Expert: Ali - 2/4/2009

Question
QUESTION: I created a problem by not introducing another female in my house slowly is it to late after 5 months to start over??I have 4 female cats and 1 foster torti female cat. My foster loves people & me but is agressive toward my girls. So my girls actually bit my fosters tail. My foster has decided my bedroom is hers. I have given my foster extra attention and care now I'm paying the price. My 4 girls are peeing & pooping everywhere on my couch,blankets carpet it was occasional now its all the time.I'm at my wits end. I have a large cage that I used for a short time in the beginning.  Should I go back to keeping my foster in there? I just feel bad b/c my foster cries b/c she wants to be with me. I have fostered many times before and my girls never had an issue with other cats.My girls are very social.  I did try that ferimone plug in stuff it didn't work.Please help me find HARMONY.

ANSWER: Nikki,

There are a few questions that I have to ask you so that I can give you the best possible answer to your problem.

- How old are your resident cats? Approximately how old is the foster kitty?

- Have the cats all been spayed?

- When was the last time that the cats saw a vet (both resident and foster)?

- What products do you use to clean up accidents around the house?

- How many litter boxes do you have?

- What other things have you tried to try and stop this undesirable behavior besides the pheromone plug ins?

I am more than willing to help you deal with the house soiling issue that you are having, however some basics have to be done before we assume that this problem is purely behavioral. If the cats in your home are old enough to be spayed they need to be, this will cut down on behavioral issues such as house soiling, fighting and other territorial behavioral issues. Spaying female cats also helps to prevent serious health issues further down the line such as cancers or infections of the reproductive organs and breast tissues as well as ensuring that accidental breeding doesn't happen. As I'm sure you are aware there are so many cats and kittens that just don't get the chance to get homes so making sure that pets don't breed by spaying and neutering saves countless lives. If money is an issue when it comes to spaying or neutering pets in your home there are resources out there that are able to offer assistance and if you need help, please feel free to give me a general idea of where you are and I will do my best to find an organization willing to help with part or all of the cost of routine health care like spaying/neutering, vaccines and annual check ups. The last time that the cats saw a vet is possibly relevant. Sometimes cats can have medical issues that can aggravate or cause house soiling and while this case does sound purely behavioral I would feel much more comfortable if a vet gave each kitty a clean bill of health before we find ways to deal with the issue on a purely behavioral level. Some cleaning products may remove the smell of urine or feces at least to our noses, however cats have a far more sensitive sense of smell than we do so it's important to use the appropriate cleaning products so that the cats aren't simply marking their territory in the same places because they can smell past mistakes. The number of litter boxes in a multiple cat household can sometimes make the difference between whether the cats have accidents outside of the litter box or not, so we'll take a close look at common litter box issues to make sure that this isn't part of the cause of your house soiling problem. As for using a cage to keep the foster kitty in I really don't think that's going to help, in fact crates are much more useful when it comes to dogs than they are with cats. Cats are very territorial animals and they don't like change much which is why proper introductions are so important. I can help you understand how to deal with this issue and hopefully bring it to an end...I understand how stressful it can be to deal with a house soiling issue so we'll try to get this fixed up fairly quickly.

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

QUESTION: 1)Raven & Larkin are my 3 years old Calico sisters that I adopted. My 2 rescues-Findley (black & white) is 2.5 and Jovi (Tabby) is 1.5. Now my foster Miley (Torti)
is 1.5 years old.  
2)Everyone has been spayed
3)All 5 girls were vaccinated in September everyone is current on vaccinations. Miley did see the Vet again 2 weeks ago for thr bite on her tail.  The bite became infected so the vet put her under & cleaned it up and gave her a shot of antibiotic that was good for 14 days. Her tail has healed up nicely. That cost me $165. I provide medical care for them before myself they are my kids.
4) Cleaners I've used Petzyme Stain remover and I've tried Nature's Miracle Orange Oxy. Both bought from Pet Smart.
5)I have 2 Clevercat Top Entry Litter Boxes downstairs I luv them. I have 2 Booda Dome Litter boxes upstairs that I scoop daily and replace completely once a week. I should own stock in litter. I live in a small Bi-Level.
I feed them Science Diet Light Hairball food.So they have healthy nutrician.
6) The only other thing I've done is try to keep them seperate and put Miley in the cage. My bedroom is the hot spot.  My 4 girls slept in my room before Miley claimed it.
Any advice so I can have HARMONY again would be great.


Answer
Nikki,

I was wondering, are you planning to keep Miley? Have you heard about the most recent research when it comes to vaccines and cats? Recently studies have been showing that we overvaccinate our cats and this is potentially causing health problems down the line for them including renal failure which is a fairly common cause of death in middle aged and elderly cats. I tend to take a holistic viewpoint on this matter and my vet is a holistic practitioner who practices homeopathy, I'm wondering if a homeopathic remedy geared towards vaccine reactions might help (in addition to not keeping Miley in a cage any longer) to take the edge off of the aggression between the girls. Another homeopathic remedy geared towards dealing with aggression would be useful and I can recommend it with an appropriate dosage for each cat if you like. As for top entry litter pans I think that it might be worth going back to basics, trying out simple covered and open litter pans with unscented, clumping kitty litter. It sounds as though you are doing everything right when it comes to litter box hygiene. I normally recommend that a pet parent has one litter box per cat plus one, and in the case of house soiling issues that are long standing I expand that recommendation to one litter box per cat plus one per level of your home. Petzyme is a great enzymatic cleaner and I've had good results with it, it might be worth checking your house over with a black light, urine fluoresces under black light and you may have accident sites you don't know about. As for the choice of food, I generally try to stay away from commercially mass produced foods, I feed my cats a high quality holistic food made from human grade ingredients. I can offer some information on nutrition if you would like it. I would recommend that you consider housing Miley in a spare room or washroom and allow your resident cats some time away from her. You might find that the aggression level drops and Miley will still have more freedom than she would even in a large cage. I think that a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure would be helpful for all of the cats in your care. I think that 7-9 drops of Rescue Remedy per fresh bowl of water each morning would help to calm things down over the space of a few days or a week. You can usually find Rescue Remedy in health food stores, naturopathic pharmacies, some mainstream pharmacies in the nutritional supplement aisle and I believe you can also purchase this product online.