Hi - I need some advice regarding a 6 year old male, neutered cat we adopted 2 weeks ago. He has had 3 previous homes, with the latter two bringing him to the shelter for "litter box problems". We received very vague information regarding his behavior and health and no paperwork at the time of adoption. We set up this cat in our bathroom (which is a large tiled room) as we were adviced to keep him confined for awhile since he was "nervous and anxious" and also we have a 16 year old cat already. Our old cat is about as mellow as one kitty could possibly be. Anyway, after 2 days, the new cat showed interest in venturing out of the bathroom so we let him roam our ajoining bedroom. The next few days we noticed that he was not urinating in the box. We immediately took him to our vet where he was diagnosed with having crystals in his urine. They did bloodwork and other tests and everything else checked out fine. He was sent home with prescription diet food and bladder relaxants. We put him back in our bathroom, and for the 2 days that he was taking the medication, he urinated in the box. We thought that all was well so we let him venture out into our bedroom, which quickly escalated to an introduction to our whole house, and our other cat. We noticed again that the new kitty wasn't urinating in the box anymore and couldn't figure out what was happening until this morning when I discovered that he has been using 2 different corners of our dining room, and also the corner of another room upstairs. We also noticed that he constantly displays spraying behavior (backing up to vertical surfaces, quivering his tail and lifting one leg) but nothing seems to be sprayed. We bought Nature's Miracle cleaner and cleaned the spots, and also changed his litter to a more finer texture (softer like the carpet) Kitty is back in our bathroom again and peed in the box. I've read quite a bit online about things to try etc. According to our calculations, he has been having these problems for 2 years. I have read that success rate for changing this behavior depends on a few different factors, 4 of which are against us. (the fact that we have another cat in the home, the fact that he has urinated in several spots, this problem has gone on for 2 years with no success, the cat is very easily distressed) I am worried about my older cat possibly following suit. They don't appear to be particularly stressed when they are in the same room. They do not hiss or growl, or stare.......mostly they seem to ignore each other, and stay on seperate floors. I have spent a considerable amount of money on this cat between the vet's bill which was over $350 and various toys, carrier, special litter and prescription food. I'm thinking that I am over my head with this, having underestimated the problem. My husband and I haved talked about bringing him back to the shelter as they said we could if it didn't work out. I guess I am wondering, given the circumstances, if this seems like a long term, problem that will require months and months of living in our bathroom with years of soiling problems ahead of us, or do you think it would be unrealistic to think that he would stop the peeing problem when all his crystals are gone (after peeing outside his box for 2 years) ? Both my husband and I work full time and I just can't see this poor kitty living a life in our bathroom all the time, or sitting in a crate somewhere.
I am really sorry for this long post. Thanks for your responses in advance.
problems with new adoptee
Re: problems with new adoptee
Try to imagine the extreme stress this poor kitty has endured for X amount of time....taking him back to the shelter would probably be his ultimate demise.
Because you don't have a prior medical record on him, and given the comments by the shelter about his urinating behavior, etc...you can pretty much count on the previous owners not giving one iota about resolving the situation. You don't even know if kitty has had any previous health conditions that were pre-existing before you got him....nor do you know if the previous owners even cared enough to get him the proper veterinary care. If he's had a history of UTI's, this is probably the main concern, they don't go away overnight, and once a male is prone to infections or crystals, the potential for developing them again is greater. This can be managed with long-term appropriate diet and frequent followups on urinalysis and health exams. Many FLUTD cats are managed well without further problems. The key is working with him at THIS POINT IN TIME, because he is suffering so much stress (stress is a most prominent factor in reoccuring infections and crystals), and not giving up on him. He's depending on you to help him, treat him effectively, and hopefully, he will become well adjusted and secure in his new environment (imagine his being in X amount of homes, back and forth to a shelter, the stress is enough to cause any health and behavior concern)
2 weeks is NOT enough time to say it's not going to resolve. You need to be prepared to work closely with the situation, create an environment for him that is safe, secure, and put focus on his health concern right now. Stress is the leading cause of reoccuring problems, so minimizing that stress will be part of the solution. Spend quality time with him, offer another litterbox more accessible to him (one or more boxes can always offer part of the solution), away from traffic and in an area he feels comfortable with. Involve him and your female kitty in playtime and other activities so they can become accustomed to each other and less apprehensive. Be patient and forgiving during this time of introductions and his treatment, he's counting on you to do right by him.
Give this time, patience and give him a whole lot of love, he is depending on an owner giving him the benefit, he deserves the time and effort. Again, this kitty has undergone many stressful events and he is simply trying to adjust, spraying and marking behavior are usually kitty's way of alerting you to some problem, whether that be a health condition or stress in the environment. He hasn't had enough time to feel secure in your home yet, and with the FLUTD development, this is quite a change for him, he needs time....
You're doing all the right things, but be patient and forgiving (and get a recheck on the urinalysis after the course of antibiotics are up, if you were given them)
Because you don't have a prior medical record on him, and given the comments by the shelter about his urinating behavior, etc...you can pretty much count on the previous owners not giving one iota about resolving the situation. You don't even know if kitty has had any previous health conditions that were pre-existing before you got him....nor do you know if the previous owners even cared enough to get him the proper veterinary care. If he's had a history of UTI's, this is probably the main concern, they don't go away overnight, and once a male is prone to infections or crystals, the potential for developing them again is greater. This can be managed with long-term appropriate diet and frequent followups on urinalysis and health exams. Many FLUTD cats are managed well without further problems. The key is working with him at THIS POINT IN TIME, because he is suffering so much stress (stress is a most prominent factor in reoccuring infections and crystals), and not giving up on him. He's depending on you to help him, treat him effectively, and hopefully, he will become well adjusted and secure in his new environment (imagine his being in X amount of homes, back and forth to a shelter, the stress is enough to cause any health and behavior concern)
2 weeks is NOT enough time to say it's not going to resolve. You need to be prepared to work closely with the situation, create an environment for him that is safe, secure, and put focus on his health concern right now. Stress is the leading cause of reoccuring problems, so minimizing that stress will be part of the solution. Spend quality time with him, offer another litterbox more accessible to him (one or more boxes can always offer part of the solution), away from traffic and in an area he feels comfortable with. Involve him and your female kitty in playtime and other activities so they can become accustomed to each other and less apprehensive. Be patient and forgiving during this time of introductions and his treatment, he's counting on you to do right by him.
Give this time, patience and give him a whole lot of love, he is depending on an owner giving him the benefit, he deserves the time and effort. Again, this kitty has undergone many stressful events and he is simply trying to adjust, spraying and marking behavior are usually kitty's way of alerting you to some problem, whether that be a health condition or stress in the environment. He hasn't had enough time to feel secure in your home yet, and with the FLUTD development, this is quite a change for him, he needs time....
You're doing all the right things, but be patient and forgiving (and get a recheck on the urinalysis after the course of antibiotics are up, if you were given them)
..........Traci
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CathiW
Re: problems with new adoptee
Thank you for your words of encouragement. After being greeted this morning by our new kitty's purrs and rubs up against our legs and heads, when we walked into the bathroom, we decided that we need to stick it out for as long as we can, making every possible effort. He peed and pooped in his box twice since we put him back into the bathroom. We really don't want to traumatize this poor kitty anymore and hope that we can reintroduce him back into the household at some later date. Until then, we will provide him with the best quarters we can (on tile floor) and visit him regularly on his turf. We hope to gradually have supervised play on the carpet sometime in the future but we're not pushing it. We are very diligent about vet visits. (as our record for oxygen therapy for our stressed out hamster can attest!!) "Diligent" or "suckers for animals", I haven't decided! : ) Anyway thanks again and if you or anyone has any other helpful ideas, I would really appreciate it.
Cathi
Cathi