Expert: Dear Tabbi - 7/9/2008

Question
QUESTION: Ok. I have a cat that I've had since she was barely able to be away from her mother. She is a mixed breed but is very furry and sweet. She's about 3 years old now, we also have a very fat 2 year old cat - all of our cats are spayed and neutered and all in the house are females, and they all are mix breeds - and a 5 year old and a 1 year old that will be spayed tomorrow (July 3rd) and my 3 year old - all of a sudden - when ever the 1 year old was in heat, she'd not use the cat box. I've never seen her do it, and my parents said they're going to through her outside if she doesn't stop. Our outside is a big proporty by a road with a barn and tons of eagles and cyotes. Since i love this cat very much, i don't want her to go outside and get killed. My theory is that the kitten in heat is going everywhere and marking it so a male can find her. I think that since my cat is second-in-line and my first-in-line cat isn't doing anything about it, she's marking over the spots since she thinks that she's marking it as her territory. And please! I don't want this cat to be killed outside! She means TOO much to me! Every cat we've thrown out there (besides our male barn cat) has been killed... Please help me!

ANSWER: Natasha,

Getting her spayed should stop the problem of her marking. And it should also stop the reaction and stress to her being in heat by the 3 year old.

When you bring the 1 year old home, the other cats may hiss at her for awhile. She will bring a bunch of smells back in her fur from the vet. Since cats go by smell and not by sight, they may think she is a different cat and react like she is. The smell will wear off and things should get back to normal.

Show this to your parents:

The cat should NOT be put outside for any reason. To punish a cat by letting it get killed by coyotes (which cat is the FAVORITE food of coyotes) is cruel and unfair to the cat AND to your daughter who loves the cat very much. Any problem with a cat can be worked out. You have a responsible daughter who cares about her animals and is sensibly trying to find a solution to the problem. Please work with her. Don't threaten to put the poor kitty outside if it doesn't behave at times. A kitty is a 4-legged kid and a member of the family. If a 2 legged kid mis-behaved you wouldn't feed it to the coyotes...so don't do it to the 4-legged one!

I hope things work out. Let me know how it goes.

Tabbi

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, but she was spayed a very long time ago, the 1 year old has returned, and we had her locked in a room for a few days so that she didn't run around and brake a staple or something. I'm kind of even more worried since we had a door open to a room and windows open. It's my cat's favorite room so she goes in and lays down. Then a wind comes through the window and closes the door. We never notice the cat's in there, so she soon stays in there for too long and goes. Then either we open the door and she comes out or our very smart cat opens the door. Then my mom says that the door was open the whole time and that she went anyway. but if it DOES have to come to putting her outside, I've been thinking on what to do. I have a couple rabbits and an empty cage that is broken - but i can fix it up - so, I was thinking I should put her in there for a while without cleaning up her spots. (I put wood on the bottom of it except a little area. And it has a ledge with a bed on it.) Good idea? I was thinking that if I don't clean it, It'll start getting dirty in there and she won't want to just go everywhere. But, if that doesn't sound good, what should I do to teach her not to go everywhere?

Answer
Natasha,

How about putting a small litterbox in her favorite room so she doesn't have any accidents. And put a door stopper so the wind can't blow the door closed.

Here are some good links to articles that can give you some further info and help about improper elimination:
(copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html

http://www.apbc.org.uk/article10.htm

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/outsidebox_two.htm

No, it wouldn't be a good idea to put her in a cage and then not clean it. It could make her sick and miserable and it wouldn't be teaching her anything because she wouldn't understand and she wouldn't associate her accidents in the house with a nasty dirty cage.

Since you got the other cat fixed, her problem may go away. Just make sure she has access to a litterbox and not locked up. It's not her fault if that happens.

Tabbi