I need help with my cat...

I love my cat. Very much. But sometimes I want to throttle him.

As most of you know I moved to a new place, and he seemed to settle in nicely. Until I found that he doesnt use his litter box to pee much anymore, prefering behind the tv or on my clothes. I chalked it up to stress and am monitering that closely.

I am not mad at him for that.

Last night I didnt get sleep because of him. This has been going on since I have had him(his whole life practically), and I am finally sick of it.

He is a smart cat and has found ways to annoy me when he is out of food. He has found ways to open and shut the cupboard doors so they make a really really loud noise. He does this whether I am asleep or not. If I am asleep, and I dont respond to the cupboard, he comes and scratches the hell out of me. My wounds have increased this past week.

Last night was the worst. I fed him a whole lot of food, and went to bed. The whole night he kept banging the cupboards and clawing me. To the point I threw him off my bed onto the floor and started kicking him out of my room. This was repeated repeatedly throughout the night. I later find out he was out of water. So I filled his water bowl, but it was to late. My nights sleep was ruined.

Is there anyway to calm him down or stop him from doing this? He is a big cat getting bigger, so I dont like feeding him tons of food before I go to bed. I forgot the water last night, my fault. But even if I feed him tons of food, and his bowl goes empty in the middle of the night, he freaks out.

Its really starting to annoy me. I have been thinking of locking him in my bathroom with his food and water bowl, (the bathroom leads into the storage area, so he would have room to mess around) just so I can get a good nights sleep.

Ugh.

Comments

  • Hi Jdk! My boyfriend had a lot of cats growing up. He says there must have been a cat there before and he is trying to cover up that other cats smell. He said to not lock him in the bathroom that that will piss him off even more.

    Clean eveything up the best you can. You may need to use tomato juice to clean the floor and other things to get the pee smell out. The thing is you want to get the pee smell from the other cat out but not necessarily his.

    He said to feed the cat where he has been peeing because he won’t pee where he eats. He also suggested putting the animal planet on or espn at night because he thinks your buddy might be bored. What’s his name btw?

    The other thing is to take a towel and rub it on his civit gland and rub that in the area he is peeing. After you have cleaned it of course. Because he doesn’t want to pee he wants to put his scent there.

    You could get those food and water things that hold enough for a few days. Our cat likes to hang out in the shower. If you have the extra money I’d suggest You make him an interior garden with a mini waterfall. They sell the waterfalls for under $50.00 and grow him some cat grass and herbs. Give him a shelf to lie on. Our cat lies on top of a dog crate and also has his own chair. If you put a special spot like that where he can see what’s going on that would be good.

    He also may be sensing your own frustration. So you both need to spend some quality time together making your batchelor pad serene…

  • He is the only cat ever I think that has lived here. My boss/landlord told me he was making an exception for me. His name is Seraph.

    How do I find the civit gland, what if he is nutered does he still have that? I dont watch television. Plus no reception. Maybe leave me computer on with a nice screen saver?

    I think I will take your advice on the grass and herbs, and maybe a waterfall when I get the money.

    So its ok that I leave tons of food for my cat? Its diet food, but he seems like he eats so much.

  • this made me laugh. it seems like you and your cat have a close bond together. if i were in your shoes i’d be pretty pissed off too.

    it looks like you need to be a more organized with making sure the water bowl is full and etc… do you clean the cat litter out regularly? it also sounds like he is in his teen years. which could play alot in his behavior.

    i like the name.

  • Hi My parents are dog breeders and you have to pop the civit in show dogs sometimes. I don’t recommend you do that but basically you squeeze the outside edge of their anus and press in like you would be popping a cyst. On dogs you do it as fast as possible and it can shoot out 10 feet or so. But you just want to get near it. Maybe you can do it while he is distracted by eating his food.

    A couple of cheaper solutions would be to buy a gold fish and put it in a bowl for him to watch. As long as you pour out a little and put in fresh water once a week you don’t have to buy the air pump and everything. You can also get a couple of live plants to supply oxygen. If you get a nighlight that turns on via motion that is good too. Logan likes walking into the bathroom to turn the light on!

    Another thing is to get a 2×4 and a carpet remnant and cover the wood. Then put the wood at an angle to a destination like the top of a cabinet. Put the food at the top so he has to climb up there and get it. Make sure you tie it onto something- you could buy a hook that screws into the wall so it doesn’t fall when he is walking on it! You can even get a carpet roll free from behind the store or they’ll give you one for free- I’ve used that before instead of the wood. I have also gotten lots of cotton from a futon place before for free. The left overs from making futons! They were glad to get rid of it.

    You could take a piece of fishing line and hook a toy on it and have it fly across the room by securing it to a couple things. He may like to play with that at night too.

    Worst case scenario is he has a bladder infection or something. I’ve had dogs that started having health problems who started eating and drinking more! You’d think it would be the opposite. But hypothyroid could do that or kidney disease. Animals can also gain weight when they get sick. Retaining fluid. I hope that’s not the case with him.

    It’s hard to tell but if you really look at him you might be able to see what is going on with him if you look into his eyes. Does he seem worried, or suprised that he is that hungry or thirsty? There was a definate desperateness in our dogs who had thyroid issues. They would gulp down water and were ravenous. If it’s kidney he would be more tired, or bladder he may seem like he is in pain when he goes. Can you supplement his food with seaweed? That would help if he was borderline hypothyroid. Garlic could help if he has a minor infection.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Wow! I was going to respond with lots of advice but Writeeternity covered pretty much all of it for me! Great Advice!

    I seem to remember you posting a while ago about your new place being very small and not having any windows? Is your kitty used to having lots of space and windows?

    Don’t forget to that kitties are mostly nocturnal so if you are out at work all day – kitty is probably sleeping while you are gone and than not sleepy at night when you get home. So, it is not realistic to expect him to sleep when you do.

    When I first got two of my cats (I have three) they were just kittens and I had a super small studio apartment – they kept me awake all night running over my head and chasing each other around while I slept! Drove me crazy – I hardly got any sleep. It took quite a while for them to calm down. My cats still bug me sometimes when I sleep but I have a lot more room now so they are ususally in other room except one of my cats sleeps between me and my bf.

    How old is your cat? When they are in their young years, they will normally be quite active at night. Also, do you have anything that your can play with or climb on? If not get a cat tree. My cats love it because it is like their little place to go and hang out and it has a scratching post and they can climb and play on it. Also catnip filled mice and other toys are excellent – this may not keep him quiet at night but at least he will be busy playing with the toys and not scratching you up.

    It is actually common for a cat to pee in different spots when you move to a new place – they might be marking it with their scent. But if it doesn’t stop, I would have it checked by the vet and if he is OK than think of other things that might be causing it. Did you change litter types? Some cats don’t like certain types of litter and keep that box clean. I can go for a long time and not clean mine and my cats are OK with it but I know some people who say they have to clean the box every day or the cat will not use it and pee elsewhere. I would recommend cleaning every day if you don’t already.

    There is some really awesome stuff you can buy at your HFS that will get rid of the pee smell perfectly.

    Have you considered that maybe getting another cat to be a buddy to your kitty? Some cats do better with a companion. This way they bug and play with each other rather than bugging you.

    I have always free fed my cats since they were tiny. They just never overeat – I am lucky that way. Have you tried some treats like maybe a nice dinner of fresh fish or some fresh catnip? One of my cats LOVE wheatgrass – she goes nuts when we give her fresh. :) Another suggestion is to make sure you get a bunch of play time in with the kitty before bed – maybe he will be tired than and will nap when you sleep. Try a laser light. That thing tires out my kitties.

    It may just be your kitty is stressed out and feeling neglected with your change in living situations and such. Moves stress out kitties and it takes them longer to adjust than you think. I know it is frustrating but try not to let it stress you out and don’t take it out on the kitty by locking him in the bathroom – that will make him feel more rejected and upset and stressed.

  • Thank you for all your help! Its amazing!

    Since school has started I havent had time to play with my cat. So that may be it.

    He is about 5-6 years human, I dont know how old that makes him in cat years. I really would like to get another cat, but I am hopefully moving out of state in about 6 months. So I dont know how the old cat will take that, or how a new cat will take that also. Also, with the move, I would have no idea if I could afford another cat once I get to where I am going. So I dont know if its a good idea.

    Actually, it has less windows, but more space to run around in. Its small to me because the roof is low :p Being 6 foot 8 has disadvantages.

    I like the plant idea and the idea about giving him more stuff to climb on. The waterfall idea I love actually, water all the time!

    I did change his kittie litter, he poops in it fine enough, all the time in fact haha. But he still pees in his little corner behind the TV.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Did he pee in the old brand kitty litter?

    How about putting a small box of the litter behind the TV (the old brand)? :)

  • What are you feeding him? If its store-bought kibble or even wet food (except maybe Halo pet foods) then this could be a cause for his misbehavior. I know my boyfriend’s cat was throwing up and going to the bathroom all over his parent’s house until recently, when I gave them a meat and veggie (mostly meat, no grains) stew to feed her. She doesn’t do any of that stuff anymore and is very well behaved (except for her normal personality quirks…).

    I see it says you feed diet food… that makes me think “kibble” but I could be wrong. Either way I would suggest a home-made stew (can be a bit of work but it lasts a few days) or, better yet, raw meat. Someone else on this site reccommended feeding chicken and smashing the bones and feeding those too. My cat loves it and hides the bones (have yet to find them… lovely…). Just make sure the bones are raw. Cooked bones are dangerous and can splinter.

    And of course as others have mentioned, making sure that there isn’t a scent where he’s gone to the bathroom, otherwise he’ll be more inclined to use the same spot again.

    And the cabinet thing sounds like boredom. Again, like someone said, play with him or leave out something he can play with like a little toy or tie thing with some safe but attractive toy at the end for him to bat around.

    If he’s peeing on your clothes maybe he smells another animal on your clothes? Do you have any friends with other pets? Either way I wouldn’t think that this was a big concern, but still a thought.

    Still, I would be most concerned about his diet.

  • I feed him this Nature Foods dry diet food. He eats a lot of it so it seems like he likes it. I also mixed in some seaweed like one of the above posters said. He loves it!

    I found my laser pointer and I went and bought a catnip mouse and played with him randomly throughout the day. Then he started banging on the cupboards again when I was doing homework. Instead of yelling at him like I usually do I went over and asked at he wanted. He just sat there and meowed. I opened up the cupboards and he went into them to explore and chill in there for a few minutes. Thats all it was!? I dont know, but at least then thats what he wanted.

    I kept his food and water bowl filled before I went to bed, and he let me sleep all night long! He then woke me up by rubbing against me about 10 minutes before me alaram went off like he used too :)

    I am going to look into feeding him raw food. And doing some of the suggestions you guys said. I am also going to take him to the vet soon when I have enough money to see if anything else is going on.

    I was so sad yesterday cause I felt like I was being a bad parent that it felt good actually playing with him haha :)

  • I had a cat that did the exact same things I kept her litter box clean everyday (I even tried changing the litter every 3 days for a few weeks.. lots of money but I thought it would help) She had toys and friends (my brother and mom each had a cat too) but she just refused to pee in the box.. I sprinkled baking soda on the wet pee to soak it up and when it was dry vaccumed, then I make a mixture of lemon juice, rose water, a tsp. of ammonia (it’s a chemical but I wanted to really get the smell and the pee out) you maybe can sub. vinegar or something and I scrubbed the area, let it dry and then did it again. She gave up that spot and found another one but once I cleaned the second spot the same way she stopped. I don’t know if it was because she got tired of the lemon/rose/ammonia smell or because I got the “other cat” smell out of the places that were bothering her.. As for the night time trouble-making you cat sounds like it’s bored and the suggestions you’ve gotten already are just great (except I don’t think I’d recommend getting a gold fish… your kitty might just decide it’s a snack rather than entertainment) the lazer pointer thing is a great idea.. My cat would chase the spot for hours (or as long as I would play with her) and never seemed to get tired of it.. Hope that everything works out for you.. Good luck and don’t lock kitty in the bathroom.. I tried thta once and it just made my cat all the more crazy when she was out..

  • Thanks Mom. Do you know any suggestions to get already dry cat pee smell out?

    Also, does anyone know where I can found out about feeding my cat raw foods?

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    There is a thread in the Being Raw section about Raw pets. Zoe has been feeding her kitty raw for a while. She has lots of great advice. I have been trying to switch mine but not too much luck – they are old and set in their ways.

    A great natural product to remove cat pee smells are:

    http://www.citra-solv.com/

    there is a special product just for odors and stains works excellent on pet smells and stains. I use it on pee smells and for removing throwup stains on my furniture.

    also, for the litter, I have been using Feline Pine for years. It absorbs all the pee smells and all of my cats use the same box. Just a tip, in case you didn’t know, when you switch litters do it like when you switch foods. Do half and half to and than increase the amounts of new and decrease the olds so your cat will get used to it.

Sign In or Register to comment.