That's it: HELP!
What's this about? A pissycat who's wrecking my house (and perfuming it).
This cat, a gorgeous, huge (wild) ginger roamed around our house and my dear don'tgiveadamn husband started to 'tame' him to the point that the cat sat on his lap and slowly, but certainly started entering the house through the catflap.
So far, so good, non?
NON!
The cat (about 6/7 months old at the time) was (still is) a male and not castrated, thus ... started to mark his territory and still does. Lovely! You must take him to the vet, I told my husband and he said he would ... but did not mention when and in which year.
My other 5 cats, quite angry about this intrusion and his wee, also started marking and now every night there are huge fights and every morning lots of wee all over the place.
Lock out all the cats? Come on, that's not the solution, is it? My 5 cats are old (15/17 years) and this is their home.
Being handicapped I can't clean up. My husband - having decided to live his own life and not taking care of me, the cats, the dog, or the house - doesn't do anything and my cleaning lady is getting pretty p*** off about it.
To remove the smell and 'remind' the cats they should pee outside, I use Feliway defusers and spray, have tried citronella oil and am becoming quite desperate.
Soooooo: HELP! Any brilliant suggestions? Magic potion?
Problem: husband is furious and will not allow anyone to come near the house when the cat is concerned.
Since he has decided not to take any care of me anymore, I will have to try and get the wodka via my cleaning ladies, which means trusting them with my credit card or a cheque. Oh, we are having so much fun here. 'The War of the Roses' is a light comedy compared to the situation here.
Will find a solution, though. First have to try and get to my lung specialist ... hubs refused to drive me there (at the very last moment) for the third time.
Thank you all for your help.
Hi Ruth,
If you like, send me your location via chatsduquercy@gmail.com and I'll see if I know anyone near to you who may help - if you are stuck!
I know just how waring this kind of situation can be, and really do sympathise!
I'll have one on all of you and all the stray pissycats around (please, don't tell my doctor!)
Bless you, Lynn.
I'll again have a talk with my neighbour (500 meters) who is a vet and a wonderful chap. He kept hoping my husband would put the beautiful devil in one of our many travelling cages, but no ... too much work for the poor soul (who is 24 years younger and hasn't worked one day during the 20 years of our marriage, yoho yoho).
At the same time I'mm check the Web. Who knows and ... darn it ... the beast is lovely and very welcome, but without his crown jewels.
If you were near to us Ruth, I'd gladly help or loan a trap for you to catch the little devil with. Why not do an internet search for Association chat in your dept, just to ask them if they have a piege you can borrow?
So they FINALLY have caught on, have they? All my toms have been neutered at 4/5 months and same for females. You should see them now: ages 15/17 they look like cats of 4/5, slim, no hanging tums etc.
Re my Ginger tom ... there must be a loophole and I will find it. Thanks everybody.
IMPORTANT!!!!!
Oh G-d, Lynn, I have not for ONE second thought of getting 'rid' of the cat. He'll be very welcome in my house ... neutered!
I just need the SPA, or ??? to catch him, take him to my vet and bring him back to what will be his home. Darn it, if I were able to, I'd get him in no time and would never have had this problem.
Cheers Ruth, have one on us while you ponder the problem - it won't seem half so bad afterwards.
I will keep you posted!
Thank you all for advice and understanding.
The SPA will be able to loan you an humane trap Ruth, or even ask your vet. It is a terrible problem, I know.
It is now adviced that neutering of both male and female cats is done from 3 months old.
We are seeing more and more cats/kittens coming into season at 4 months of age, which is really to young for them. If they have kittens/get pregnant it can be very damaging, sometimes fatal!!
Hmmm ... darn good excuse to make myself a Bloody Mary, which I happen to love.
Re neutering: how the heck to get the cat? My husband is the one who tamed him, who can actually pick him up.
Also, he is now over one year old and neutering should be done around the 7th month.
It's not a sticky problem, Julie ... it's a pissy problem and it p***es me off.
Sorry, too, that we did not connect. Will call soon.
Just a thought: maybe I should get my husband neutered?
Unfortunately it won't solve the problem just to 'get rid' of the cat and after all your(hubbies) encouragement, I would check with the SPA their policy on euthanasier, it seems a little injust for this cat.
If he is wild, the SPA will normally put him to sleep.
THIS IS A REPLY FOR REGINA!
Eh oh, that's a new one. Still have a bottle standing around since nobody drinks it. Shall have Patricia la Belle (my aide ménagère) go for it on Monday. Thank you for the tip, Regina.
PS True about bleach: they love it, don't they?
PPS I wish me good luck, too :)
So '... then there's a pair of us' as Emily Dickinson would say.
And THAT is what I keep telling my husband, Lynn, but he couldn't care less. He's hardly ever here anyhow, the darling.
I think I'll have to call the SPA to get them to come over and catch him. I'm not much good at cat-catching in my wheelchair ha ha ha.
My other cats react to the smell of his pee, but also because they are scared of him, especially the females. Poor old dames, being chased by a hot, still complete, wild ginger.
There are many many things possible to encourage c ats not to spray, to avert attention from a particular place, but nothing is magic, it all thats time and patience. Regina is totally right about bleach, it actually has the opposite effect of encouraging cats to pee. I've never tried vodka, and I guess if it doesn't work, you can always drown your sorrows!!
It is essential to get rid of the odour, which , if the problem has been unchecked for a while, it not an easy task!
I agree fully with Lynn: getting him neutered is the first priority!
The most effective way to get rid of the smell is vodka. Don't try anything else - you are wasting your time! Bleach actually attracts cats. Undiluted vodka is the only answer - buy the cheapest from the discounter and rub the places where he sprayed.
I wish you good luck!
i have much the same issue, 3 cats, one sprays, all neutered. The newest one was an outside cat. I've tried many things to get them to stop. Don't know what to do either. not alone :-)
There is only one real solution and that is to get him neutered. En entire male will spray and mark his territory, and unfortunately for you Ruth, he thinks that is his home, and due to the treatments he was/has been given, you could say rightly so!
There is no magic solution, but first of all he needs neutering and then get in touch with me personally if you prefer, through chatsduquercy.com, and I'll talk you through how you can put in place a behaviour modification programme, but without the neutering there is little point.
Also using feliway is useless in this situation without putting other actions into place. Your biggest probleme is also getting rid of the smell of pee which is obviously encouraging your other cats as they now think this is OK.
Solutions don't come overnight, and have to be worked on.