Please help- desparate- peeing kitty- very long post- sorry

[animalcrazy]

Hi... I'm new and am truly desparate and in need of some impatial advice from strangers. I have an 8 yr old cat I've had since kitty hood. He's recently, in the last year, started peeing everywhere except his litter box. I've tried everything I can think of and he's been to 2 vets. They wouldn't do a urinalysis either time, saying it's just behavioral and territiorial. One vet gave him a urine acidifer pill which didn't work. The other gave him antibiotics which also didn't work. I've tried cleaning all the carpets, no help. I've changed litter brands and litter boxes to hooded, then non hooded and now back to the Litter Robot that he used to love so it self scoops every day. I've tried amitryptilline and Feliaway. I've tried bach's remedies.

The issue is since day one he has been an extremely aggressive, and at times mean cat. He's never been friendly to men, only to me and other women. He used to bite severely, but now only nips but doesn't draw blood and he growls when angry. I can hold him for short periods of time, but then he unexpectedly attacks for no reason. He also spends most of his time being anti-social and hiding/hissing/growling. he despises my husband and always has hated ALL men. He was never abused.

We got a golden retriever 3 years ago and he did very well with her. Unfortunately, then we got a lab 2 years ago and ever since he spend 90% of his day hiding in the laundry room. He hates her and nothing we do helps. Then the peeing dramatically worsened. At first it was just in the laundry room around his box, now it's spread to an area behind our bar. I cannot get the smell out any longer, but hate to get new carpet until I can fix him.

Now the crux of the issue....given all this what do I do know? I can't find a vet that will give me anti-psychotics to stop him, they say they don't work. Yet I cannot keep him if he's going to continue ruining my house. My husband is nearly to the point he's going to force him out. I love him, but he's never been a "real" pet... In light of his biting and aggressiveness he cannot be put up for adoption either- what if he bites someone? Worse, he is front declawed (he was when I got him) so he cannot live outside either.

Please offer up any suggestions you can think of. I am very upset and confused. Part of me says maybe he needs to be euthanized, part of me says give him to this friend I have with a heated cow barn so he can live there, and part of says keep trying. I love animals so much, I have a hard time giving up on him, but he's making our lives miserable.

[ilovemycats]

First of all is he desexed? Are there any other cats in the household? How many litters do you provide him? What do you feed him on a daily basis? Does he have a regular diet or do you regularly change his diet? Have you noticed he drinks alot? Is you husband aggressive towards him, does he try to interact with him in a playful manner? What do you do when you find that he has urinated in the bar area - does he get scolded? If he is not desexed this is definately a priority. Male cats especially entire male cats are very territorial and will mark their territory if they feel imposed upon. Have you recently moved, or moved furniture around in your home, or had anyone new move into the home or has their been an arrive of an new baby? Do you move his litters around the home or is it kept in the same place? Knowing the answers to these questions are critical to understand why he is spraying/urinating in odd places. He definately needs to go back to your vet and have a urinalysis performed, by doing this the vet can investigate whether his urine contains blood, protein etc and discover if his body is correctly concentrating his urine. If not then there is an underlying problem. In cases such as yours the first thing the vet should be ruling out is infection (UTI), then consider if the problem could be behavioural. The last thing you should be considering is euthanasia. If for the first 8 years of his life he has not had this problem and now all of a sudden he has this problem then it should be investigated properly.

[animalcrazy]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

1. He is neutered. This was done at 7 months at recommendation of vet. I wanted it done earlier due to the escalating aggression, but he insisted 7 months.

2. I misspoke before about the declawing, that was actually another cat i had that was already declawed. This cat, Bogart, was declawed at the advice of my vet due to the extreme aggression. I actually thought it made him worse (he started BITING which was worse) and am now opposed to declawing.

3. Another vet about 5 years ago recommended a female spayed cat to "tame him". This was a BIG mistake as he started peeing everywhere and tried to kill her so I had to give her away. She was declawed prior to my owning her and couldn't defend herself.

4. He is fed a regular diet, wet canned food twice a day and a bowl of dry at all times available. Always the same kind.

5. He drinks a lot at times, and then will go a few days drinking far less, then back to drinking more for a few days.

6. He has one litter... I tried 2 but it didn't seem to make a difference.

7. He has had this problem before off and on, very sporadically, but always went back to the litter so I wouldn't say it's a totally new problem, but I would say it's exponentially worse. The main reason my vet mentioned euthanasia is the aggression, not so much just the urination. If the urination is territorial with the dogs and won't stop, he could be relocated to another home but not if he bites. (I guess this is what they are thinking)


8. he doesn't actually get scolded because I've never been able to catch him at it and I've always heard not to do that.

9. Hubby is nice to him and tries to be. But the cat usually hisses and growls and then runs away and hides. Occasionally however Bogart will allow him to hold him and purrs away. I call this his "Bipolar Behavior"...he'll even sometimes jump in his lap on his own. It always ends with him hissing and running away no matter what hubby does. All other men he hates.

10.No recent move, no new family members besides the aforementioned dogs. No children, no new furniture. We moved into this house 3.5 years ago, but he actually seemed to do well with that move. he did well with the dogs at first too, but now hides a lot.... the dogs don't attack him, but the lab does sometimes bark at him when he growls or hisses at us.

11. Litter always in same place, but I've tried adding boxes in other places, he doesn't use them...

12. And finally, he LOVES me. Literally he's hopelessly in love with me...he'll show up at times when the dogs are sleeping and be purring so loud and such, then all the sudden freak out a start hissing. It's random what sets him off. He usually only smothers me with love when no one else is around (dogs or hubby)

13. he is penned up at night for our safety. he bites at night and once bit me in the face while I was sleeping so I no longer trust him at night. In the past, about 4 years ago, he bit my husband twice in the hand so badly it became badly infected and he almost lost 2 fingers. I witnessed it, and it was an unprovoked attack... He also chews electrical cords in half while they are plugged in, and thus cannot have free roam of the house at night...

Hope this helps. The difficult thing also is I now live in a very small town and I've tried 2 vets already with mixed results. I can try one more vet office, but then I'll be out of options for a local vet. I found they are very opposed to medication. I have tried Valium in the past, probably about 5 years ago, this didn't help the aggression and made him clumsy. Zoloft made him incontinent. Recntly I tried amitriptylline, but didn't really think it worked... And the urine acidifier, which didn't work at all. I think Feliway makes him pee MORE....

[animalcrazy]

P.S. Forgot to add, both vets also refused to do a urinalysis or blood work saying it was behavioral and there's nothing they could do. I said I didn't care about the money, I just wanted to make sure it was a health issue, but they said it wasn't necessary and was a waste.

[Tambrey]

Is there a FELINE ONLY vet in your area?

He REALLY needs a urinalysis and blood profile...and if you cannot get to a feline only vet...INSIST that the tests be run on your cat at the vet(s) you have bee to, or seek still another one that is competent and willing to check this out first and foremost...

[animalcrazy]

No there isn't a feline only vet. I wish there were, but it's a small town. I have one more I can try, maybe he would be more receptive? I agree, it's worth looking into for the urinalysis, etc. I even told the last vet how serious it was and that he was faced with possibly losing his home, but I thought he seemed to not really care to be honest. He wasn't overly helpful and the choices are unfortunately limited in this town. Assuming it is behavioral though, I'm seriously stuck. I almost wish he had a UTI cause that would be such a simple fix... It's so sad...

[animalcrazy]

What do you think about the carpet? Should I replace it now and see if that helps? I hate to go to that expense if he's just going to pee again, as my entire basment will need to be redone because that's where the bar is, and the laundry I'm thinking of replacing the carpet with tile. But should I do that now or try to get him some meds and vet check first? I know he'll keep peeing if he smells it and I can smell it so I'm positive he can. Cannot get it out...I've tried about 10 differents things, plus a carpet extractor. It's too far gone to remove the smell!! I thought about relocating him to our garage which is insulated and pretty warm, replacing the carpet, starting meds while he in the other room and then slowly re-introducing him to the environment...

I'm trying everything, but he's just such a miserable cat I worry he'll never be happy unless he's the only pet living with a single female. I know that sounds weird, but it really is his ideal situation and not one I can provide.

[Tambrey]

it might be cheaper to try UrineOff....you might find it at a local carpet store or vet...or you can order it online as well....be sure to get THEIR blacklight as it is a flourescent one with a different Wattage, or whatever...it just works better....

When you get the blacklight, if you are not sure how urine will glow, go around the floor of the litterbox...or...don't get grossed out...but around the toilet...we do not clean as well as we think we do at times

you WILL need to at least LIFT the carpet and do the floors underneath...the website explains how to use it on all different surfaces

http://urineoff.com

This is the BEST thing I have found to really work on the immediate odor problem...

For my basic daily cleaning, I use OdoBan (diluted in a spray bottle or mo-p bucket, or poured into the laundry) for EVERYTHING...you can get it at Sam's Club, and some WalMart's carry it as well....

[animalcrazy]

Thanks I'll try that... I did get a blacklight, and yeah it is gross. Especially since vomit and everything lights up. Yuk. Maybe I'll do that behind the bar and replace the laundry room altogether with a non-carpeted floor. That might be a good compromise.... Thanks for the tip. i think those might be the only products I haven't bought!!!

[animalcrazy]

Is there a way you can cut out that section of the padding behind the bar and just replace the pad in that small section and then tack the carpet back down? Is that a do it yourself type job? i know little about carpet. It's a small area- about 3 ft wide by about 5-6 feet long. the bar is brick at the base where it meets the carpet. According to the blacklight I have, he has not gotten the wall or floor boards....