Expert: Jessica - 5/10/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hello!
Okay, I have 2 cats. 1 male (1 year and 3 months), 1 female (about 5 years old) Both fixed, and both purchased from the humane society. We just bought the male cat last may and the past 2 months he has been peeing and pooping on the beds. Therefore , we have been keeping our doors shut. He first started to pee and poop on my parents bed, and if we didnt keep the door closed he would pee and poop on their bed. Once we closed the door to my parents room, he moved on to the beds in my little brothers room. Therefore, we now keep their doors closed. He had never ever peed or pooped on my bed until today, when all the other room doors were closed. He has pooped on the floor 2 times, but everything else is in the BEDS, and only the beds. He does use his litter but when the doors to the bedrooms are open, he uses the beds. We have tried vinegar in the sheets, and that doesnt seem to work much. The matress in my parents room now smells like cat pee. Is there ANY way to REteach? him to JUST USE HIS LITTER BOX? or is is pretty much impossible.
(To mention, our cats dont really get along well as our male cat chases our older female cat.)We do get mad at him when he chases her. Do you think this could be his way at getting back at us?
please any help is valued! My parents are getting frusturated and want to get rid of him!
thank you SOOOOO much!! any help is appreciated!
-Jennifer

ANSWER: Hi Jennifer,

This sounds like an anxiety problem. Part of it could be caused by the tension between him and your other cat, and another part of it could have to do with any scolding he might receive when he chases the other cat. Also, when cats eliminate on personal belongings, such as bedding or clothing, it's often a signal that they're trying to claim their owners as their territory. It sounds like he's feeling very territorial against your other cat ("jealous" over you and your family, for lack of a better term), and he's trying to show your other cat that he's the boss of you.

The best treatment for his problem is going to be to try to give him more space, as I think his primary issue is anxiety driven by a need for more territory. Also, instead of scolding, try to give him more praise and one-on-one attention, but ONLY when he is behaving well. When he does chase the other cat, try to distract him by clapping or making another loud noise, but don’t make a big deal by yelling at him or punishing him.

Cats can use vertical space as territory, so the good news is that you can make your existing home “bigger” to a cat. Use tall cat condos or trees to add height to rooms in the house. Your male can claim a condo, and this may be all he needs to stop feeling so territorial toward your female. He may not feel he needs to chase her around the house, as long as she doesn’t bother him in his condo. They are a bit of an investment, usually costing around $300, but I have found them very worth the cost. Or, if anyone you know is handy, you can make them with wood posts and scrap carpeting for a fraction of the cost. Visit a pet store or look at an online catalog for ideas, and then copy it.

You might also want to try a product called Feliway. This is very good for aggression caused by anxiety between cats. See www.feliway.com for more information. You can purchase this online, at pet stores and through most vets. I recommend the plug-in diffusers. Again, it can be expensive to maintain (around $30 for the initial diffuser and $10 a month after that), but I have found it worth the cost.

If he doesn’t respond to these, I think it would be best to place him on an antidepressant for a few months. Most aggressive cats respond very well to these medications. I had one cat on Elavil (amitriptyline) and one cat on Prozac (fluoxetine). Both improved wonderfully and were able to taper off and discontinue treatment within 6 months without a relapse. There is also another medication which has gained a lot of favor for treating aggression, called Clomicalm (clomipramine). If your cat doesn’t happen to respond to one treatment, you can always try another.

So you still have plenty of hope. Best wishes!

Jessica


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

QUESTION: Hey, ! Thank you very much for answering my question! Very good information ! :)
Um, so we have cleaned all the bedding with natures miracle , and it has gotten the smell out. We haven't been yelling at him or anything and we have gotten both of the cats a feliway collar, ! However, the cat has peed on my parents bed aggain this morning. Do you think this problem is fixable? my parents are ready to get rid of him , and i really do not what that to happen ! :(

They aren't sure if the problem is fixable. What do you think?
-Jenniger

ANSWER: Hello again,

These problems are almost always fixable. I’m not sure how long you’ve had the Feliway collars, but they take a couple of weeks to have an effect. The toughest cases will take an antidepressant, however, and I would recommend talking to your vet about this right away if your parents are fed up. Cats tolerate these well and generally have no big side effects except for some mild sedation or increased with some of the medications. Prozac doesn’t seem to cause these issues. I have had one cat have an upset belly with Elavil. The medications usually cost about the same as the Feliway.

Good luck!


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

QUESTION: Sorry again to bother you.. !
So, here is the thing.. my father thinks that the cat has it "stuck in his head that he has to pee on the beds.." ? .. and therefore he is actually getting ready to get rid of him.. ! :(
we went to the pet store and they had given us natures miracle to get all the pee smell out so that he will "not wana go there anymore".. however he still does. So yeah my dad thinks that it is unfixable totally and that is is forever stuck in his head to do that.. ?
What else can we do to make him go in his litter box ONLY?

Answer
Sometimes things CAN become a habit, but most times, cats are engaging in a behavior for a reason. All Nature's Miracle is doing is removing an odor that your cat is associating with a litter box. And in most cases, it can't remove all stains from a mattress. Remember, a cat's sense of smell is about 14 times stronger than ours, so even if we can't smell a stain, the cat may. Nature's Miracle works well for times when a cat hadn't been properly litter trained and had accidents for reasons other than a behavioral problem, but it's not of much use when the underlying issue is anxiety. You can try cleaning stains with alcohol and then applying the spray form of Feliway to stop the cat from using the beds. This will probably work better than Nature's Miracle for this type of problem. I disagree that the bottom line is that it is definitely stuck in your cat's head, and I personally would not give up on him. I still recommend treating this as an anxiety problem with medication, and see if it helps. In nearly all cases, it solves the problem.