Major cat problems

[Animalmother]

Girlfriend's cat is a monster. Has shit and pissed on her bed 2 times. Has shit and pissed on her roommates bed 2 times. Tried to shit on me in the bed once. He is neutered. We clean the litter box every other day. Give him food and water every day
Play and pet him several times a day. Anybody got any ideas how to solve this before I choke out this sum bitch cat or take him to the pound? Y'all are his last chance. I'm more than ready to get rid of him but thought I should ask for advice. I most certainly appreciate it.

[DrDeth]

1. Clean the litter box EVERY day. Get a larger box. Is it "private"? Can he "poop in peace"?

2. When you are gone, lock him into the room with the litter box- I assume this is a small room, such as the bathroom. Do this for a few days only.

3. He sounds stressed, likely due to new humans. There is a "Kitty calming" herbal medication available at most pet stores. the Vet can prescribe a mild Valium dose, also.

This, however, seems like "GQ" query, rather than a "GD" debate.

[Rug Burn]

"Give him food and water every day"

Quit doing that.

[zwaldd]

Take him to the vet. My cat started pissing where he wasn't supposed to a few months ago, so I took him to the vet. Turns out he had a bladder infection. Gave him antibiotics, changed his diet, he hasn't peed on the rug since. Cats are inherently clean and like their living area to be clean, so there may be a physical problem.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Yes -- take him to the vet. Your problem is far from unique, and the first thing you want to do is ensure that there's not a physical reason for his behavior (e.g., an infection of some sort). Once you've ruled that out, your veterinarian should be able to direct you toward resources on controlling the problem.

This Web site has some great advice for things to do after a veterinarian has ruled out a physical cause for the problem. But please do go to the vet as your first move: if the cat's sick, you want to get it taken care of ASAP.

If not for the cat's sake, then for your girlfriend's sake.

Daniel

[Guinastasia]

Yes, scoop the box every day, every time you notice poop in it.

[Kalhoun]

My sister-in-law has a kitty that beats up on her other cats, so she put him on Prozac. The other cats were so upset that they started pooping everywhere.

[DreadCthulhu]

First, you are going to need a sack of some type; preferably burlap. Then, find a large body of water, such as a river or lake.......

[elfje]

The only way you can teach cats to so anything, is use water. Get yourself a plant spray bottle, and fill it with water. Keep it around the house, and everytime the cat does something he's not supposed to, spray him with water. Cats hate it, believe me. Yelling and physical violence won't help, you'll only make the cat scared of you.

You might also want to keep the bedroom doors shut.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally posted by elfje
The only way you can teach cats to so anything, is use water. Get yourself a plant spray bottle, and fill it with water. Keep it around the house, and everytime the cat does something he's not supposed to, spray him with water. Cats hate it, believe me. Yelling and physical violence won't help, you'll only make the cat scared of you.

Althought this can work for some things, generally spraying a cat with water teaches it, "Don't do this whenever my owner is around!" Unless you can
a) Catch the cat in the act; and
b) Sneak up on the cat in flagrante delicto,

the water trick isn't likely to work.

And for house-soiling problems, I'm not an expert, but I'd think the last thing you'd want to do is to make eliminating even more stressful for the cat. You might find that the cat, instead of pooping on your bed, decides to poop behind the couch, where the water bottle can't reach.

No. Get thee to a veterinarian.

Daniel

[elfje]

Originally posted by DanielWithrow
Althought this can work for some things, generally spraying a cat with water teaches it, "Don't do this whenever my owner is around!" Unless you can
a) Catch the cat in the act; and
b) Sneak up on the cat in flagrante delicto,

the water trick isn't likely to work.

And for house-soiling problems, I'm not an expert, but I'd think the last thing you'd want to do is to make eliminating even more stressful for the cat. You might find that the cat, instead of pooping on your bed, decides to poop behind the couch, where the water bottle can't reach.

No. Get thee to a veterinarian.

Daniel

Daniel ,
(we seem to meet quite a bit. lately )

since we're talking about the cat leaving unwelcome droppings on the bed, they could leave the water spray in the bedroom. And catching the cat in flagrante delicto is not that hard, I mean, it's not as if it's done in a few seconds, cats tend to take their time doing it
and I also gave them the alternative of keeping the bedroom doors closed.

About the stress: the OP didn't state the cat was stressed in any way, but in my opinion, yelling or even swatting at a cat is more stressful for the poor animal than a mild water spray (i'm not talking about a water canon, here).

A cat wants his family to smell like him, that is why they headbutt people, to give them their scent. Maybe that is why he's leaving himself all over the place?
But it does sound strange, never heard of a cat persisting in peeing on the bed....

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally posted by elfje
Daniel ,
(we seem to meet quite a bit. lately )

Aha, elfje -- we meet again!

I do agree that water-bottle training is often effective: it's what I used to train my cats not to get on the tables, and they're very good about not doing so when I'm around (which is about all I can ask).

But elimination problems are often stress-related, and I think that water-spraying might just stress the cat out even more. Besides, it's not enough for the cat not to shit on the bed when you're around: you need the cat to not shit on the bed when you're not around, and my understanding is that water-spraying isn't nearly as effective at training a cat not to engage in a behavior when you're not around.

But keeping the bedroom doors shut is a great idea. I'd also recommend changing the sheets and comforters on the bed entirely, and probably having them dry-cleaned: if there's even a faint ammonia smell remaining on them, that might signal to the cat that that location is a great bathroom spot.

Daniel

[elfje]

i also heard that using pepper (shake ground pepper around) in places where cats like to do their business, discourages them, do you know if this is true?

And yes, washing the bedlinnen after a cat "accident" would help, too.

[Gaudere]

[Moderator Hat ON]

Moving to IMHO.

[Moderator Hat OFF]