Drat! I did not want to do this again....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Way back in March 2011, I had to imprison my cat Teddy (brother of Eddy and Freddy) for the rest of his life. The reason why is here (note the photos in that blog entry no longer appear). The three-tier cage I mentioned duly arrived and was added to his prison, as recounted here (and for whatever reason the photos do appear in this blog post. Go figure).

Anyway, Teddy lived happily in his cage complex till December 2015, when It became clear it was time for Ted to pass over the Bridge. When it was done, I cleaned and put away Ted’s cages, hoping never to need them again but not ready to donate them to the local shelter or otherwise dispose of them. Just in case…

Just in case arrived today. My 15-year-old cat Squash, brother of Pumpkin, who went over the Bridge in January of this year after asad downhill slide, has been a problem child for several years: affectionate with me yet feral-freakout paranoid about being held; wants to be friendly to other cats yet persecuted by Schooner and Stanley for their own sadistic amusement; best buddies with Peanut but traumatized by that cat’s frequent bouts of sudden aggressive rages until thyroid meds got it under control – Well, there’s good reason I call him my Psycho Kitty.

One unfortunate manifestation of his angst has been pooping outside the litter box, preferably near his current safe place. For a while that depository was behind my recliner, atop which he’d take refuge from the bullies; lately it’s been in the dirt of a large plant in my downstairs window seat, or next to the pot, or on an area rug nearby. Definitely unpleasant, not least because that’s near my dining table, but relatively easy to deal with by picking up the deposits and cleaning the window seat or rug with a sanitizing wipe. Ugh, but tolerable to a crazy cat lady, given the euthanasia alternative.

But this morning I came downstairs to a new reality: A poop pile on the area rug in the usual place, and a piss spot beside it. That’s the first time he’s urinated outside of any of the seven litter boxes I have scattered around the condo. Well, let me amend that: The first time I can be sure of; I’ve had my suspicions before, but…

Is he sick? I hear you saying. I don’t think so. He certainly appears healthy, he’s not squatting and straining often, and there was a respectable amount of piss and no sign of blood, so I’m thinking a urinary tract infection is unlikely. I’ll stay alert to any signs of illness and take him to the vet if necessary, but given his history I’m betting this is psychological.

Now what? Having pissed there once, he’s bound to do it again. As I cleaned the area and heavily sprayed it with pet odor/stain-killer, I contemplated my options and reluctantly arrived at the Teddy solution. Good thing I hadn’t gotten rid of all those crates and cages, eh? Given some changes in my living room, putting the cage complex in there again wouldn’t work well, but if I used a midsized crate instead of the large one, I could fit a new setup on that very same Squash-soaked area rug, conveniently around the corner from the kitchen and in a mostly open region – just have to move a rocking chair, floor lamp, and small side table to make room.

So I hauled all the stuff up from the basement, and set to work assembling it without instructions, even a diagram. Amazingly, after only a handful of false starts and do-overs, I had the tower up and was able to tie in the lower litter box crate and the upper kennel refuge. I shoved in one of the litter boxes, strewed various bedding about, and then faced the final conundrum: How to get Squash into it. How to capture my wary headcase, pick him up, and insert him without getting shredded or seeing him writhe free and bolt into hiding.

As it turned out, it wasn’t hard at all. He was up in his favorite corner of the window seat; I strolled casually over, carefully ignoring him as I opened the windows, turned toward him chatting quietly, scritched behind his ears…

Grabbed his scruff, hoisted him, with the other hand grabbed his hind legs, and whipped him the few steps over to the tower and IN! Put him down on the middle shelf, whipped the door closed, and voila! Did it!

So how’s he been handling it? I was afraid he’d freak out and hurl himself at the bars in a frenzy, but he took it all with surprising calm. He wandered about, softly yowling every minute or two but otherwise seeming unruffled. I sat nearby talking encouragingly for a while, made sure he knew where his food and water were, went away for a while, came back… Well, so far so good. While I was elsewhere he did find his way to the top shelf and eat the dry food I put there next to his water bowl. He also has used the litter box. He’s spending most of his time now lying in the kennel lair and seems happy. The other cats are of course curious and checking it out from all angles. Peanut has sniffed noses with Squash through the bars. I’m wondering if Squash has already figured out that the bullies can’t get at him in there.

I did not want to have to do this, but I’m hopeful it will be the best solution for all of us.

2

It’s possible he feels safe and secure in the kennel and can finally relax.

My two dogs do not get a long. A while back the older one started attacking the younger one when the younger one would approach me. As if he suddenly decided I needed to be defended against the younger dog. We settled on a “crate and rotate” system where only one dog would be loose in the house at a time and they would take turns spending the night crated. We soon learned that the older dog much preferred to spend the night in the crate than on the bed with us. I think he feels like he is “off duty” from trying to guard me if he’s crated.

3

I have to have my cats separated from the dogs and the “living” area of the house - they have a bathroom and adjoining room. They’re happier not stressed by the dogs and seem fine with the confined space. I let them into the house occasionally when I can supervise, but for the most part they’re away from the action.

However, one of these two senior cats has started going wherever she pleases. I took the one I suspected to the vet - she’s 17 and starting the slide - not grooming herself well, losing some weight, etc. She was normal for all blood work. I have thought about confining to a crate - I’ve heard you can basically retrain a cat that way - but I hesitate to do something so outrageous to an old cat. Not sure what to do, honestly.

StG

4

I’m so sorry, StG; at that age, that kind of physical and behavioral slide is almost always not benign, and ends at the Bridge. You could try crating, but will she react badly to it? Some cats don’t mind such tight confinement but others are miserable. I’m not sure crating for elimination is retraining so much as making it impossible to soil randomly. She may be going wherever she pleases because she can’t hold it till she gets to the litter box; I suppose it’s also possible that her physical decline (and the underlying condition(s) causing it) are fogging her mind, making her forget her normal excretory behaviors.

Wish I could offer more hope, but having been through Teddy and Pumpkin’s decline, I tend to take a gloomy view of elderly cats’ prospects.

5

We adopted a dog that had cat “issues.” For several months, she was tied to the pinball machine until we were sure we could trust her (if she had ever tried to attack one of the cats, she was going back, but she seemed to “get” that they lived there, and were there first). When I got a new kitten, she lived in a crate when I was out of the house until I was sure she was big enough to defend herself, and that the dog had figured out she belonged there. I don’t know if it was strictly necessary, but I felt better.

She never minded it-- she slept in it at night as well, and had a lambswool hammock she spent every night in. When she was first allowed out of it 24/7, I still had it set up and the door opened, and she would go into it a lot to sleep in her hammock. It wasn’t until she outgrew it that the crate went away.

I wouldn’t worry at all.

Cats are very territorial, and like to feel secure in their own space. That is why indoor cats are perfectly happy. Even outdoor cats don’t tend to wander much, as long as they are not intact males sniffing for mates. We had a Siamese when I was a kid who was allowed out, but she never left the back porch.

6

It helps that cats spend most of their lives sleeping.

ETA: Squash is spending most of his time sleeping in the kennel. He continues to look relaxed and happy; chirps at me when I speak to him. Perhaps I should have done this sooner.

7

It’s sad, but cats never fully become domestic. He wants to cross the Bridge and kill mice all the livelong day. It’s Time. Allow him, with your blessing. :frowning:

8

He’s safe, eating, relaxed and not in pain. He’s only 15 and is simply eliminating where he shouldn’t out of likely stress, so unless there’s a further problem in his isolation this is a great solution. Having him put down is a last resort, not something one does b/c they have a romanticized idea of death being better than life for cats.

(And the idea cats never fully become domestic is asinine at best.)

9

Well, this is (modestly) interesting, at least to me: I was pretty sure I’d posted here about Teddy when I threw him in the slammer. Spent a little time with the search function, and, why, yes – yes, I did.

Only… that thread’s from March of 2012, and I thought my blog post was in March 2011. Hmmmm…

[goes off to check]

Well, well. The blog post is indeed March 2011. Guess I must have waited a year to post about it at the Dope. :smiley:

10

I do not at all understand why you guys are all so accepting of this. An animal pooped in the wrong place. That just happens. You clean it up and move on. You spray the stuff so they don’t choose that place again, or you just put the litter box on that place. If they keep doing it, you keep cleaning it up. The living being is more important than the things.

I’m not going to lecture, because that would be pointless. If everyone sees this as okay, then who in the world is going to listen to me? But I just do not support this at all. I would find putting the cat down less cruel than this. Yes, even if the cat is “happy.” My dogs that I kept in a pen were happy, but I now realize how cruel I was to leave them out there. It’s why I now have (smaller) inside dogs, because I can take care of them–yes, even if they wind up peeing or pooping in the wrong place occasionally. Like I said, I just clean it up and move on.

Granted, it took me a while to not see crate training as cruel, but at least that’s temporary. This is permanent. And I can’t agree with it.

I hope I’m being respectful enough. Because I couldn’t just not say anything. Sorry.

11

I agree with you BigT. We’ve had dogs, and dogs and cats. And I guess have been lucky that everyone got along just fine. Everyone has always had the run of the house. The dogs have always had a doggie door to allow them to do their business and get out of the house whenever they want.

12

I find it crueler to leave Squash out where he can be chased, attacked, clawed at, and in general made frightened and miserable to the point of shrieking and hiding. You proponents of let them run free never saw my poor little guy so terrified he crammed himself into a tiny corner behind some fiberglass insulation, huddling there so often the fiberglass fibers irritated his eyes to reddened watery slits. I’m talking daily assaults, not an occasional spat. This morning he greeted me cheerfully, having used the litter box overnight without fear of being attacked while he was immobile; used his scratching ramp while he waited for me to gt his breakfast ready; and chowed down without fearing another cat would bully him off it. He likes his lair and spends a lot of time snoozing there on soft bedding, rather than cramped in behind a large plant pot on the bare wood of the window seat, or jammed into a far corner of my closet (if the bullies even let him go upstairs). He’s actually getting more affectionate interaction with me now than when he was out and always at risk of being bullied, always on the thin edge of fleeing and hiding.

The litter box avoidance isn’t an occasional miss; the out of the box pooping is a regular occurrence, and I did put a box near the window seat for a while – whereupon the bullies immediately started using it too, instead of the other boxes at a distance. The box was right next to my dining table – so healthy and appetizing, eh?

I’ve had this cat for 15 years. I know when he’s happy and when he’s miserable or fearful. This is the most relaxed and happy I’ve seen him in years. Frankly, enipla, if you’ve never had inter-animal conflict you have no frikkin idea just how traumatic it can be for the target, and how difficult to impossible it can be to extinguish the aggression.

I think you guys need to stop projecting your own feelings about being imprisoned onto an animal that doesn’t share them.

13

Glad to hear Squash had a good night! And I’m sorry for the jerks here who refuse to understand that every pet isn’t like every other pet.

14

Sorry EddyTeddyFreddy, I though that you where NEVER going to let him out of his kennel. I thought that was the solution you where presenting.

15

Update: Squash is doing well in his cage complex. He won’t go up to the third level of the tower, even with a booster barrel on the second level, so he’s getting his food and water on the second level, hopefully where Schooner can’t reach in and snag the food. He spends most of his time snoozing in the kennel, and comes out to chirp and request petting whenever I come within range. He’s using the litter box, eating and drinking well, and just looks relaxed and happy all the time. The worried, wary look has left his little face.

I gave him a few toys today and he promptly played with them for a bit, knocking them down to the first level of the tower, before going back to his lair for another nap.

Yes, enipla, he’s going to spend the rest of his life in there. I should mention that both my vet and the local animal control officer, with whom I discussed this during Teddy’s lifetime, are of the opinion that this is a fine solution to an otherwise intractable problem, and the most humane for the cat in question.

16

Sounds like it’s working as planned! Squash clearly understands he’s safe but not deprived of anything he’d enjoyed outside the complex.
The old pics no longer show in the blog post for me (something about a 3rd party host being needed), can you post new ones?

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The old photos were being hosted at Photobucket, which is trying to shove me into a high-priced paid subscription. I think with Blogger I now can upload photos directly – but the computer the original pictures reside on has to go into the shop tomorrow for a couple of days. I’ll upload and post about it here when I get that done.

18

How goes the kitty arrangement? Still working out lo, these 6 weeks later?

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It’s working great! Squash is the happiest I’ve seen him in years, now that he feels safe. He’s bursting with affection, which he gets a lot of, and he’s started playing again, in fact he’s already kicked the stuffing – literally – out of one of his toys. It’s not uncommon to find one of his toys flipped into his litter box by his vigorous romps. His appetite for his special food is very good.

If you can do Facebook, you can see some photos here; the two cats outside his tower are the two who bullied him. They would probably go after him again if I let him out but they seem to have settled well into the new reality.