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Cat Problems
Hi Everyone,
This is my first time posting but I need some help. My cat is driving me insane. TIA for reading!
Backstory: ( If you choose to Read)
She is about 4 years old and during her life she has always been mean to strangers ( fine to DH and I) and meowed non-stop. I have taken her to the vet several times and told me I need to see behavioral specialist. So we tried a bunch of different things pheromone treatment sprays, plug-ins, collars, positive behavior training. We even got a 2nd cat to maybe help her anxiety during the day being home alone since we work. It took 7 months for her to like the other cat --but then DD arrived and the 2nd cat jumped in her crib and bassinet and pawed at her all he time and he was out and is now living in a nice home. I get there has been a lot of changes to her life in the past few years: a move, a new family member, another cat then gone etc... but in the past week she has stared peeing on our dirty clothes in the laundry room. NOWHERE else. This tells me it's behavioral and not physical. DH thinks she has mental problems I'm at a loss.
Has anyone tried the thunder shirt for cats? Has it been effective? I've been thinking about getting one and seeing if it helps calm her during the day while e are at work. Or any other ideas? We would prefer not spend thousands of dollars on her crazy behavior.
Thanks again!
BFP #1: 8.23.11 C/P (4w)
BFP #2: 10:21.11 EDD 6.28.11 Born 6.22.12
Re: Cat Problems
Just because she's only peeing in one spot outside the box does not rule out a medical issue. Get her into the vet. One of my cats was peeing on the carpet right next to her litter box a while back, and it appeared there was trace blood in her urine. Needless to say, she's been to the vet (although whatever was going on seemed to resolve itself).
What you prefer and what you need to do for your cat are entirely different stories. If you'd prefer to live with a happy, well adjusted cat, consult a behaviorist like your vet suggested; he/she wasn't just talking out their azz.
If you're saying she's anxious during the day when you're at work, then you need to address her anxiety issues. This could mean medication, just like for human anxiety. You won't know how to treat it until you make an appt with someone (and I can't tell you the course it might take, because I haven't dealt with it myself).
PS: You're already a strike down in my book for shipping out your other cat just because he jumped in your LO's crib and was pawing at her. There were a million ways to keep the cat out of your LO's space without getting rid of him like he was a worn out novelty item.
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
While I don't agree on your decision to rehome your second cat, I won't judge your situation - I understand the fear for your new baby, and everyone makes different decisions to deal with the situation.
I want to point out that no animal is perfect. They all have quirks, behavioral issues, and health problems that can arise through the course of their lifetime.
From personal experience, there was a period of time when my cat was peeing out of the litterbox - he would pee on our entry rug, and on my laundry when I was folding it on the bed. We took him to the vet, and they didn't find anything that would be causing it. Then we evaluated what was going on in our lives. My family dog was really sick and I ended up spending a lot of time at my parents house helping my mom care for him.
Before our family dog got sick, I was spending a lot of time with my cat, and then that time was significantly decreased when my dog got sick. After he passed, I was again spending more time with my cat, and his peeing outside the box stopped.
That was about a year and a half ago, and he has only gone out of the box maybe three times since then (because he is particular about his litterbox being cleaned every day - which is should be totally my bad).
With your cat, like you said there have been some major changes recently. This absolutely affects your cat. You are probably spending less time with her then you used to, and this might be part of the problem.
It might help to move your dirty laundry to a new location (maybe of top of your washer or dryer?). I have heard moving the litterbox to the place where your cat is peeing to show the appropriate place (I haven't tried this so I am not sure if it works).
The pheromone spray and collars I have tried on my cat, and I didn't really see a difference (my cat has major traveling anxiety and we have had to move a few times this past ear because of my husbands job). But this might be something you could look into.
Also, does your cat have like a "cat zone"? Someplace that is away from the baby and any other pets you might have - it could just be a room, or a cat house, or some of those nifty climbing shelves - she might be feeling treated by the new baby who is probably becoming more and more mobile.
I don't know if any of these things will work for you and your cat, but it is worth a try.
Good luck!!
I know it is frustrating. I have 5 cats and a toddler. 2 of our cats started marking when DS started crawling.
The first step should always be to the vet to rule out medical issues. One of our cats had some crystals in his urine, but because the marking started after DS got mobile, we chose to start him on an antianxiety medication. We ended up putting one of our females on the same medicine for marking. Both are happier and not marking. Sometimes the female will mark if DS gets into "the cat" zone, but that isn't very often. We've since put a 3rd one on Prozac for behavioral issues as well. These are all $4 generics at Target.
Babies are scary to a lot of cats. Of my 5, only one of them actually likes DS. The others kind of keep their distance.
In addition to medication, we have cat trees in 3 rooms and a baby free zone in the family room. We have discovered that they like to be around us, but want to be higher than DS.
5 cats. 1 baby.