Expert: Karen Craft - 1/26/2009

Question
I have an 11 year old cat. I got the cat when he was 8 weeks old. Since he was a kitten, he has had problems with using his litter box. He will urinate and have bowel movements in the litter box, but sometimes he won't. I have searched the Internet, read books and tried many different things to get him to use it all of the time. I have tried different litters, different litter boxes, relocating it, and I even tried a light outside of the box. Nothing has helped. After years of trying different things, I finally resigned myself to the fact that if I love the cat I must clean up after him. In the past year, my husband and I have looked for a new home. We had to confine our cat to a bathroom so that we could fix up our house to sell it. We have now moved and refuse to have the new house ruined by him and have continued to have him locked up. But, I guess after 11 years, I am tired of cleaning up after my cat even though I love him. To compound the problem, this cat has a constant upper respiratory infection that comes and goes every few months. Throughout his life, he's had ear infections and had to have his colon removed because he had megacolon. My question is that if I decide to get rid of him, what is the least cruel thing to do? I am afraid that if I take him to a shelter or the humane society, he will be put to sleep. Or if he is adopted by someone, they will end up putting him to sleep because he is a difficult cat. Is the least cruel thing to get him euthanized myself if I need to get rid of him? It is such a difficult situation for me that I needed some opinions on the matter. Thank you in advance for any advice and suggestions.

Answer
Hi Judie,

This is a tough question. It sounds like you are looking for something that will work so you can keep him. He has health problems but is not sick. Here's a link to something you might want to consider. http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm
I don't know what the weather is where you are at but this is something that could work. You could use something like this to keep your house clean and your cat happy.

This cat has been with you for 11 years. Separating him from you will cause enormous stress in him. He will miss you a lot. The only shelter that would be best is a no kill shelter but they might not take him because of his heath problems. I personally won't put an animal to sleep unless he is suffering. However I understand your need here.

Here are a couple of other things that might take in consideration here. The Mega colon condition caused him to have very painful times eliminating. He most likely now associates the litter pan with his pain. You can ask your vet about giving him amitriptyline. This will help him relax.

I don't know if you have tried this litter but it is very good in retraining cats to using the litter pan. http://www.preciouscat.com/
You can get it at Pet Smart and other stores like that.

The cold that comes back sounds like feline herpes virus 1. You can try adding l-lysine to his diet, (500 Mg/cat/day). This should help limit flareups of this. The ear infections can also be from the feline herpes. Talk to your vet about this.

I don't know how much I helped you. I know the colon removal should have taken care of the Mega colon problem. Trying these other suggestions should work. Your cat could have a quite a few good years left in him. I would try these before considering the final solution of euthanizer. Good luck and let me know what you do.

Ciao, Karen