Cat being returned to fosterer??

Hannaho

Hi! We have a rescue dog for 12 years and a rescue cat for the last two and a half years. Unfortunately, about six months in, the cat started to pee all over my landing carpet - no where else - sometimes we caught her doing it, authorities, just a wet patch. I've tried a lot of things - checked by vet and no urinary infection, two litter boxes, clean litter box always, litter box over where she prefers to pee on my landing carpet, cleaning the carpet etc. However the house now smells terrible - I'm embarrassed when people come around - the pee has soaked into the felt underneath the carpet and I think into the floorboards. I have given my children lots of warnings that I would have to give the cat back to the original fosterer if we couldn't sort the problem - but it's me who does all the work with the cat - changing the litter box, or having to remind them several times to do it, Three weeks ago, just as I was going to work at 7.00 a.m., I caught our cat peeing on the landing again - it was just the last straw for me, as I had to get on my hands and knees in my work clothes and try to clean it. The original foster carer for the cat, who gave the cat to us two and a half years ago, is willing to take the cat back and retrain her - crate training - she wanted me to keep the cat and crate train it initially, but I work full-time and long-hours, and feel as if I have any more responsibilities on me, I will collapse, but my daughter particularly is very upset that the cat is going back to the fosterer - the foster carer is a animal behaviourist also - so she is going back to a good home. Any thoughts???

Inexile

I have no experience with cats but three things spring to mind.

First what are you cleaning the carpet with? With dogs if the smell is not completely gone it encourages the dog to pee in the same place. So products with bleach are out, as they smell like urine. A friend of mine uses biological washing power.

Secondly, could you confine the cat to the down stairs so she didnt have access to the carpet. This may sound odd but perhaps she likes the feeling of the carpet. Does she use the litter box at all. Could you place a piece of carpet in the litter box, gross I know, but see if she will use it and just keep chucking out bits of carpet - vet bed could be handy here as it very washable and resilient.

Thirdly could you consider replacing the carpet with a good quality lino. It wouldn't absorb the pee and the cat may not like the feel of it.

Just a few thoughts from a dog and non cat person. Good luck with it.

Nody

Simply put the fact you still can smell it means you've not cleaned it correctly; because of this the smell is still there and the cat now consider that a prime toilet spot because of the smell on top of the fact they have been going there for so long. Personally we use the Dog It as our day to day cat urine cleaner and OdorXit for things that have gone real deep or need soaking (needs to be imported).

So here's what I'd recommend for you but it's not going to be fun or easy; first of all go to your local pet store and ask for a pee stain remover. Dog or cat does not really matter as long as it has the ability to break down the protein. Secondly you're going to need to let it work for a while to break it down, then rinse and repeat a few times and if it has gone through as you suspect you will need to lift the carpet there to get to the stain below as well. Sorry but there is no other way to get rid off it and the corresponding smell so the above is something you'll be forced to do no matter what if you want to get rid of the smell. If you have access to a good UV light and can get it dark enough you can use this to see exactly how big of a stain you're talking about.

Now, here comes the part you're not going to like, redirection. As the cat as learned that the toilet is in that general area you need to put a toilet as close to the spot as possible even if that means the middle of the hallway basically. Leave it there for the next month at least and then move it 1cm at a time once a day towards it's intended location. The reason for the slow move is to get the cat used to the toilet being there while slowly moving the toilet to were you want it, the reason to wait a month is to ensure they get used to going in the toilet instead at that location. If you rush it chances are the cat will go back to peeing there again so this is a case of rushing slowly. Now this is not going to happen overnight and you may find yourself spraying several times after because while you may think the smell is gone your cat will disagree and they have a way better smelling than you do but once sorted the problem is solved. Any future pee spots outside the toilet should be washed directly with a suitable protein break down cleaner (normal store cleaners is not good enough, nor is alcohol based cleaners) to avoid the pattern setting in.

Hannaho

Thanks to both of you - really appreciate the advice - tried putting a litter box on top of the area where she pees - she uses the litter box downstairs also - this didn't seem to work as when we removed it, she peed there again - though I didn't move it a cm each time, just left it there in the one sport - she pees all over the landing carpet but more in one particular spot. I could get lino at the top of the landing I suppose - though the stairs and landing are the only area we have carpet in the house, and I would like to keep the landing carpeted if possible. I haven't gone to get specialist products to clean the carpet from Pet Shops - I have used biological powder to clean it and also have been getting the carpet professionally cleaned once a month - but the smell comes back within a few days. I am now thinking of getting a new carpet - really, I think the old one is not really retrievable - would the cat continue to pee there if we got a new one. We really like the cat, but I can't cope with the small anymore - she has erected all our sofas and soft furnishing with her claws but that doesn't bother me at all - it's just the smell.

volchitsa

I know what you mean about the smell - stale cat pee is foul.

Could you just not allow her upstairs anymore? I had to do that with our cats because they were sleeping on the beds and because we have a farm nearby (neighbours I mean, we don't own a farm) with semi feral cats, it was a constant battle with reinfestation of fleas, and a couple of times the kids got bitten.
Also they kept coming up and mewing to be let out at 5 or 6 am! Anyway I just made the children put them downstairs every time they went up, did the same myself, (and shouted at them when I caught them upstairs) made sure the bedroom doors were kept shut as much as possible and closed the living room door when the cats were sleeping in there at night.

It sounds like a lot written out like that, but it was more a state of mind than actual things to do - no cats upstairs was the new rule, and it worked pretty well. They used to sneak up sometimes, so it didn't work 100% but maybe it could break the cycle of the cat thinking that's where she goes to the toilet. And the children cooperated fine - if you're at the stage where you're thinking of sending the cat back I'm sure yours would do whatever they could to help too.

Melendez

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volchitsa

Melendez wrote: »

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That's an interesting suggestion, but I wonder whether she wouldn't just do it elsewhere upstairs. I know when cat litter isn't changed often enough they just stop using it, but I'm not sure you want her to be disgusted by the litter tray. I'd be afraid the consequences could be worse if she started going elsewhere too.

Maybe the idea of the plastic mat and newspaper on top, and the (clean) cat litter nearby? Hmm. Newspaper on the landing floor sounds quite icky too doesn't it?

Melendez

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volchitsa

Sorry, I misunderstood. It was the last sentence (plus the fact that I think the OP said she'd tried putting the cat litter on that spot already) that made me think you meant trying to get her out of the habit of going there by making that particular litter tray unappetizing for the cat.

But maybe with plastic underneath etc it might be worth giving it another go.

intheclouds

If the pee has soaked down into the floorboards you might have to consider replacing them also.

Id be inclined to start enforcing "no cats upstairs".

We have 2 cats, one of whom gets very stressed out at even the smell of the other so we have enforced "cat 1 in the back, cat 2 in the front" of the apartment and never the twain shall meet. Its actually grand, cats are not like dogs ready to rush the door to get to the promised land!