Cat to live in laundry room: do I have a choice? :(

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in animal welfare, and I think it would be kinder to euthanize your cat than to leave him locked in a laundry room.

If you have truly exhausted every option - speaking with your vet, and perhaps also a behaviorist - and your family is unwilling to live with the pee and poop in the wrong places, then I don't see much other choice. You can try to rehome your cat, to a family who understands that he has special needs now. But that isn't easy to do.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Frankly, your husband is an asshole. But you probably already know that.

It is really hard to deal with pee and poop everyday.

My last two cats had this issue at the end of their life. I regret not putting them down earlier - they did not enjoy the last couple of weeks.

As to OP's determination not to get another cat - we got two kittens a year after our last cat died. Life goes on.

[Anonymous]

I see that I was not helping much.

OP, if the cat is not ill, maybe you should ask the cat whisper Jackson Galaxy to see what might be the cause? I think netflix used to have his show. He dealt with peeing cats on a couple of episodes.

[Anonymous]

Is interesting to see people jump and recommend putting that cat down, without out first trying to see if there is a solution. Seriously?

I saw quite a few good recommendations. and definitely echo the ones below

- Take the cat to a vet, to check for UTI, bladder, kidney issues etc. Just to be safe.
- Do not lock the cat into a cage like someone recommended.... whats way worse that a laundry room.
- The laundry room seems better than the basement since the basement is dark with no windows. Cats need sunlight and something to look out.

Few recommendations if keeping in the laundry room -

- Keep in the laundry room only when needed.
- Add a few toys and a platform for the cat to stretch on and to look out the window. Make it as nice as possible.
- If you keep him in the laundry room and ignore him, thats bad. Find ways to make sure the family doesn't forget about him and that u can hear him. eg. If possible, change the door to be a glass see through door. So that cat can see and hear you, and you him. You will be much more inclined to go see him.

If your cat likes time to himself, this might not be an issue at all, he would likely need an adjustment period. But, if after a week things do not improve - your cat is the social type and this might not be a good solution. If this happens the case, at least your tried one option vs. euthanizing the little cat without trying a few things out

[Anonymous]

I would lock him up at night and consider keeping the tarp on the sofa when you are not using it. Get the kids some plasticy bean bag chairs to sit on instead of the couch. Kitty prozac is a good idea too.

Honestly if that doesn't work I would consider putting him down. The fundamental deal of free room, board, medical care, love, etc. hinges on the cat's willingness simply to refrain from defecating all over my home. If I am doing my part (clean litter box) I expect the cat to do his.

[Anonymous]

My cousin's cat did this and they ended up getting the cat a harness that had a light leash that attached on a wheel to a long clothesline across the yard. The cat started spending daytime outside while they were at work, and he seemed much happier: he stopped peeing outside of his box at night when they brought him in. He was very elderly and not interested in climbing trees, and just seemed happy to walk around and nibble grass, and then sleep in the sunshine or in his "cat house" outside. He would go to the door and beg to be put outside on his run in the mornings. Maybe you could do something like this, or even pay someone to put up an enclosed space in the yard?

[Anonymous]

Our 14 year old female has peed on any soft floor surface since she was spayed. It's rough, but we love her. It has cost us thousands, but I think she'll die in a couple years and we will never get another cat so we just live with no rugs and cold feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again - only other option is to keep a plastic drop cloth over the sofa, and just change it if he pees on it (and hope his behavior calms down in time now that we're home from vacation). Would that be totally nuts? I figure he has a year or two max left to live.

No more pets for us after this, sadly.

Get a large cat cage and put it in his favorite sunbeam spot-drop cloth all around it-----or put him down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cat is 15 years old and we've been battling his peeing outside the litter box for about 5 years. We've had long stretches of success, but every time we go on vacation he regresses and starts doing it again. I love my cat and am a person who believes in caring for him as best as I can until the end of his life - putting him down has never been an option, and never will be. But we're kind of at the end of our rope.

We started off closing all the bedroom doors so he couldn't pee in the beds, and that worked well for a long time. Then, after vacations he would pee on certain rugs, until I removed them one by one. As of last summer, we have zero rugs down - not even an entry mat. But that was okay, I was willing to deal with that - he's elderly and it was fine. There were no more pee incidents for a good long time and all was well.

Well, we just got back from a week away (cat sitter came once a day) and he started peeing in our den sofa. I actually put a plastic drop cloth on it and he peed and pooped on that last night. My DH has hit his limit - he is not willing to live with pee and poop on our sofa and I agree. He is demanding that our cat live in the laundry room where his litter boxes are, or downstairs in the basement. But it breaks my heart - my cat is 15 and very attached to me and the kids - and gets very lonely (which is why the peeing outside of the litter box started in the first place). He will be miserable.

He loves to sit by our sliding door in a sun beam and look outside - that's what he does all day. Our basement is unfinished and dark, with no windows, though it's larger than our laundry room. But the laundry room does have a small window and I could set up a perch for him to climb up so he could look outside. But either way, he'd be unhappy.

I realize it's the only way, but I'm feeling so guilty and so bad for my sweet cat - my kids and I love him despite his a-hole behavior and he's been our companion for 15 years. He's had health issues and the vet calls him a "miracle cat" because he just keeps on going. I guess I'm worried if we separate him he'll go downhill. But we've tried cat attract litter, keeping it very clean, giving him 4 boxes to choose from.

Which room would you choose if you were me - smaller, unfinished laundry room with a small window or larger unfinished basement with no window?
Any ideas for what I can do to make the space cozy for him? Should I feel bad about this? I'm just so bummed out.

OP I can tell you love your cat. But pooping on the sofa? That would be the end for me. Mine used to pee in my closet and in the children's rooms. Finally got rid of him. it has been WONDERFUL! The kids can have someone over anytime they want without a thorough removal of all the pee and poop. Dont think your house does not reek ....

[Anonymous]

Nine years of the cat peeing everywhere was more than enough. You dont know how happy you will be without him. "getting to no you"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cousin's cat did this and they ended up getting the cat a harness that had a light leash that attached on a wheel to a long clothesline across the yard. The cat started spending daytime outside while they were at work, and he seemed much happier: he stopped peeing outside of his box at night when they brought him in. He was very elderly and not interested in climbing trees, and just seemed happy to walk around and nibble grass, and then sleep in the sunshine or in his "cat house" outside. He would go to the door and beg to be put outside on his run in the mornings. Maybe you could do something like this, or even pay someone to put up an enclosed space in the yard?

This is a good idea, but one note, I've heard that small pets around here can get eaten by birds of prey. I'd go with a large outdoor cage before a line/tether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OMG! There are organizations that take cats like this. I'm so sad.

Name one. Post a list with links.

What hick town is this being beamed down from exactly? No vet in the actual Washington DC area would euthanize a 3 year old cat for peeing.
Help us pick out an organization for you by saying where you're actually from.

Actually, or wonderful very did it, after watching us struggle for nearly 2 years wirh this. We adopted him from a shelter at 18 months of age, he'd been given up because he peed around. I thought, with all kinds of hubris, that as a very experienced cat owner, I could solve this, and he'd been in and out of foster homes because he kept getting sick at the shelter and had not peed at the foster homes. (he was listed as hard to adopt because he'd been they're for 6 months and he peed)

Within 1 week he'd peed the first time. And so it went. He was a very anxious cat except when he wasn't. Tried feliway, prozac, a cocktail of 2 drugs, added so many litter boxes we liked like a factory, put litter boxes on all floors of the house, saw a cat behaviorist (biggest waste of $400 of my life) and still it continued. Could have returned him to shelter, where he's have lived his life at the shelter, getting sick constantly. That's no way to live. He's in a better place now, if you believe in that. Or, he's out of stress now. Believe me, I agonized over this decision. But we had PTSD from his weekly and daily peeing.
And you can't replace your sofa monthly, nor mattresses. And he didn't just squirt a few drops, he peed a gallon every time.

I now know I'm not invincible, despite the 20 to 30 cats I've had on my lifetime.

One idea:, we had a very elderly cat who couldn't get into the litter box uie to arthritis and we put a pee pad down. You know like they train puppies with? It was great, she could walk on it, pee, and keep going. She was no longer sitting to pee at this point. I've also had another elderly cat with high blood pressure and hyper thyroid whom we medicated for 2 or more years, who in her last 18 months lived in a special bedroom with a heated bed, etc. She had a heart specialist who saw her every 6 months for 2 years. She died at 19 years old. Believe me, I know cats, and I've bent over for them, but this guy wasn't rehome-able and we couldn't get him to stop peeing everywhere.

This cat had a serious medical problem, probably diabetes, or liver disease. There is really no hope. its not you, its the cat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again - only other option is to keep a plastic drop cloth over the sofa, and just change it if he pees on it (and hope his behavior calms down in time now that we're home from vacation). Would that be totally nuts? I figure he has a year or two max left to live.

No more pets for us after this, sadly.

I'd put him down now. What kind of life is living in an enclosed room? Of course, he would have only had one strike and been done five years ago when he started peeing out of the litter box

[Anonymous]

check out feliway. our vet recommened it for our cats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cousin's cat did this and they ended up getting the cat a harness that had a light leash that attached on a wheel to a long clothesline across the yard. The cat started spending daytime outside while they were at work, and he seemed much happier: he stopped peeing outside of his box at night when they brought him in. He was very elderly and not interested in climbing trees, and just seemed happy to walk around and nibble grass, and then sleep in the sunshine or in his "cat house" outside. He would go to the door and beg to be put outside on his run in the mornings. Maybe you could do something like this, or even pay someone to put up an enclosed space in the yard?

This is a genius idea!

[Anonymous]

Just searched the forum for cat pee -- found this recent thread, so glad to know we're not alone.

Out cat is 8; we got him at the DC shelter and they let us take him home earlier than normal because they didn't expect him to live beyond 8 weeks old (very sick). I didn't want to take him because we saw him peeing in his food and water dish at the ripe age of 4 weeks, and I thought it a habit he'd never break, but DH loved him and nursed him back to health.

Over the past 8 years, he's had recurrent litter box problems, (almost) always peeing near doors. It'd been a year since he had an incident, but this past week has been a nightmare. We went away for 1 night, and came back to all the curtains reeking of pee, a box of neckties and pashminas doused in pee, an expensive down comforter ruined by pee. He's found somewhere new every day. I am at my absolute wits end.

He has an appointment with the vet for next week, but I've only ever heard horror stories about this stuff. We have coyotes where we live, so he cannot be an outdoor cat. We are not of unlimited means.

Are there any success stories at all for this kind of thing?