My shower tray is *not* a giant litterbox...

Yearning4Stormy

Good evening, again, A&PI peeps.

I was adopted by a cat Friday a week ago in my local Tesco. We've bonded despite my fruitless (thank bejebus, I love the wee fella) attempts to find the owner. On the advice of the vet I took him to, I waited a week (to find the owner, no joy) before getting him chipped, wormed and vaccinated.

Anyway, he's definitely litterbox-trained in that he'll use it when I'm on the same level of the apartment he's on. However, at night - he sleeps in the bed with me - he'll use my shower tray instead of making the journey on the stairs. At first, it was just a wee (AJ, we've progressed since my earlier PM!) but he's after doing something unspeakable in the shower tray.

Any advice most welcome. I'd prefer him to have the run of the place without unexpected, um, leavings in unexpected places.

Cheers, folks.

Yearning4Stormy

Hmmm, two litterboxes, right? One for each floor?

peasant

Yepp ..two boxes

(and other than that, be thankful that it's the shower tray and not your wardrobe, sock drawer or bed ...at least the shower tray is easy-clean )

Knine

Be thankful, very thankful he went in your shower tray. My Guinea Pig just did a pee on me.

And cover your eyes DBB because at the weekend my Italian Spinone cocked his leg on me. Nothing quite like that warm wet feeling............

Alun

Yes, be very grateful!! At least you can clean it out properly. One of ours has taken to peeing on the doormat, and I can tell you nothing absorbs cat pee like coconut matting

Nody

Assuming it's a kitten a litter tray on another floor (even another room) is simply way to far away for them; once they get older they can hold it for that long but not as kittens.

Tranceypoo

Alun wrote: »

Yes, be very grateful!! At least you can clean it out properly. One of ours has taken to peeing on the doormat, and I can tell you nothing absorbs cat pee like coconut matting

Oh yes, been there, done that, had to throw the mat out....

Yearning4Stormy

Knine wrote: »

Be thankful, very thankful he went in your shower tray. My Guinea Pig just did a pee on me.

And cover your eyes DBB because at the weekend my Italian Spinone cocked his leg on me. Nothing quite like that warm wet feeling............

Oh, lordy. When I wake, Moses, often as not is on my head :eek:

Yearning4Stormy

Nody wrote: »

Assuming it's a kitten a litter tray on another floor (even another room) is simply way to far away for them; once they get older they can hold it for that long but not as kittens.

Three to four year old, Nody, according to the vet. Going to get another LT tomorrow, there's only so much much gagging my stomach can handle!

I would've got some amazing pics for the "pics of your pet" earlier, only I didn't have my phone to hand .

DBB

Knine wrote: »

And cover your eyes DBB because at the weekend my Italian Spinone cocked his leg on me. Nothing quite like that warm wet feeling............

Trying to dominate you again, was he?!

I knew a woman, whose details I'll not share here, who posted on an animal site of yore that if one of her dogs tried to "dominate" her, she'd pee on him to quell his bid for world supremacy.
Aghast, people asked her to clarify, the mental picture of this lady dropping her pants and assuming the position was too much to bear
It turns out she'd pee into an empty washing-up liquid bottle, keep it handy around the place, and use it to squirt her pee on the canine upstarts, rather than delivering it... ummm... direct from source

boomerang

Definitely need an extra litter tray. You may find you need to put it in the shower tray and when he's using it reliably, start moving the litter tray out of the shower tray very gradually.

Knine

DBB wrote: »

Trying to dominate you again, was he?!

I knew a woman, whose details I'll not share here, who posted on an animal site of yore that if one of her dogs tried to "dominate" her, she'd pee on him to quell his bid for world supremacy.
Aghast, people asked her to clarify, the mental picture of this lady dropping her pants and assuming the position was too much to bear
It turns out she'd pee into an empty washing-up liquid bottle, keep it handy around the place, and use it to squirt her pee on the canine upstarts, rather than delivering it... ummm... direct from source

That remind me of the time I advised a certain person whom you met in Louth to try Pineapple to help prevent poo snacking. 3 days later he said that did not work. They loved eating the poo mixed with pineapple chunks. The concept of feeding the pineapple to the dogs seemed to have escaped him & I fell around laughing at the idea of him spooning the poo into the pineapple & giving it a stir.

tk123

Knine wrote: »

And cover your eyes DBB because at the weekend my Italian Spinone cocked his leg on me. Nothing quite like that warm wet feeling............

When Lucy was a baby puppy we were both passed out asleep on the couch - me exhausted from tending to her no doubt - and I awoke to a warm feeling where she was curled in against me... and had wee'd her in sleep!

doubter

DBB wrote: »

Trying to dominate you again, was he?!

I knew a woman, whose details I'll not share here, who posted on an animal site of yore that if one of her dogs tried to "dominate" her, she'd pee on him to quell his bid for world supremacy.
Aghast, people asked her to clarify, the mental picture of this lady dropping her pants and assuming the position was too much to bear
It turns out she'd pee into an empty washing-up liquid bottle, keep it handy around the place, and use it to squirt her pee on the canine upstarts, rather than delivering it... ummm... direct from source

Have to ask-did that work???

DBB

doubter wrote: »

Have to ask-did that work???

No more than squirting a jet of water at a dog, no! Not that I think she was prepared to admit either :rolleyes:
(and not that jets of water are recommended to anyone reading this!:eek:)
I remember when she clarified that she peed into a bottle to squirt it at the naughty dogs rather than cocking her bare leg on them, someone replied "Oh.. well then... that's ok then" :P:P

DorInTheWall

Welcome to my world.

My cat will use the bath unless I leave an inch of water in there. She has two trays, both kept fresh, one of them next to the bath. Sometimes she'll use them but there doesn't seem to be any pattern. I think she just likes the hand shower. She always comes to watch me cleaning the bath out and dips her paw in the stream. I'm just glad I was able to train her out of using the kitchen sink.

Because your kitten is so young, I'd try and discourage them rather than leaving water in your shower, so lavish praise for using the tray and if you see them going into the shower just lift them onto the correct place. They'll get the idea.

Nody

DBB wrote: »

No more than squirting a jet of water at a dog, no! Not that I think she was prepared to admit either :rolleyes:
(and not that jets of water are recommended to anyone reading this!:eek:)
I remember when she clarified that she peed into a bottle to squirt it at the naughty dogs rather than cocking her bare leg on them, someone replied "Oh.. well then... that's ok then" :P:P

Exactly; DBB is all about doing it properly with your own concentrated urine to make sure your dog can smell your dominance over them! :pac::p

Yearning4Stormy

Ha! This thread has turned into some weird golden-shower discussion.

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to the folks who suggested a second litter tray on the bottom floor, it worked a treat. (Is it just me, but a bag of litter is insanely expensive?) I'm still learning daily about his idiosyncrasies - where more often than not, I call him a little bollocks - but it seems like he's been here forever and I can't imagine him not being here

Cheers again!

Oh, one last thing to completely derail my own thread. I bought something like this for grooming and to reduce the amount of molting Moses is doing everywhere:



He loves being brushed, but ultimately it seems to be doing jack all to the amount of hair he seems to shed.

Any advice?

anniehoo

Yearning4Stormy wrote: »

Is it just me, but a bag of litter is insanely expensive?)

What type/brand are you using? I've only ever used Lidls one (around €4/10kg) so it's definitely not a major expense for me (I've 2 cats). Are you throwing out a lot of unused litter (you should just scoop out the waste/clumped matter) and sieve the clean stuff? 10kg lasts me at least 2 weeks, putting ~3 inches in the tray, cleaning and sieving and fully changing every 2 weeks. There's no need to fill their trays imo. If it's clean and the tray(s) are a good size they just need a reasonable amount to dig around in.

Check this thread out for other alternatives. I liked this thread as there really is a variation but "clay based-clumping" came out on top. This is the type I use.

Irish Stones

Yearning4Stormy wrote: »

(Is it just me, but a bag of litter is insanely expensive?)

It depends on what type of litter you're using.
A clumping litter lasts longer because you only discard the solid parts.
And it depends on what you mean by "insanely expensive"

He loves being brushed, but ultimately it seems to be doing jack all to the amount of hair he seems to shed.
Any advice?

Same here!
I'm finding hair all over the place though I brush my cats often.
Usually this happens in spring when they shed their winter hair to stay fresher for the oncoming hot season.

Yearning4Stormy

Cheers, anniehoo and Irish Stone.

I'm still learning! It's a trip to Lidl for me, so. In a panic, I just popped down to Tesco: €10.49 for 10L! I shall certainly check out the alternatives as I was just dumping everything and refilling (as I've got a very nervous gag-reflex).

Irish Stone, I'll increase the brushing frequency, see if that helps.

Nody

Get something like the litter champ to scope into; this way you don't feel the smell as much. Also for clumping you can go with for example Cat's Best which is bio degredable and can be composted.

Alun

Nody wrote: »

Get something like the litter champ to scope into; this way you don't feel the smell as much.

We have something similar called a Litter Locker which we bought in MaxiZoo. Works very well.

Nody

Alun wrote: »

We have something similar called a Litter Locker which we bought in MaxiZoo. Works very well.

We have the same (bought from Zooplus at the time) but they replaced with Litterchamp now instead. My wife swears by it and who am I to disagree? :P

Irish Stones

The price you have seen at Tesco is very expensive! At least I hope it's a premium quality.
There's another thread where other forum users adviced about their experiences with litters.
My tip was about a compostable litter which costs around 16 euro for 20 litres and for one cat it could last more than two months.
The name is Oko Plus Cat's Best. It's a clumping litter, so you only discard the poo and clump, the ball, of litter with the cat's urine.

Is it a long-haired cat? That could justify the amount of hair you're finding around.

Ambersky

Yearning4Stormy the brush you posted is excellent for keeping a coat in good condition and to prevent or remove hair mats. It will also remove some of the loose hair as you said.

You might try one of these

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/cats/cat_care_grooming/cat_brushes_combs/metal_combs/291302
You can get them in most pet shops and you will be amazed at the handfuls of hair you seem to get off the one cat when you do them for the first time. It does come off in handfuls and it can seem wrong at first but it doesnt seem to do the coat any harm, plenty still left and it really reduces the hair dropped by the cat all over the place.

Gran Hermano

Alun wrote: »

We have something similar called a Litter Locker which we bought in MaxiZoo. Works very well.

FYI the angel care nappy bin refills fit the litter locker and are much cheaper than the litter locker brand.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angelcare-Disposal-System-Refill-Cassettes/dp/B00143XJ7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414017328&sr=8-1&keywords=angel+nappy+bin+refills

mymo

I have a furminator too, one of mine sheds so much he should be bald, so I give him a once over with it about every fortnight.
In between we use a brush like the one you posted, they work great too and aren't to hard, go easy with the furminator though if you get one.