AboutDear Tabbi Expertise I try to help people understand their cats and their cat's behavior.
I do not answer questions about pedigreed cats as mine are, and always have been, from questionable parentage. Please remember I am NOT a veterinarian.
Experience At the current time I have 13 cats. All are spayed and neutered!
Since I was a child I have been owned by lots of cats and kittens of almost every temperment, behavior, and personality. I have experience with neurotic, disabled, stray, feral, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats has taught me that I want to share.
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!
