Speaking of cats... I got this problem...

His name is S****y. (name withheld to protect the guilty)

A one year old male cat who feels that the litter is just not good enough. S****y likes laundry. And newspaper. A couch will do in a pinch.

Our house smells… well, lets just say that 15 gallons of Fabreeze (or whatever it’s called) might just barely cover it.

S****y is due for th’ol snip-snip as soon as we finish paying off our taxes; another couple of months. I’ve been reassured that this will curb the spraying (which as much as I hate, I understand) but my real problem is with the pissing in the things I like to get cozy in.

We have 2 cats and a dog. The cats get along fine when they are in different rooms.

Any advice on how to deal with this without wringing his scrawny little neck?

Oh yeah, the litters (we keep 2 at opposite ends of the house) are kept clean.

My advice
contact you local SPCA and they will help you with getting him the ol snip snip. Just tell them you are unable to afford it at this time which from your posting sounds like it. They will issue a voucher you can take to your local vet and they will due the proceedure. I do believe you have to pay for $10 of it. Better than paying for the 15 gallons of febreeze :slight_smile: Good luck. I think I would get some outdoor cats

My parents had a spraying problem with their male (he always used the littler box).

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the snip will fix the problem. My parents snipped the cat when he was about a year old. Afterwards, if he could go outside regularly, he never sprayed. If they didn’t let him out, he’d spray favorite and irreplaceable items.

Some have suggested that they may have waited too long for the snip. It might have been better at 6 months or so.

You probably don’t let him out know since he’d just go tomcatting, but once he’s neutered, you might try letting him be an indoor/outdoor cat.

I agree. Borrow $100 and get the little bastard snipped. Can’t you just borrow the money? It’s a 4% unemployment rate out there you know.

Besides $100 vs a $300+ sofa? Hmmmm . . hard choice.

[list]
[li]I found a product from a company called St. Albans (local Wal-Mart carries it in the pet department.) It’s a clear liquid that took the smell out of the couches and rugs as well as the laundry. (Use a spray bottle for rugs and furniture; they do not advertise it for the laundry, but I added a quarter cup to the wash and it seemed to work fine for the jeans and regular clothes (check for olor fastness, first). I did not try it on the fine washables {worried about color-fastness}. Won’t work too well for the newspaper, though.)[/li]Laundry hamper with a lid - pain in the neck in a small condo, but it saved a lot of grief (I used to leave the laundry in the baskets, but HyperKitty discovered these very quickly).

Kieras,

Thanks. I’ll call and give it a shot. S****y has been introduced to the outdoors. I was gentle but firm. :smiley:

I was just over at the other thread.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=756407#post756407
Thanks in advance, but these are solutions I will not try:

Heh heh, had a good laugh reading that thread. :slight_smile:

Be prepared for the possibility that even after he’s fixed, the behavior may continue. Once the habit is established it’s sometimes very hard to break.

I’ll second the idea of contacting your local shelter about low cost spay/neuter programs.

We ‘inherited’ the cat about a month ago. I know there are no guarantees, but that in conjunction with the water pistol idea. (now thatis going to be gratifying : evil grin : )

For now, in the absence of hampers, we keep all the doors in the house closed, especially the laundry room.

Last I heard, the unemployment rate out here was like 17%… what the hell has that got to do with anything??? If I give you my addy will you mail me a check? I’ll pay ya back… I promise

dewt

will I trade cats with you! :slight_smile:

I just finished posting in my cat thread asking you why you wanted to trade my garden poopin’ cat for yours and when I went back into GQ I saw your thread. NOW I know why you want to trade and I’d just like to say as civil like as possible…NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
At least when I’m done cleaning out the poop in my garden I can go inside and put on a clean shirt. :slight_smile:

I don’t know if they have them in the US but here we have Spay and Neuter Clinics that only do just that. It is a fraction of the cost. (Usually about $30-$40 compared to $100 and up.) You might want to see if they have them in your area.

Happy Laundering

Jawofech

Don’t let S****y go outside…you’ll both be happier. Get him snipped (beg, borrow, steal…whatever).

I am a firm believer that indoor only cats are better off cats. I have had indoor cats (two) for years and they never go outside the box and better yet…they don’t get fleas, parasites, ticks, get in fights and they never get hit by cars or disappear! My neighbors love my cats cause they don’t get in their garbage or eat the birds they’re feeding.

Bo

Nothing a burlap sack and a few heavy rocks won’t fix.

KamFong-as-ChinHo

If we wanted your opinion, we’d ask you for it. Now go away and play with the other trolls. Sheesh.

Why anyone would keep animal in their house that displays such behavior is beyond me.

an animal

dewt,

other posters have given good advice - the snip-snip, the keeping doors & laundry hamper closed, the product that removes odors, etc. Are you sure that it’s just S****y - that he and your other kitty aren’t in a pissing contest?

I saw this on Animal Planet one time, for what it’s worth.

Clean all the areas that the cat sprays with cleaners that don’t contain ammonia. Ammonia smells like the urine of another cat to them and will make S****y go back and mark his territory. Make sure Febreeze doesn’t contain ammonia! Else you’re screwed!

Put dixie cups of dry catfood in all of his usual spraying spots. Wiser than humans, cats know enough not to “s**t where they eat.” You have to replace the cat food every other day or so and keep it fresh.

Let me know if you try it and it works!

After posting, I realized cat lovers would probably stomp me from all directions. They are a psychopathic sub-breed of humans that are easily offended.

Screw you, I don’t hate cats. I don’t think about them enough in a year to qualify as hate.

But by your (cat lovers) own admission, you are willing to house an animal that fouls your air, shreds your possesions and makes it difficult to maintain a lease.

the cat came from the home of Dewt’s ex-wife…it belongs to his son…this is the 5th cat (as well as 3 dogs, over the years, the kids gets pets, she gets tired, and they ‘go away’)…that she has suddenly developed ‘an allergy’ to…his son called, begging and crying for us to take in his cat so that his mom wouldn’t ‘kill’ it…like she did all the others…

yes, the house smells, yes, he pees everywhere, yes, he is possessed by many demons…I DARE anyone here to break this kids heart though…

we are not moronic psychopathic cat lovers, Evilghandi…we are parents that are trying to save a little boys feelings and love for his cat…stupid cat…

we hate the FUCKING cat…but we LOVE our son…

Dylan and dewt - what a wonderful thing you are doing.

My son’s father kept getting dogs “for” him, then would tire of them. By the time Ben was 7, he’d had 4 dogs of “his” that suddenly weren’t there anymore. Glad I’d kept the cats.

Anyhow. I’ve had a wide variety of cat issues. Is there any sign of painful urination? Blood? Straining? there might be a urinary tract infection. Some male kitties may be prone to these. We went through episodes of urine out of the box with both male and femlae cats. For the male, it was a question of the urinary tract infection, for the female, it was more of a political statement.

The male’s issue was so long ago I can’t recall if he had surgery or pills or just a change in diet. sorry. But there may be some other reasons than the spraying issue. Try and catch him in mid crouch and toss him into the litter box.

Also. Try keeping him in a small cage for a day or two where he only has access to a litter box, food/water and a place to sleep. Suspect that he’ll rediscover the litter box for all his needs.

How the heck is a simple question turning into a nasty debate about cats? Take all that unrelated stuff to the Pit, please.

Yo, guys - there’s a difference between spraying and urinating.

If he’s spraying, neutering may help. It will generally (but not always) prevent cats from starting the habit, but often doesn’t stop the habit once started.

If he’s urinating, consider a visit to the vet per wring’s advice. UTI’s as well as other illnesses can cause this sort of problem.

On the other hand, it also could be behavioral, since he seems to be picking places that will annoy you. Cats will do that when they’re pissed off at you (no pun intended ;)). Could he be a bit upset over being moved to a new & strange house, with new & strange people? Or over having to <gasp> SHARE his space with other cats & dogs? (Since you say they get along only as long as they’re not actually together, this seems highly likely.) Behaviorial modification - try the caging thing and whatever aversion techniques you prefer.
FWIW - I had a male cat (neutered as a kitten) that had a brief bout of some intestinal ick (main symptom diarrhea). He quit using the litterbox completely and wouldn’t ever use it again. He’d go right next to it, though (at first, anyway). For some reason (can’t remember how/why) I tried keeping his litterbox almost empty of litter - just barely covering the bottom. Worked like a charm - he promptly went back to using it always. I had to clean it much more often, but it was better than the alternative! (The other cat got used to it, too.) My best guess is that his rear parts got very sensitive while he was sick & he developed a serious aversion to having that scratchy stuff near his hinder end.
Whatever route(s) you choose - good luck! And thanks for being good people & parents!! :slight_smile: