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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Its time to get rid of our Kitties:(
We have two geriatric cats they are 11 and 12. They have been together since the youngest was 5 weeks. They have always been indoors and I would like them to be together. They just have a tough time with our children:( I love them dearly and don't want to put them down. Any ideas??? TIA
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Re: Its time to get rid of our Kitties:(
I'm sad for you!
Do you think maybe you could find an alternative arrangement in the home until the children are a bit older? Maybe they can become basement kitties during the day and bedroom kitties at night? Or perhaps theres some way that they could be sectioned off a bit more until times children can be monitored with them?
My cousin used to pull at my aunt's poor dog's ears...the poor poor dog. My aunt says she'd periodically hear a loud yelp. She was afraid the dog would eventually bite the kid (For good reason).
So she basically sectioned the dog off when my cousin was around...letting him touch him only when she was right there and telling him he was a nice doggy etc...
But once he got older and could understand more, he was able to recognize that he was hurting the animal and stopped.
Please try all of the following things before you get rid of them.
1. Since you're not exactly sure who is doing it, take them both to the vet to rule out a medical issue (UTI, bladder infection, etc.).
2. Clean everything very thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner like Simple Solution, Petastic, or Nature's Miracle (available at most pet supply stores). Get a blacklight to see if you've missed any stains (urine glows under a blacklight)
3. Get at least one Comfort Zone/Feliway diffuser - it releases odorless pheromones into the air which will calm your cats down and ease their nerves.
4. Hopefully you have at least 3 litter boxes - the rule of thumb is one per cat plus one. I would make sure you have multiple options - covered and uncovered, and maybe try different litters. Cat Attract Litter has worked extremely well for me in the past when I had a problematic pee-er.
5. If it's only in the kid's room, try closing the door.
6. If it's behavioral, you can get anti-anxiety meds in a gel form from your vet that you can rub on the cats' ears.
11 and 12 isn't old for a cat - they can live to be much older than that. However, no one is going to want to take over your problem cats. If you give them to a friend or family member, what's going to stop them from taking them to a shelter once they pee in their new home? And unfortunately, at that age, a cat (especially one that has a behavioral problem) will be put to sleep almost immediately upon going into a shelter.
You really do have a lot of options that you can try out to fix this problem without getting rid of the cats. Please try those first.
Love.
Thanks for being willing to try some options. Your cats will greatly appreciate it.
If you need more advice, feel free to ask over on the Pets board. There are a lot of women who have successfully made it through issues like this.
Love.
I skimmed, so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but cats don't have the capacity to be spiteful. Definitely go to the vet and check for UTIs, clean everything thoroughly, change the boxes completely, etc.
Also, cats can live to be 20 years old. You'd be putting down a cat that is only halfway through its life, and that's crazy!
What do you think will happen to two geriatric kitties?
If you really love them, you will keep them or at least put them out of their misery. In a shelter, it is unlikely anyone will want them, especially at this time of year when there are kittens everywhere.
Seriously, I don't understand this sentiment at all. Teach your children to be nice to the cats. Give your cats a place to get away from your children (a cat tree, a basement, something). Everyone will benefit.
There, now I read the responses. Should do that first. This is just the third time this week someone has said they had to get rid of their cats. I had a lady call me yesterday saying she had two seven year old cats she didn't want anymore. On Saturday it was kittens. I'm just tired of it.
I hope things work out for you and your cats.
I have a cat that had peeing issues which developed, inexplicably, at three years old. She would urinate on clothing that was left around and unfolded, and bags (handbags, luggage, laptop case, etc). We've lost thousands of dollars in clothes (she once urinated on a $600 brand new suit that fell of the hanger in the closet) and in luggage/handbags. Even during the worst of it, relinquishing her to a loud, scary shelter filled with unfamiliar sights and sounds and strangers would never, ever have been an option. Cats with peeing issues do not get adopted- period. If you do not disclose that your cat has a peeing problem, as 11 and 12 year old cats, they will still probably be euthanized, on a cold metal examining table by strangers.
Shelters are required by law to hold stray animals for a "hold period" of 72 hours to five days. That means when an owner gives up her animals and brings them to a shelter, they are designated "owner surrenders" and not stray animals. There is no mandatory holding period for strays- so when shelters are full (particularly with cats, as it's summertime and kitten season), the owner surrenders are the first to be euthanized. Taking your geriatric cats to a shelter is a certain death sentence, and you will have no luck getting a rescue to take your problems off of your hands now that you've had enough of dealing with them, since they're old and have behavioral issues (the improper peeing).
Luckily, you do not have to resort to killing your cats yourself at a vet's office or dumping them on the overburdened, understaffed shelter system to kill them for you. Improper elimination is almost always an indication of a medical problem, particularly in male cats that are 10+ years old. What do you feed them? They could have a UTI or urinary tract infection- take them both to the vet to make sure, as this condition is very painful. They could have bladder and/or kidney stones, as well. Your cats can't speak and have no way to tell you they're in pain except to do something you'll notice- which is to urinate in places you're likely to see it/smell it. Animals cannot feel jealousy- they only exhibit stress and react in response to stress. They're not acting out against your children, just trying to tell you that something is wrong in the only way they know how.
If your vet is able to rule out a medical condition and determines the urination is behavioral, there are many, many things you can do to minimize peeing. How many litter boxes do you have? You should have one for each cat plus an extra- which means 3. What kind are they? Try a covered litter box, a shallow litterbox, and an automatic litter box. How often do you scoop it? Some cats are extremely fastidious and require daily or twice daily scooping. Do you have carpet? It's likely that you aren't eliminating 100% of the stain, and animals like to go where they've gone before. Get Nature's Miracle and a black light, and go to town with your husband on a pee stain hunt. It seems like your cat was trying to tell you something initially, and you didn't get it, so he started peeing in new places. What kind of litter do you use? In one of the litterboxes, experiment with a new kind of litter- clay based, corn based, dye-free/fragrance free clay (found at Whole Foods and Natural pet food stores), newspaper based and pine based. If he prefers peeing on specific items (toys, bedding, clothing) then try eliminating his access to those items. During our cat's peeing phase, we had to be diligent about closing the closet doors every time, not leaving clothes around anywhere (even a jacket or a coat on the side of the couch would elicit urination), and never, ever leaving laptop cases and/or luggage horizontally.
Cats don't like peeing in the wrong places. If the cat isn't pooping outside the litter box as well, it's most likely related to something being wrong. You have a responsibility to the cats, who have no family but you, just like you have a responsibility to your children, to find out what that something is. A last resort would be prozac or another SSRI to help your cats deal with the stress they could be feeling. If your cats no longer have any space in the house where he can have a "kid free" zone, it's likely they don't feel safe and secure anywhere. Why don't you install a kitty door in a spare bedroom (for example, the guest bedroom), and try making it fun and appealing- put up a cat tree (with cubbies he can hide in), put the litter boxes in there, and put food and water in there as well.
Unless someone's been through it, it can be impossible to understand just how stressful improper feline elimination issues can be. Quite a few women on the Pets board have been through it, and have truly tried everything. I hope you take my suggestions seriously and really make an effort.
You've gotten a lot of great advice here! Hopefully something will work to help your kitties feel better. I have a cat who has an elimination problem (SO frustrating, I feel your pain), but I've found that she's just very particular about the litter boxes. If she feels they are too dirty, she will pee on any clothes that have been left on the bathroom floor. Thankfully that is the only place she will go besides her boxes, so it makes for easy cleanup, but it is frustrating to walk into the bathroom and realize that she's gone again.
Good luck!!!