Behavioral Problems with Tash

A couple weeks ago Tash started to pee on our landing and beside the chair in the living room. He didn't do it all the time and he never seemed to be in pain.

Nevertheless, we took him to the vet. Long story short, it's not physical, it's behavioral.

Nothing has changed in my house for over a year and a half so I don't know why he's marking (and yes, he's fixed).

I'm going to buy a Feliaway diffuser this weekend. I also moved the chair over the cleaned pee spot and put shoes on the landing.

He hasn't returned to the landing, but he keeps going by the chair no matter how much I move it over.

Any suggestions would be great. Tash has been with us for 9 years and I want him to be happy and well-adjusted.

By the way, he has been picking some fights with his biological brother, Boris. Why after 9 years do they start fighting, I don't know.

Any ideas on how to stop the marking?

 

Sounds like Tash wants to be territorial. Rene was buddies with Monty boy but lately, she's been a monster to him, nothing short of being abusive. I too wonder why they get like this. I would try putting some treats by the chair since cats don't like eating and eliminating from the same spot. I would also try placing a small scratching post (springled with catnip)by the chair.

 

I actually thought about putting their food by the chair but I don't want the mess of five cats pigging out in my living room.

Giving treats by the chair may be a good alternative. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm trying to give him extra attention but I don't know if it's really working. He seems to mark every few days as of right now. I guess Tash is getting old a grouchy.

We still love him. We want him to stop messing up the house... but, we still love him.

 

you have to get rid of the odor. Even if you think it's gone it might not be.
He can probably still smell it and assume "hey it smells like me guess it's my new pee spot"
The rescue group I foster for suggests this for removing kitty pee odors (they have a shelter there)
clean the area with OxiClean then they recommend Zero Odor to remove the scent.
You will need Feliway diffusers in every room too...one won't do it. Or use the spray.
Bach's Rescue Remedy added to drinking water might help to relax him. Then slowly wean him off it when he stops being a brat cat.

 

Thanks, Mary.

I'll have to look into that rescue remedy. We used to have some Nature's Miracle at home to get rid of the odor. But, we ran out a long time ago. I guess it's time to buy some more.

 

I wouldn't waste money on the Nature's Miracle. I went back to oxyclean after Mary suggested it to someone else and it works great! You have to mix it up fresh though...I think that's why I stopped using it before...I got lazy. I've used it on spots I already "cleaned" and I could immediately smell an ammonia odor. Like it was "released". And I also got the Zero-Odor and LOVE it!

I had to switch Copper's litter to non-scented, non-clumping. He has almost stopped peeing outside the box. But if his preferred boxes have anything in it, he will still use the kitchen corner. He wants the boxes spotless! Maybe it's a new litter adversion with Tash too. Wouldn't hurt to try another litter in one box. Good Luck. I certainly feel your pain.

 

I never had luck with Nature's Miracle either...found the WalMart brand worked better.

 

Thanks - I'll look into the Oxyclean.

We put his water bowl by the chair last night (he peed again and we cleaned it and actually had some other odor neutralizer from my mother-in-law that's now almost out).

I'm pretty sure (operative words) that it's not about the litter... at least according to the vet. He seems to be spraying. He walks up to the chair and backs against it with his tail and goes. It's just that he's fixed so the spray doesn't go on the chair, it ends up on the floor.

I wish there were an easy fix. This is going to be a difficult thing to work with. After he went by the chair last night, he went to the landing and worked around all our shoes (blocking his spot) and went there again, too.

I haven't yelled at him because I don't know if it makes it worse... any suggestions? (I have told him that I wasn't happy with him, though).

 

I don't know if this will help but here are a couple of sites I found:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... icleid=610

http://www.fabcats.org/spraying.html

Also another thought. After cleaning the spot by the chair, maybe you could put a piece of plastic runner (like the kind you put near a door) over the spot.

Maybe on the landing of your stairs, you could put a plastic mat after it is cleaned so if Tash has an inclination to go there again, he would have to go on the mat. At least that would save your floor.

 

I don't know about Tash spraying...Copper backs up and "sprays" too. He backed up to the refrigerator, my new dryer, the bathroom door jam, the guest room door, kitchen cabinets...you get the picture. He still does that, only now (crosses fingers) it's to the back of a really high backed litter box. And actually, he mostly sprayed/peed where the dogs had gone and I thought I had effectively eliminated the odor. Like where they had peed on something such as a rug or their bed and I washed the item but probably not the floor well enough. My vet told me fixed cats don't spray either. No one bothered to tell Copper that though. :roll:

I agree with Sunset about the plastic. Most cats (Copper didn't mind them) don't like those plastic runners turned upside down. I found contact paper turned upside down did keep him away though. He just moved over, but he didn't go in that exact spot!

 

Thanks for the links. I'll try to read them more in-depth this weekend.

The things we do for our cats... Luckily (so far) Tash hasn't taken a liking to any new places. But, as we have put things in the way, he also doesn't go in that spot, he just moves over a little! I'm sorry that I inconvienced him by blocking his pee spot!

(I also see that I'm not the only one with a determined cat!)

 

LOL lucidity . Is he, by any chance, ORANGE?

 

Actually, he's grey. But, maybe he's trapped in the gray fur and is truly an orange cat.

I chased him around the house tonight trying to keep him from going in a wrong place. He kept walking around and assuming the position. I finally got him downstairs and he used the litter.

Maybe he's not marking? He keeps doing it right in front of me. I'm going to try even harder to keep the litter super clean. With 5 cats, it sometimes isn't the freshest a cat could wish for.

 

He sounds just like Copper! I would take Copper to the box and he would use it...but if I didn't take him he would go somewhere else. But I'm pretty sure it all started here with my dogs going on the throw rugs and me not getting the smell out. I tried to leave a rug down last week and Copper went in the corner of the kitchen again--on and beside the rug!

If you use a scented litter, I would highly recommend switching at least one box to unscented--as a test. I doubted my vet when he recommended that, but it has worked here. My female cat never went out of the box but when I switched one box to the unscented litter, she started using only that box. I think she is just too much of a lady to pee on the floor but she does prefer the unscented litter. I just dumped and washed out one of the boxes and before I got it back in place Copper had used it!

 

coppersmom,

Interesting... I use Tidy Cat scoopable litter. Honestly, I don't know if it's scented! I'll have to check. I don't think it is.

It sounds like you're having at least as much fun as myself (and probably more)... and I guess you've been dealing with it for awhile.

We had a successful night last night (I think). I'm going to give the litter a good scoop again tonight and I'll see if it's scented or not.

 

Yep...I bet he has orange roots. :lol: Oh it's a barrel of fun around here. Both of my dogs has medical urinary issues. I now know that Copper's problem is strictly behavioral and directly related to his litter--so we're FINALLY doing better.