We need your help.
As you know, Jasmine has a bladder infection, and has not been using the litterbox. She has been peeing on the carpet in the living room. She has been taking antibiotics for over a week. The antibiotics make her poops.... mushy. And she has been leaving them all over the carpet too.
Mom is really upset. When she gets up in the morning, and again when she comes home from day hunting, she looks behind the couch and the chairs in the picture box room for "deposits," watching very carefully where she steps. It's hard. The carpet is brown.
Now Mom's got this stuff she sprays on the carpet to clean it. And she tried to cover the space behind the couch and chairs with newspapers, hoping that Jasmine would do her business on the newspaper. But Jasmine has been delicately avoiding the paper, and using places where there is no paper.
Mom got really really upset today, because as she knelt to pick up a "deposit," she got more all over the leg of her nice pants from a "deposit" she didn't see.
Help! How can we get Jasmine to stop using the carpet as the litterbox (yes, we have three litterboxes, and yes, Mom keeps them very clean), and start using the litterbox for her business?
Will she start using the litterbox on her own after the infection goes away?
Will she use the litterbox after she's finished her antibiotics?
Should we cover the whole carpet with newspapers?
Should we try to keep her out of the picture box room?
Help!
13 comments:
Millie,
My darling kitties don't always use the litter box either. Whether it's because there are 5 in the house or because, sometimes, I don't empty it as often as I should...
What I have been doing is buting the incontinent pads. Not the wearable ones, but the big ones that you can put on couches etc. in case someone, usually elderly, has an 'accident".
I have 3 boxes with these placed in the boxes. Other times, I place them on the floor where they've been eliminating.
You might want to try putting those down, rather than newpapers. They are soft and have plastic underneath.
Best of luck. As for her using the LB after her infection....I don't know. I hope for your sake she does.
Mom of Buddy, Pixie, Puff, Smoky and Puff.
Mom finks there's a such thing as cat-attracting litter. It might even be called Cat Attract. We're not sure and we've never used it so we don't know if it really IS attractive, but it might be worth a try?
xo-Pippin & Turtle
Um, we are thinking not coverng the carpet with newspapers but plastic. An maybe litterboxes with different "stuff" in it.
Weve heard there is also pine, cedar, old clay, an even shredded newspaper or tree leafs that can be used in litterboxes and that somekitties dont like but some like the others.
We're happy with our litterboxes, but maybe a change would help?
Skeeter and LC
why don't you confine Jasmine in a small room or bathroom... at least while you are away at work. perhaps the room might even have a bare floor or rugs that can be picked up so she doesn't mess them.
best to prepare yourself.. this will continue for a little bit ... until she feels better. then she will return to using the litter box. :)
Have you tried putting one of the litterboxes or a new one in the picture box room so Jasmine has a potty nearby?
I wouldn't cover the whole floor with newspapers. She can just scratch and move them and go right on the carpet again. If the couch is against the wall, try blocking it so that she can't get behind the couch. If it's possible to keep her out of the picture box room when you aren't home, I would definitely do that. That and also at night.
I so hope she will start using the litterbox after she feels better - I can see where your mom might be frustrated. It's real important to not just clean up the "deposits" but also the scent we cats can detect by using something especially designed to remove cat odors.
But my UncleBean has the same problem with one of his cats and he's just about given up trying to stop it.
Best wishes!
The cat that came before, Charlotte, had a similar problem. Once the UTI was cleared she went back to her littler box with out any problem.
The Vet explained to me that she was just trying to tell me that she had a problem and wasn't well.
Maybe if you can keep her in the bathroom at night and during the day when you are gone it will limit the "deposits" to where you can clear up easily.
I hope you feel better soon, Jasmine!
---Beezer
Best thing, as others have said, is to confine her to one room with her own litterbox until the infection has cleared up (not easy, I know.) She'll *probably* start using the box once she feels better; right now she just can't help it. Between her bladder hurting and the anitbiotics upsetting her intestines and stress, she's probably doing the best she can.
The places she's peed on need to be treated with an enzyme cleaner or else all the kitties might start peeing on the carpet. There's this terrific cheap stuff called KIDS & PETS that you can get at places like WalMart....soak, really soak, where she's pee'd. Let it dry and repeat. You may need a couple of bottles, but it works really well.
I think lhk has the right idea here. I think The Lady would confine me to one room while she was gone. I'm wondering if maybe she finds out that she has to go too late. You know, maybe she doesn't have time to get to the litterbox??? My other thought is that she doesn't want to use the litterbox because she knows it is extra messy right now and she would get it all over her if she used the litterbox. She probably is going on the carpet to avoid getting it on her paws. I think I would do the same thing.
Cats often associate the litterbox with pain when they have a UTI. "I have to use the box, but when I do it hurts = if I don't use the box, it won't hurt." This should clear up when she no longer has pain when she pees.
We're not sure about the litter box issue, but we really hope that Jasmine feels better soon.
Hugs and purrs to all of you.
So sorry Jasmine is feeling bad! We mostly go outside, so sorry we don't know anything to help, but we see you got lots of good advice from other kitties!
Your FL furiends,
Mama says:
You might remember hearing about Angel's "accidents". She was sick once, we think (crystals in the urine), and began to use one particular spot (thank goodness it was not ALL over the house!). We tried everything and the spot became so saturated with cleaner over time that I felt so bad when the house was sold and the girl who bought it went to removed the carpet! She'd known there was an "issue", it was hard to ignore... But thankfully, it did NOT ruin the hardwood underneath. In the last year or two before the move, we laid tin foil and/or cardboard on the spot. That worked and occasionally she'd look to go elsewhere but never did. As long as the offending spot was covered, instead she'd act "antsy" and I always knew when she needed help, usually because TAZ was not letting her be to go to the bathroom alone. Occasionally when Taz would not leave her alone, she'd leave a deposit of the non-liquid kind, but other than that, she was very good... until we went to sell the house, and removed the tin foil from the spot. Right before we sold, she started doing it again. And no infection then either, just bad habit. And stress, with the house sale and over 100 viewers...
but, moving helped. No more "accidents" and she is MUCH happier. Whatever was bothering her seems to have been in the house. I hate to say it, but if we HAD removed the carpet, she probably would have been okay. Its extreme, but we NEVER found a product that worked to either STOP her or to clean it up so she would not go back. Removing the carpet entirely would have helped. Its always in the back of our minds we may have to do that here, but so far, so good.
I hope Jasmine gets better..... If things are still difficult, I DID find a recipe for a cat odor remover on the internet... Don't know yet if it works or not, but the recipe uses ingredients we all have around our house and I believe people have been marketing the recipe for a few years, making people PAY for it... I can send it to you... for free! LOL good luck!
the Mama
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