Cat Advice?

[GSLeloo]

So we're having a little bit of a problem with the kitten. For a while he was really good about going in the catbox. Well, for like the first week. Then that Sunday we went to the vets with him. After we got back he shit in the kitchen. A few days ago he shit on the stairs and today he shit at the bottom of the stairs and peed in front of the bathroom.

My parents are going nuts, my mom wants him returned, my dad wants him let outside, and of course both are ignoring me. So does anyone have any idea what to do with him?

[GSLeloo]

And to add to this I can actually hear them right now arguing about the cat.

[Xcalibur]

Yes: most animals got a VERY short term memory.

Don't quarrel him if you don't see him/her doing it at the very moment.

Otherwise, cat will think you quarrel him for: looking at that thing, sleeping, eating, whatever he was doing for the last 9 seconds.

To insure he will do what he needs to do in the liter, try to think when he does it usualy, at what time.

Then, take out the liter and the cat and put them both in a close room.

Put cat in the liter and survey.

Best way.

[GSLeloo]

I don't know when he does it, I've never seen him do it. It's just suddenly there.

[Xcalibur]

Then take out cat and liter and be sure to have some time, take a book, a gameboy and enjoy it while watching your cat.

To insure the cat will understand, bring a bottle of water with those stuff that can make it goes like a bottle of windex, you know?

If he tries to go outside and piss, spouish the cat and return it in the liter.

[Bobmuhthol]

Wow, your cat must suck. All four of my cats have never had this problem.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
Wow, your cat must suck. All four of my cats have never had this problem.


Over the 100+ cats we had, there was only 3 that did that.

100% were cured with the method I said.

[GSLeloo]

Yeah well that's why my parents want to give him back "he's a dirty cat, we don't want that"

[Xcalibur]

Most animals work with conditionement: tell your parents that if it doesn't work within 2 days, you will agree to drop the cat wherever they want.

Win-Win situation.

[Ravenstorm]

Try a new cat litter. He might not like the scent.

Raven

[Xcalibur]

I disagree. If it worked before, it is NOT the reason.

[Ravenstorm]

Doesn't hurt. And has the kitty litter been changed since? If she's attached to the cat, try anything. In this case, get a new totally different kind of cat litter and change it immediately.

Raven

[Xcalibur]

It's a kitten, kitten don't full the liter in 2 days. I hope yours doesn't, anyway.

Yeah, try whatever you want. But since animals got a very small short term memory, you must compensate by tools, and in that case, you need to tell him that it's not right.

Don't forget, 10 seconds later, it's already to late.

[Zeyrin]

Cats are the spawn of the devil himself. Everytime it shits in the floor, soak it down in holy water. MUAHAHAHAHAH

[Jazuela]

If it didn't happen until after his first trip to the vet, you might want to consider a few things:

If he was spayed/neutered at that trip, he might have a minor infection that's making him grumpy. That will change his litter habits.

If he got any vaccinations, he might be experiencing a negative reaction to them, and that might make him a little grumpy as well.

He might have picked up a virus from another animal at the vet's waiting room.

Barring any medical difficulty -

Make sure you are -not- completely cleaning the cat litter. Meaning - don't use disinfectants on the plastic box. Kitty needs to smell his own stuff to be comfortable in using it regularly. You should pick up the dumps every day, empty and refill the whole box maybe twice a week, unless you have the clumping stuff. I haven't cleaned out my littler box since I got my kitten 2 years ago - I just get rid of the clumped stuff and add another inch to the box every week or so.

Do -not- put his litter box near his food or water supply. There's nothing more unappetizing to a cat, and he -will- avoid peeing anywhere near his food.

If it's a behavioral thing that you can't attribute to any of the above, like he's just lashing out and seems otherwise healthy and "kittenish" - I'd say go for Xcalibur's method. Especially the spray bottle of tap-water to scold him when you catch him messin something he shouldn't mess. But like he says - never punish a cat after the fact. You gotta catch'em in the act and respond to it immediately.

[Artha]

First week of freshman year, a cat sprayed my backpack.

Moral of the story: Cats are the devil.

[Myshel]

Put the kitten in a closed area with the litter box. Put the lastest poop in the litter box. It will go where the poop is. But until its used it a few times, keep her enclosed.

[GSLeloo]

Good point! We did change the litter... the first time we bought, oh I don't remember but the day we came back from the vets was 8 days since I bought the cat so I changed the cat litter and we got a different brand (some kind of store brand). That is a variable..

[GSLeloo]

And another good point, due to our dog and the fact she will eat whatever she finds, we had to put his food and water near his kitty litter. Within the same I'd say 4 square feet.

[Artha]

If all else fails, kick it.

Just think about my ruined backpack when you do.

[GSLeloo]

LoL I don't kick him, I smack him. Not really but sometimes he deserves a little tap. I just moved the food and of course while I was upstairs the dog found it and ate it so I had to move it again. Hopefully that will work or else my parents will make me confine him and he really loves to run through the house.

[The Cat In The Hat]

Originally posted by Xcalibur

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
Wow, your cat must suck. All four of my cats have never had this problem.


Over the 100+ cats we had, there was only 3 that did that.

100% were cured with the method I said.

100 cats??! X are you fucking chineese??

Cat

[Ravenstorm]

Unlike people, an animal doesn't do something just for the hell of it. Unfortunately, they can't come right out and tell you what's up. So being the reasoning human in the relationship, it's up to you to figure out what's wrong.

Medical conditions can't be ruled out since it started right after the trip to the vet but you should try to duplicate the conditions under which he was using the litter box. So if you now have a different kitty litter, try going back to the other one. You know best what's changed. You could also call the vet and ask if anything could account for it or what he suggests. I'm sure he has dealt with a fair number of kittens.

Raven

[Latrinsorm]

Originally posted by Xcalibur
If he tries to go outside and piss, spouish the cat and return it in the liter. Spouish is French for "skin". :yes:

[peam]

http://www.kitchenshop.com/catalog/media/DSM-A950_L.jpg

[Adhara]

Put the kitten in the litter box often and observe what happens for a few minutes. Does it seem curious? Disgusted? Afraid?

Spraying the cat with water: an excellent way of scolding a cat. There will be no fear associated with this method. The cat only dislikes the sensation of water and will avoid it in the future. In your case though I wouldn't be too quick to spray the kitten for the problem we're discussing. Spraying tells him what he's (she?) doing is wrong but obviously if he's doing it there, it's because he either doesn't know where to do it or doesn't want to do it where he knows he should be doing it. Both cases will result in the kitten going somewhere else next time but probably not in the box.

Keep the kitten enclosed in a small room with the litter box and you watching it. Never let the kitten out of your sight. As you see it getting ready to do its business, quickly pick it up and put it in the box. When he's done, reward with with a treat and affection. Repeat if you're not confident he's learned until you get the feeling he got it. I'm confident that your kitten can be re-trained if you take the time to figure out what the problem is. Explain to your parents that the cat is not "dirty". If he's used the box consistently before, he can certainly do so again and that should be proof enough that all hope is not lost. Don't give up on the kitten!

I'm no cat expert but I have learned a ton by observing and learning from my kitty.

[Jazuela]

A note about giving a kitten a little smack (obviously not a beating, I'm sure you're not doing that!)

Kittens are not nearly as resiliant as you might think. A bop on the nose could result in broken blood vessels. I took a lesson from a pair of panthers when I got my first cat, and it seems to have worked flawlessly with the other 2 I've had in my life so far.

When the kitten misbehaves and you're there to see it - grab it by the scruff of its neck and lift it off the floor. Hold it there a brief moment, stare it in the face, then put it back down.

Do -not- do this with a fat or adult cat. It's only safe to do with a kitten, under a year old. This is a great way to train a cat to stay in a certain area, or stop chasing your shoe and start chasing the ball you gave it instead...

If it is aggressive (kittens are -supposed- to be aggressive) and starts clawing your leg, give it a little nip on one of its ears. Not a bite, don't bear down hard. You don't wanna bruise the ear, you just wanna kinda latch onto it for a second.

Big cats use these methods to modify their kittens' behaviors, and domestic cats are incredibly instinctual and have never truly lost their big-cat behaviors.

Never try to "un-train" a cat's aggressiveness. It is a survival instinct and it will be miserable for the rest of its life if it loses that instinct. Instead, simply redirect the kitten to a new target. Show it what things it CAN act out against, just like a big cat will show to its kitten.

Last thing - save yourself a heap of money. Don't waste it on cat toys. A cat doesn't know the difference between a $20 windup "real rabbit fur" toy mouse and a crumpled piece of paper. Don't use string - much as kittens love it, if they swallow one end, they can choke on the rest of it. But crumpled paper, the pull-tab off a plastic milk bottle, a draw-cord from an old pair of sweatpants with a few pieces of ribbon tied to one end - all fun, FREE toys that kittens will go nuts over.

And never feed a kitten milk. Their digestive systems can handle UNpasteurized UNhomogenized raw milk, or goat milk, but not processed dairy at all.

[Tendarian]

Haha my very first cat loved string and he would chew on it a lot. One time he ate a long piece of it and part of it was sticking out of his butt a day later. Haha i was freaked out i lightly pulled it but it was obviously stuck so i brought him to his litter box and he pooped it right out.

The only advice i have is go back to the litter you had before and make sure its not too dirty. When my cat Shayleigh has a dirty litterbox she will poop on the floor in protest til i clean it.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by The Cat In The Hat

Originally posted by Xcalibur

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
Wow, your cat must suck. All four of my cats have never had this problem.


Over the 100+ cats we had, there was only 3 that did that.

100% were cured with the method I said.

100 cats??! X are you fucking chineese??

Cat


http://forum.gsplayers.com/viewthread.php?tid=6796

Do I look chinese?

Spouish: Sounds the bootle of water with that thing on the end (like a bootle of windex).

So you got lot of advises and most (that are serious) tell you to put the door, the liter and yourself in a closed place.

Keep in mind that cats are rather dumb, you can notice his most of his behavior/personality VERY easily.

If the bottle and the close door don't work, don't wait, drop the cat at your nearest highway.

[CrystalTears]

Heh, the kitten was probably just upset about going to the vets in the first place and lashing out for it.

Our cat does that when we take her somewhere that she didn't want to go and gets upset about something. She'll start peeing on our clothes and on the rugs. My fiance will pick her up and put her nose in her pee and she runs away, won't talk to us and will go back to peeing in her litter box.

Water sprays work great. It doesn't hurt or piss them off, just annoys them cause it's water, but they'll learn.

[Xcalibur]

Remember that forcing the cat to smell his piss while you're angry does NOT tell him that he was wrong.

Cat's memory = 10 seconds.

What you'll have to do in those case is to use something you'll know your cat will be scared off when the cat will get angry and want to piss in your clothes (For exemple, puting a huge bowl of water in front of your door, stuff like that).

He will not repeat and will remember.

«Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide»

[Edited on 12-5-04 by Xcalibur]

[CrystalTears]

I was just stating what works for our cat. She DOES remember that daddy put her nose in her wet pee and she DOES go back to her litterbox after that cause she eyes him while doing it and then rubs against him afterwards because she knew she fucked up. Our cat is rather smart for a peabrain.

The water spray works better for most cats.

[GSLeloo]

I thought the cat was mad about the vets too but this is I believe over two weeks later and he did it again. And like.. every time I see him go he goes in the cat box and then you suddenly find a poop or pee somewhere else. And it's only happened four times...

[HarmNone]

Go back to the original litter you were using. The kitten, probably, does not like the new litter.

What happened at the vet's office? Did the kitten get shots? Was it spayed/neutered? Is there anybody in the house who picks on the kitten, or intimidates it (like the dog, for instance)?

If changing back to the original litter doesn't help, close the kitten in a very small place (a small bathroom will do). If you have a cage (a box with the side cut out will do), set that up as a bed. Put the food and water dishes as far from the litter box as possible. Normally, that will solve the problem in just a few days.

HarmNone

[GSLeloo]

He was examined and had his ears cleaned, that was it.

[HarmNone]

Hmm. Then, it really sounds like it's the litter that is bothering him. If you can go back to the original litter you were using, and confine him for a bit with his litter box, that should solve the problem. :)

HarmNone