Cat advice needed!

[Hudson_Hawk]

DH and I just adopted a new kitten, Monty. He''s about 2 months old. We''ve got him quarantined in our room as he gets acclimated to the house and to keep him away from our other cats. He''s been with us for a week now and the other cats know we have him. I''ve made a point to walk around the house with him so they could see/smell him. One seems to be responding OK to him, but the other cat has gotten really pissy. Literally. He peed on the couch the other day. I get that he''s pissed and I''ve been giving him extra attention, etc. I doused the couch with Natures Miracle twice, but I''m still smelling pee elsewhere in the house; however, I can''t find the source(s) anywhere. I went so far as to mop my entire living room with NM tonight just in case they went somewhere and I just can''t see it...

Both of my cats are neutered, but is it possible for them to spray???

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I think I read somewhere that even neutered cats can spray. . .however, sounds like your cat is peeing, not spraying. . .one of my cats has done that on many occasions (I''ve caught him in the act many times). He''s very emotionally sensitive!

How many liter boxes do you have? Be sure to bring in another one and keep all of them cleaned out.

Best of luck. Recently, we rented a carpet cleaner and used pine sol instead of the standard cleaner the stores sell, and cleaned two of our roll out rugs (inexpensive ones from Costco) and that has helped eliminate the smell.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Ugh...that sucks!! I have a neutered male who still seems to mark or spray every now and then. I have such a hard time keeping all three of my cats happy!!

You could try those Feliway diffusers...supposed to release cat pheromones to help keep everyone calm. When things were really bad, I bought a few and put them throughout the house. Seemed to help a little.

As far as cleaning, I even bought a black light to find any urine I missed, but didn''t seem to help much!!

And, for some reason, Nature''s Miracle doesn''t seem to work as well for me. I really like That Citrus Stuff. My pet store used to carry it, but doesn''t any more and now I have to buy it online. The strong citrus scent is supposed to deter the cat from marking, too. It is also a good all-around natural cleaner.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I have a wool faux Persian carpet in the living room that I would love to steam clean. Unfortunately it''s on H/W so I don''t think I can. I lifted up the rug to see if he peed and I didn''t see any questionable areas so I don''t think the rug is the issue. He''s more the type to do it on the couch or on a bed. But I''ve checked the beds, all pillows, chairs, etc and I''ve not found anything. I even sprayed down our reed-seat dining room chairs just in case he was peeing anywhere he found my smell (he peed on the couch I usually sit in). Like I said, I cleaned the couch really well and still smell pee. Ugh...so annoyed.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 7/22/2009 10:12:40 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I have a wool faux Persian carpet in the living room that I would love to steam clean. Unfortunately it''s on H/W so I don''t think I can. I lifted up the rug to see if he peed and I didn''t see any questionable areas so I don''t think the rug is the issue. He''s more the type to do it on the couch or on a bed. But I''ve checked the beds, all pillows, chairs, etc and I''ve not found anything. I even sprayed down our reed-seat dining room chairs just in case he was peeing anywhere he found my smell (he peed on the couch I usually sit in). Like I said, I cleaned the couch really well and still smell pee. Ugh...so annoyed.

We have h/w, also, so we moved the rugs out onto our deck and cleaned them out there and then let them dry outside for the day. There wasn''t any "evidence" under the rug on the floor, so somehow the rug soaked it all up. Bleh

Have you tried oxyclean for the couch? Use a handheld carpet cleaner?

 

[Haven]

Is your original kitty used to spending a lot of time in your bedroom? If so, you might want to try keeping your new kitty in a different room that is less important to your original kitty.

Congrats on your new furbaby!

 

[SeaStar]

As an owner of a cat who''s an emotional pee-er, here''s what has worked well for my cat and helped me keep my sanity.

1) Nature''s Miracle is crap. I hosed down my carpet with it, and I swear to you my cat looked at me, sniffed the rug, smiled and then proceeded to pee on top of the Nature''s Miracle. You do need an enzymatic cat urine cleaner though. Here''s a helpful website to different kinds:
http://www.facts-about-cats.com/cat-urine-cleaning-products.asp

2) Another tip is to mix 1 quart of warm water with 1/2-2/3 cup white vinegar...apply it generously over the area you smell cat urine and put a cloth over it and something heavy on top of the cloth...leave it for a few hours then use a soft scrub brush over the carpet to bring the fibers toward the top...put down baking soda over the carpet and then vacuum.

3) Another trick is to make a spray with warm water, 3% hydrogen peroxide, and a 1/2 capful of Listerine....I don''t know how this does it but it deactivates the enzymes in the urine and eliminates the smell. I thought I was screwed when we moved out of my old apartment because my cat had a corner he constantly urinated in, the smell was so strong...I used this and it worked very well! I would also put baking soda down after and then vacuum.

4) You have to treat your cat''s stress. I highly recommend Feliway plug ins for cats. They are pricey but Amazon.com sells them at a discount and they are worth every penny. The plug in releases a pheromone that''s pleasing to cats and it helps relax them....it eliminated about 90% of my cat''s urinating and when we moved I made sure to buy a few for different rooms. He has only peed outside his litter box once since moving, and it was on the kitchen floor right near the litter box, so I count it as a good effort.

5) Make sure you have a scratching pad and a scratching post. Cats relieve stress by scratching. You can also buy catnip spray and live catnip at pet stores...I usually spray catnip oil on the scratching post and sprinkle dried catnip on the pad and let them go to town. They get stress relief and a temporary feel-good from the catnip.

6) With 3 cats in your house you MUST have at least two litter boxes, one for each cat would be ideal though since your kitty is having such a hard time sharing his territory. I know it''s a pain to clean multiple litter boxes and keep buying cat litter, but having to replace your rugs over and over will end up much more costly.

Make sure you give your little guy lots of love and attention...lots of treats. He doesn''t want to be forgotten about and peeing around the house definitely gets your attention doesn''t it? Good luck and try not to worry, it will get easier.

 

[BigDiamonds]

Have you tried Feliway? My vet recommended it to me to help ease our new kitty''s transition with our existing cat. Our transition was pretty easy - don''t know if this is why, but it can''t hurt!

http://www.feliway.com/gb

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. Last night I doused the couch with NM only to wake up to a nice little puddle this morning. I retreated the couch (can''t hurt, right?) and Murphy is in the bathroom today. I''m planning on going to PetCo tonight and getting a UV light to find any other places he may have gone. I can smell the evidence, I just can''t find it. I''ll also look at some of the other enzematic cleaners. What I used last night was the NM that''s made especially for cat urine.

We do give this cat a lot of attention. Unfortunately it seems to never be enough. He acts like it''s a craving, in fact we call him a "rub slut" because it''s like he''s addicted to being pet.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Couldn''t find a black light last night to save my life, but I did get to calming collars (with the cat relaxer stuff) for the older cats and some new enzymatic cleaner (I think it''s called "Bad Cat"). The cleaner smells fantastic and definitely helps. I washed down both couches and it made a big improvement. So this weekend I''m going to put the cushions out in the sun and let them really air/sun dry. So hopefully the collars will help the older cats a bit. The little one is fine, no issues at all.