VMDiva

Last night I may have gotten a taste of what it’s like to be a mother who has to let her baby cry himself to sleep. But let’s start two weeks ago, when my cat Winston decided to urinate outside the litterbox. It was not urinary “accident”. Oh no, it was a protest. He protested the delay in breakfast and, in true attention seeking fashion, urinated on the carpet at the entrance to my bedroom. I cleaned the stain, chalked it up to a one time event, and went along my way. About a week later I noticed the undeniable odor of cat urine wafting down the hallway. A nose to the carpet revealed the pungent odor of urine along the wall outside my bedroom. Despite all my veterinary behavior knowledge, I was ticked but decided to fight the urinary demon full force.

This wasn’t the first time we’ve had urinary accidents in the house. In 2006, when my new husband moved into our new home, Winston began urinating in the dining room and bedroom. After performing a medical work-up to rule out some of the common causes of inappropriate elimination (see below), I determined the stress of the move and a new family member shook his world. We scrubbed carpet, added another litterbox (actually, an underbed sterilite container filled with litter), removed lids from the other 2 boxes, and changed to unscented litter. We purchased a cat tree, toys, Feliway diffuser, and locked him out of the bedroom. And when that wasn’t enough, he even received a six month stint of Prozac. He finally began using the litterbox again, was taken off of Prozac, and the carpet in the dining room was removed. All was well until two weeks ago.

Back to last night when I decided to lock the two cats in the basement in an attempt to curb the inappropriate urination. The crying, howling, and gnashing of teeth began in protest of their new imprisonment. It killed me to hear them pawing at the door and meowing their melancholic sorrow. Alas, it had to be done. I am hoping a couple of weeks of confinement will yield a mental reprogramming of sorts. My husband’s office is in the basement so I have eyes watching Winston use the litterbox, which I am proud to report he has been doing.

Tips for Dealing with Feline Inappropriate Elimination

• Talk to your veterinarian. Many urinary accidents have underlying medical causes therefore it is important to rule them out before proceeding with behavior modification. Diseases like urinary tract infection, feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), bladder stones, kidney disease, diabetes, and hyperthyroidism among others can cause cats to urinate outside the box. A behavioral issue cannot be diagnosed until all medical issues have been ruled out.
• Never punish your cat for urinary missteps. It won’t work as cats are immune to guilt.
• Have your cat spayed or neutered.
• Increase your number of  litter boxes to one more than the number of cats in your home (n+1). Uncover litter boxes as the covers trap odors and can scare skiddish cats. Place boxes in areas of accidents.
• Give your cat a smorgasbord of different litter box styles and litter types. Underbed Sterilite containers work well.
• Change litter often and clean sides of pan. Use unscented litter.
• Be sure to clean soiled carpet with an enzymatic cleaner like Anti-Icky-Poo.
• Confine your cat to a small space equipped with litterbox, food, water, and bed. Cats are unlikely to urinate where they eat and sleep.
• Enrich your cat’s environment with toys and things to climb. Cat trees work well but so does shelving. Make sure you optimize play time.
• Reward your cat for proper litterbox use. Treats work best.
• Try a feline “happy, calm” pheromone such as Feliway.
• Prevent your cat from seeing other cats outside.

I will be sure to keep you posted!