Cat Owners -- Help!

In My Humble Opinion
1

I recently acquired a roommate – she’s very nice, we’re both saving on rent, it’s all good – except . . . .

She has a cat. I have a small dog (small cocker, very well behaved).

I don’t know what her cat-deal is, but for whatever reason – trauma of moving, hates the dog, hates me, new place, not getting enough attention, whatever – the cat has started peeing along one wall in the dining room.

Now visions of forfeiting my deposit dance in my head, and the apartment is starting to smell like cat pee, which is totally, absolutely, 100% NOT okay.

So any suggestions about what we can do about this? Something to put down on the floor to discourage her, or that would repel her, or something we could give her to make her stop? Is a trip to the vet in order? On the one hand, I feel like this isn’t my problem, but on the other, I have to live here too, and I don’t want the apartment stunk up or the carpet ruined.

I don’t hate the cat, but this is a problem that we have to nip in the bud, so any suggestions on how to solve it would be greatly appreciated.

Jodi, who knows nothing about cats.

2

First I would rule out any sort of health problem. This may seem like an obvious reaction to a new environment, but since the cat can’t speak, you should eliminate things.
My thought is that you should place the cat in one room, with a litter box for a couple of days. Cats don’t always adjust to new surroundings quickly. I would slowly introduce the cat to the entire house gradually.
Be sure the litter is new and fresh.
Good luck.

3

I agree with jacksen - cats have weird little systems and they can react to peculiar things with physical ailments, so first stop is the vet. Confining the cat to one room with a litter box is also a good idea - cats are normally pretty fastidious, and would prefer to use litter than not, so put the cat in a smallish room, and put the food on the other side of the room - they won’t eliminate where they eat. To get rid of the odor you already have, try wiping the wall down with straight ammonia - bleach will NOT work, and will in fact react with the ammonia naturally in the cat’s urine and make it smell worse.

You indicate that this is a female cat, and it’s usually males who are insistent about marking their territory. However, females HAVE been known to do so, so she could be staking the apartment out as “her” space, especially with a new dog roomie. So, if you do isolate the cat to re-litter-train her, it would also be a good idea to gradually reintroduce her to the dog, once you’ve got the litter thing down.

4

Put the litter box against that wall.

My cat used to jump on the kitchen counter a lot and get hair all over the place. My mom kept a small squirt gun on the kitchen counter and would zap her every time she did that. The Pavlov effect would kick in soon after that.

5

I agree that a trip to the vet could rule out anything medical, even though it does sound like a “trauma of moving” sort of thing.

The one room plan is probably a good one, although I know that some apartments don’t really have one room that can contain a pet, short of the bedrooms. Cats are very fussy about their litter box, there could be some crazy reason why she doesn’t like the location of the box now. You might try putting down several litter boxes in a few different places, and see if she takes to any of those better. Does she go in her box at all, or just to poop, or never?

A gross question, but here goes – is your dog the kind that wants to check out the cat’s box? This can be very off-putting for cats. It might also bother the cat if she feels the box is kept too close to her food and water, or if it is in a high traffic area (by the cat’s own standards, it could seem completely out of the way for you). If her owner says “oh, but we kept the box in the hall in our last apartment, and she was fine,” well, it just doesn’t matter to a cat. That was then and this is now.

More for furniture, but I assume it would work on floors, too, is double-sided tape. Most cats will not like having their paws touch the sticky tape, so you could try putting down tape in such a way that it would form a barrier around the area where she is currently peeing. Of course, this is only temporary, because you do not want tape on the floors of your apartment forever, but it might be enough to break the cat’s habit after a week or so. Obviously, it has to be enough tape that she can’t simply walk or jump over it. This might not be an option depending on the size of the problem area, but maybe it would work in a doorway to keep the cat out of the dining room altogether.

I know you’re cleaning up each time the cat pees, but scour the area in the dining room. It’s possible that a previous resident in your apartment had a cat, and if your current cat can smell any trace of old cat pee, that sends a message to her that this is the place to pee. For all you know, this is where the previous resident kept the cat box. If there’s just something about the dining room that she likes, you might put her litter box close to where she is peeing now, and see if she will then use the box exclusively. Once she is doing that, you can gradually move the box closer and closer to the area where you actually want to keep it.

Whatever you decide to do, do it quick, because cats form very strong habits about where they pee. There’s a product called “No Go” that you can get at petstores for cleaning the accident spot that supposedly makes the area smell unattractive to the cat in the future. I haven’t used this myself, but someone at work found it helpful.

6

Jodi,

As a cat lover, I would just like to commend you for your cool attitude. Different animals, (not just cat’s), react differently to new places. If it’s hopeless, you can’t say you hadn’t tried to make it work.

7

As ResIpsa indicated, it could be an indicator that she wants the litter box there. Cats are very habitual creatures, and sometimes they pick out a spot that they want to be the “bathroom spot.” For obvious reasons, you probably don’t want the box in the dining room, so it’s best to break her of the habit. Others have already made some good recommendations, particularly the sticky tape, for breaking her of it. Aluminum foil is also good–they don’t like to walk on it, in my experience.

To get the odor out, we’ve found that OxyClean is actually pretty effective. But get to it soon or it will never come out. And pull up that little edge of the carpet to get underneath to the pad and the floor, because cat pee is like the acid blood in Alien. That stuff will penetrate anything.

8

I’ll second the OxyClean recommendation, although that might not get all of the smell out. [Getting all of the smell out is very important because cats will often relieve themselves repeatedly in places where they can smell urine.] Nature’s Miracle is a product that is available in most pet stores that will neutralize the smell. We’ve used it with good success.

Once the smell is gone, you can try the sticky tape or aluminum foil in that area–cats generally hate the sound that foil makes and will avoid walking on it. Except for our cat who likes to play hide-and-seek under it. :rolleyes:

And I also applaud your rational approach here. Cats can be great pets once they’ve adjusted to a new environment.

9

A lot of these suggestions are very good, but I just wanted to throw in some words of encouragment. My husband and I have two cats and when we moved into our glorious 1400 sq ft duplex a year ago, one or both of them peed in every corner of the house. Then they stopped. I had had both of them for four years and it had never been a problem. I knew that more than six cats had lived in the place before us so I was using that as my reason. It turned out to be correct. Since we moved five months ago to New Orleans it hasn’t happened. If nothing is wrong with the cat it probably will stop. It’s just marking it’s territory.

Oh, and about it being mean, that too will probably stop. Some day you might come home and find both the cat and the dog curled up and having a good snooze!

Hang in there.

10

Is the cat fixed? Is it a boy cat? If it is an un-neutered male, it probably smells former cats.

My cat did the vindictive peeing for a while after I moved in my roommate’s house. I ended up spraying the wall with Lysol, and wiping it down. Worked wonders. (If your wall is painted anything but white, I don’t know if I would recommend this.) The thing is that you have to get the smell off the wall, or the cat will return to the same place because he knows he’s already gone there.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

11

Even if it is a neutered cat, it probably still has territorial feelings about the odor of cats past.

One thing that I haven’t seen mentioned is this wonderful spray called Off! (not the bug spray, but one that’s meant to deter cats from certain places). I think Hartz makes it. Spray it on paper towels and lay them over the area where the cat is going potty inappropriately. It has a distinctive, but not offensive to humans, smell.

Also, you’ll want to rent a steam cleaner for the carpet. Cat urine is one of the most pungent substances known to mankind and if the cat is still able to smell the least whiff, s/he will continue to go.

Good luck with this!

12

I think Annie (roomie) is taking the cat to the vet next week. She wants to rule out a UTI, and she thinks maybe a low-dose sedative could help de-stress the cat. (And I have to say, the Annie is being very cool about this, taking resposibility and working to fix it.) We got some of the Nature’s Way stuff and put it down; it really fixed the smell right away – highly recommended. We also put down tin foil (night before last, before we used the Nature’s Way), but the cat peed on the foil in three spots, so she apparently didn’t mind it, unfortunately. But we used the Nature’s Way yesterday on the carpet and also wiped down the wall and baseboards with Soft Scrub with Bleach (recommended to do so by the guy at the pet store) and I don’t think the cat peed there last night. I hope.

I have also heard that putting the cat box in the problem area may encourage the cat to use it instead of the floor, but it also may in other cases reinforce that, hey, this is the bathroom spot. So we’re not doing that (at least not yet). Plus, as PHIL pointed out, this is the dining room: Not the place you want the cat box sitting out.

I have also agreed to lock my dog in my room while I’m at work all day, if we have to, though this is obviously not my first choice. But my dog is eleven and basically sleeps all day, or looks out the window, waiting for me to come home and take her for her walk. She’s probably be just as happy doing that in my room, where she can be naughty and snooze on the bed. But I kind of balk at having to curtail the freedom of my pet because of a problem with my roommate’s, so I hope it won’t come to that.

Thanks for all the suggestions; of other people have other suggestions or comments, please post them.

13

How would that work, exactly? I used unscented ammonia for the first time a few months ago (you need it to do a fishless cycle in a fish tank) and whenever I uncapped it, all that came to mind was cat pee. How does using a product that smells like the problem help?

14

Oh and For cleaning someone mentioned renting a steam cleaner. I agree that a deep cleaner is the best way to get rid of odors. But invest a small amount in a portable dep cleaner, Bissell makes one called the Little Green Machine. Handy to have for any kind of spill that smells or stains. I have one and use it the most, cleaning up kids puke piss, cat accidents, chili spills and red wine on berber. The faster you can attack with hot water and detergent the better.

And Bissell also sells a quick spray that has active enzymes for killing odor.

My cat (Iwish she could talk) did the same recently cuz her litter box wasnt in its customary spot!

THough the time she piddled right on my Sister In Law’s garment bag was priceless. The SIL has a poisonous attitude and the cat caught on right away!

15

I’ve had success with keeping my cats off of counters and such by using a plastic carpet runner/protector turned upside down. The runners have pointy nubs on the underside that are unpleasant to tender paws and will keep a medium-level determined cat away. To keep my two little monsters away from my bird I eventually bought a ScatMat; a plastic mat that gives a little jolt of electricity to whomever steps upon it. It might sound harsh, but I researched it thoroughly and even tested it on myself :eek: While I won’t do THAT again, it’s not the end of the world and boy did my cats learn to stay away from the bird’s cage.

Veronica

*And definitely do a spot replacement of the carpet padding if at all possible. The smell will always return eventually and since that’s probably the main source after cleaning the carpet…

16

First things first. As I have found, for cats to become an even tolerable pet they need beatings. AT LEAST twice a week you should beat the snot out of the cat.

Beatings.

17

Another thing that could work is moving the cat’s food dish to the area where it is peeing. Kitties do not like to eat near where they eliminate, and if its food is there, it’ll find another place to pee (hopefully the litter box).

18

A move AND a dog is a huge big deal. Whenever we’ve had to introduce new pets to the felines it has been through a very careful process. Cat gets it’s own room for starters – prefereably one with a good, comfy hiding place (and obviously a little box. )

We introduce the cat to the new environment a little at a time… Always supervised. Until the cat is used to everything.

As mentioned above: You can clean the area being peed upon throughly (a vinegar/water solution works well too) and putting little bowls of food where the cat is peeing helps to discourage the cat from peeing there (they are clean freaks after all and won’t pee where they think they should be eating.) Wherever cat pees, put down a teeny weeny bowl of food.

Make sure the cat still has it’s OWN space (which would likely be the private room you started the cat out in) where the dog may not go and may not distrub the litter box.

Good luck. Traumatized cats are no fun to start with. But they can adjust. Nature’s Way is a good product for controlling odor. (Tin foil works with some cats, not all).

Good luck, hope kity adjusts well.

19

Also you need to keep kitty’s things (toys ect…) and mommy’s things accessible to the cat but not the dog. This could be whats pissing the cat off. (no pun intended)

20

Rub lemon juice on the affected part of the wall. The smell will discourage kitty from taking a leak there. Of course, the cat might pee somewhere else instead…