't live in a city. And what happens when we're in FL for the winter? I wish I had someone to leave her with for when we're on the road or in FL. The woman who takes care of the plants will not take care of animals.
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Other supplements that help a cat with cystitis are d-mannose and glucosamine. The d-mannose can be purchased as a pure powder. Add it to the food (1/8 teaspoon dose) twice a day for two weeks. Then go to a pulse method, one week on it, three weeks off it.
D-mannose is an adherent, grabbing whatever doesn't belong in the bladder and washing it out. Including sludge and crystals and certain bacteria.
The best way to give glucosamine is in cosequin for cats. One capsule mixed in food, once a day. Forever.
Glucosamine is an anti-inflammatory.
First, neither of us know which cat is doing this. We don't know if crystals are the problem. We suspect Phaedra or Zephyr, not Callie. We see her in the littertote urinating. We also see Zeb in the tote urinating but he's a little discreet also. I can't remember when we saw the other two who are very discreet using the tubs.
Before taking her to the Vet, and his prices have gone through the roof since he built the huge new facility, we want to be sure which cat is doing this and may have a problem. That's because I'm certainly looking at a bill well over $100. If she's fine, then I'm looking at taking another one in on another guess.... It's $43 just to walk in the door there now.
We don't think it's her since we see her urinating in the litter totes several timers a day. Occasionally we see Zebulon, the only male, in one of the totes. We have not seen the other two, who will not use the totes in front of people, using them. Making it harder to see what's going on with the totes is the fact they're in places where there is no carpet and are not easily seen from where we spend most of our time.
I have had the same problem only I knew who the culprit was.
She was checked by the vet, no physical problems.
I tried every trick in the book, nothing worked long term.
So, I decided if she wants to pee on carpet/cloth I would oblige her.....and I thought long and hard over this, as it is actually reinforcing bad behavior. But, I was at my wits end. {I had spent over a year trying this, trying that.}
I kept her in a room all by herself for a few weeks with two litter boxes, one with litter, one with nothing in it but six layers of paper towels. {and the room is carpeted}
She poops in the box with the litter, pees in the box with the paper towels.
I have been allowing her out of the room for 4-6 hours at a time, so far, so good. Never overnight. Sometimes her brother stays in there with her and keeps her company. {they are from the same litter, I call them "the twins" though they look nothing alike}
The only downside.....I usually have to replace the paper towels twice a day.....but I am retired and can keep on top of it. I figure if I ever have to leave for a whole day and night, I will just have to add another paper towel litter box. {I empty the wet towels in the garbage can then squirt the litter box with some Windex, wipe it down, put in fresh paper towels.}
Using six or twelve paper towels a day for her to pee on is better than using nearly a whole roll trying to get all of the pee up out of a pee spot on carpet......that's how I justify all of the paper towel usage to myself. LOL
Her bedroom has two windows to look out of and I don't close the door, I keep her in with stacked gates so she isn't so isolated. She can see everything going on inside and out. During her free time, which she gets every day, she usually comes and sits with me in the living room or sits at the bow window.
I will keep increasing her free time, this is still a work in progress, we'll just have to see how it goes.
I know a lot of people would have her PTS......I could never live with myself.
You board your cats when you travel? Can you send each cat in turn on a 3-4 day Kitty Vacation (starting with one of the two most likely culprits)? The truth will then be quickly revealed in the form of dry carpets (assuming, of course, that only one of your cats is causing the problem).
If you don't want to pay boarding fees, setting up a secure Kitty Jail somewhere in your house in which you confine each cat in turn would also work.
Maybe you already tried this, but here is an idea.
Set up a bathroom with one litter box and one mat that you can throw away (from the dollar store). Place some puppy pads under the mat.
Place one cat at a time in the bathroom for about 30 minutes to an hour. I recommend dropping a few toys in the room and adding a small bowl of food and water. Check the mat between cats - eventually you'll have the culprit.
I have a pee-er as well. I know who it is and after testing we determined it was behavioral. She has to have a spotless litter box since she dislikes the other cats. I also keep her in a different room most of the day (which she begs to be let into). Finally, we can't keep rugs on the floor. Carpet is okay for some reason but a rug is too much temptation for her.
Of course, if the litter box is soiled or another cat is using it when she wants to go, she'll cop a squat right in front of it and take a pee. Good luck!
I can't help feeling betrayed because we gave them everything cats could possibly want including clean large litter totes and we have this to deal with.
Not sure why you're feeling betrayed. The cat isn't doing this on purpose to get back at you for some reason.
Did you ever take them to the vet? It may be a bladder infection. I know money is tight but I don't think you'll get to the bottom of this until you rule out a physical cause. Not to mention if it IS a bladder infection the poor cat is suffering.
You can look into care credit to stretch out vet payments if that's helpful.
I have had the same problem only I knew who the culprit was.
She was checked by the vet, no physical problems.
I tried every trick in the book, nothing worked long term.
My SD went through the same thing with one her 3 male cats. He had no health issues but urinated outside the box about half the time. When I worked as a vet tech years ago it was not uncommon for cats to start doing this and NOT have health issues.
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So, I decided if she wants to pee on carpet/cloth I would oblige her.....and I thought long and hard over this, as it is actually reinforcing bad behavior. But, I was at my wits end. {I had spent over a year trying this, trying that.}
I kept her in a room all by herself for a few weeks with two litter boxes, one with litter, one with nothing in it but six layers of paper towels. {and the room is carpeted}
She poops in the box with the litter, pees in the box with the paper towels.
Good grief! But as long as she used the box and not your carpets or rugs.
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I have been allowing her out of the room for 4-6 hours at a time, so far, so good. Never overnight. Sometimes her brother stays in there with her and keeps her company. {they are from the same litter, I call them "the twins" though they look nothing alike}
The only downside.....I usually have to replace the paper towels twice a day.....but I am retired and can keep on top of it. I figure if I ever have to leave for a whole day and night, I will just have to add another paper towel litter box. {I empty the wet towels in the garbage can then squirt the litter box with some Windex, wipe it down, put in fresh paper towels.}
Using six or twelve paper towels a day for her to pee on is better than using nearly a whole roll trying to get all of the pee up out of a pee spot on carpet......that's how I justify all of the paper towel usage to myself. LOL
I understand.
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Her bedroom has two windows to look out of and I don't close the door, I keep her in with stacked gates so she isn't so isolated. She can see everything going on inside and out. During her free time, which she gets every day, she usually comes and sits with me in the living room or sits at the bow window.
I will keep increasing her free time, this is still a work in progress, we'll just have to see how it goes.
I know a lot of people would have her PTS......I could never live with myself.
Please keep me and the rest of the forum updated as to her progress.
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We can't get the odor out of it and it's stained. We tried everything from peroxide to several pet products with Oxy in them plus 2 not made for pets. They just seem to cover the smell and it's back the next day. We priced Allure flooring today at Home Depot as the carpet has to be removed and discarded. We wont replace it with another carpet. It's simply too saturated with urine to do anything with. That alone will be a major production since one half of the room is used for storage. Everything will have to be moved into the dining-room and sunroom. 
{I had spent over a year trying this, trying that.}
