Don't Kill Me... Zoe Question and News on New Dog

Okay, I haven't been in here forever. I'm sorry! Life got in the way. I'll give you a quick update on the kitties.

They're all good. We got a dog in January and the cats are doing as well as can be expected. Our one cat Zoe isn't happy these days and has an obsession with peeing on our bed these days. She's on anti-depressants and goes back to the vet for a check-up tomorrow. We now have to sleep with the door shut until this gets figured out.

Do any of you have suggestions on how to make poor Zoe happier? My life has been trying to make all animals happy and it's exhausting and I don't know if it's working.

The other four cats are good. Chloe is sleeping next to the dog right now.

The dog's name is Cyan. She is so different from cats. I've never had a dog before. And, I have to add in a shameless self-promotion since I'm in here... Cyan is in a photo contest and if any of you find the kindness in your heart to vote, you can at http://www.campbowwow.com/contest/Photo ... fault.aspx

You can vote once a day until August 15th.

I'm sorry I had to throw that in there but since I popped in and it's pet-related, I couldn't resist.

I'll have to dig through my recent pictures to see if I can post updated cat pictures sometime soon.

I'm going to catch up on posts now...

 

I know what you mean - dogs are very “in-your-face”, while cats tend to be a bit more reserved when it comes to giving affection. I am thinking maybe this is the root of your problem? You said the wetting started after you got the dog, right? Zoe maybe feeling that the new dog is getting all the attention (that may not be the case, but his perspective is all that matters to him!) I have read that cat’s urinating on their owners things can be viewed as “making” you as there property. Some people view it as aggression, but it can actually be a misguided attempt at affection.

I know I have read up on this problem when Squeekie (my cat) started doing the same thing. We have 2 cats (Aries & Squeekie) and Aries was the dominate male cat when we brought Squeekie in as a kitten. Squeekie had to fight for every bit of attention he got, often not even asking for attention because Aries would get jealous and attack him. Aries always chased Squeekie away at night when we went to bed. Eventually, my husband started getting Squeekie’s “presents” on his pillow ( Interestingly, he loves my husband the most)!

You case maybe different, but what we did was:

1. Make sure you change all the bedding and use a pet smell removing product on anything he has peed on. If he smells himself and knows he has gone there before, he may go there again regardless of behavioral conditioning! I am, of course, assuming you clean out his cat pan so that is not the issue.
2. Lock both cats out of the bedroom during the day when we where not home so we did not have more pee on the bed!
3. Take Squeekie to bed with us and cuddle with him AND Aries. Squeekie started falling asleep on the bed with us and Aries just had to accept.
4. Made sure to pay attention to Squeekie and built a daily routine of attention. I realized Aries always greeted me by the door when I got home. So I. of course, picked him up and cuddled him. Squeekie would be nowhere in sight. My husband and I started taking a 1/2 hour or more a night of cuddle time on the sofa with just Squeekie.

The peeing behavior stopped within a couple weeks and we have not seen it return for years.

 

Hi lucidity. It's so good to see you on the board. I hope you come visit a lot.

Sounds like Lovemykitties has some good advice for you. Maybe some others can give you some other ideas, too.

Best of luck with Cyan in the contest. I've been voting every day. (I'm lucidity's mom)

 

Thanks for all the advice. It sounds like I'm on a similar track to you, then. The only difference is that Zoe pees on (next to) me in my sleep! Because of this, we have to lock her out of the bedroom at night. I'm hoping that isn't a permanant thing.

We have rubber sheets so the pee doesn't make it to the mattress. It's kind of funny... until you clean the rubber sheets so much the they have melted in the dryer and develop holes.

We do our best to get all the urine smell out and have used those products. But, since the pee did make it into the mattress (before the rubber sheets), I don't know for sure if the smell is really gone. The shame of it is that it's a brand new (and nice) mattress. I wonder if we could flip it and if that'd help?

When my husband gets home from work, I try to focus on the cats for at lesat an hour a night. My life seems to be ruled by animals right now and it's getting overwhelming. But, I do tell myself that this is for them and I got myself into this. So, I never take it out on them.

I'm glad your problem stopped... maybe there's hope for me. Thanks for all the advice. Even though I'm already doing pretty much all of it, I know that it is a way to go and maybe it will be effective (especially after today's vet visit and more meds... which won't last forever, she's supposed to wean off of them).

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And... hi mom. lol.

 

I know exactly what you mean about feeling like your pets are ruling your life. I found that our situation was easier to resolve because he did not pee while when we are in the bed. We did flip our mattress after cleaning at as best we could (ours was brand new too!!) and it seemed to work.

The 2 cats have such a different temperament, it made the “scheduled” attention time easier to break up. Neither cat interferes with the other’s “private time” with us - it is like some unwritten rule they have. Aries gets me for 1/2 hour- 1 hour when I get home, usually petting and a lot of playing, since he is the “bruiser” of the house. Squeekie is more of a timid cuddler, so he enjoys just sitting on our laps and being pat while we watch TV later at night. Whatever it is, it has to be routine. You may want to think if some part of your routine with Zoe changed since you got Cyan?

On a side note, I will never underestimate the power of a animal’s mental state to dictate their actions again! Poor Squeekie has been refusing to eat this week because of a growth in his mouth (we only discovered this problem!). We are hoping the antibiotics will do the trick, but in the meantime we are stressed because of him not eating. Well, he refused to try to eat some crushed up kibble for me and backed away from the bowl in fear. When my husband got home and handed the SAME food to him, he purred and ate about 1/2 a cup! I guess we know who the favorite owner is! I am picking up some pain meds from the vet’s today and hopefully things will improve for him. I am optimistic for now.

 

Good luck. I'm glad you cat finally ate. Zoe was peeing on my side of the bed so I joked that she liked me better since she was marking her terratory!

A routine is a good idea. We're sort of in one but still working it out. We did get back to the vet and the vet wants us to isolate her, completely, for one month! It's a heartbreaking order from the vet. We think we're going to give her her own room overnight and during work hours and just keep her out of the bedroom while we're at home. The vet wants her in her own room the whole time but I just don't think I can do that. I know cats are solitary animals but it just feels like a punishment for her... even if I hang out in that room with her.

She was also moved from one med to Prozac. So, we'll see how this goes.

Good luck with your cat's mouth.

 

Have you tried the disposable chucks? If you have the rubber ones, maybe you can air dry it in a sunny spot. Good luck with Zoe. Milo leaves me presents in the basement when he gets mad about something. Oh, and I've been voting for Cyan!

 

Disposable chucks? I can't say that I know what that is (in fear of sounding stupid!) What is that?

Thank you for voting Cyan. She thanks you, too!

 

It does sound like a jealous kitty.....keep up the work and if you can catch Zoe in the act take her right to the liter box and praise her. clean clean clean and make sure that the odor is out of the mattress. Even have it professionally cleaned if needed.

good luck and keep doing what your doing it will work out.

I'm voting Cyan!! great picture

 

Great picture of Cyan! I voted for her

I don't have any experience with that kind of behaviour in a cat, it must be exhausting :? Let's hope she will behave better soon! Have you ruled out any medical condition, so you know for sure it's a behaviour problem?

 

Disposable chucks are bed pads that are used once and thrown out. They are comonly used in hospitals and for kids and pets.



They are readily availble on ebay, most stores like Toys R US (baby section), Walmart, Target, etc.

It's my pleasure to vote for Cyan. :mrgreen:

 

Just wanted to pop in and say "Hi!". Don't be a stranger so much anymore!

Oh, you can buy those bed pads at any drug store too. Just check out the incontinence and adult diaper section. I only know this because I needed them for my home birth! Really, I swear!!

 

have you tried a Feliway Diffuser?

 

Ahhh... I know what those pads are. I just never heard that specific term before. I just call them pee pads. We had used plastic drop cloth on the bed and it worked for a while. But, the one time she peed on it, she aimed for a hole and it went to the bed! That's when we started shutting the door.

And, yes, I have used a Feliway diffuser. It doesn't seem to work with her. I've tried it in the past when we got Kitters, too. It didn't help then and it doesn't seem to help this time. She did, over time, accept Kitters for the most part.

We stopped trying to keep her in her own room... it just didn't work. But, we're keeping her out of the bedroom. I let her in last night, supervised, and gave her a full hour of love. She seemed to be happy and didn't try to pee. We just sleep with the door shut now. At least the peeing on the bed has stopped. I would like to have it so we can have the door open again so all the kitties can sleep with us again.

Thank you all for voting for Cyan! The contest is over on Thursday so I can't wait. I'm sick of gathering votes!

I will try to be less of a stranger!

 

I don't claim to know more than your vet would, but I am like you - I could never lock my cat up alone all the time! Plus, if the problem is behavioral due to lack of attention, I would think isolating her would only make matters worse. Just my 2 cents.

I am glad you are making some progress with her! Keep it up! :y_the_best: