I REALLY need some cat-related advice (extremely LONG)

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MrsRivera
2 under 2...whew!!

Member since 2/07

9876 total posts

Name:
Beth

I REALLY need some cat-related advice (extremely LONG)

Before I begin--because I have been burned in the past:

DISCLAIMER: I am asking for advice. I am not looking for people to tell me that I am a terrible person because I am upset about this. If you are going to flame me because you don't agree with the way I am reacting to this situation, you can go ahead and keep that to yourself because I am not interested in your opinions about my thoughts or actions.

On the other hand, if you have something I can try and would like to try to HELP rather than throw nasty posts at me, I would greatly appreciate your help!

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Ok, now for my actual post Chat Icon

My Mom's cat has been living with us since this past October. My mom moved down in November, and has been staying with us since then until she finds her own place in NC.

I was nervous about my mom's cat coming here, because she is EXTREMELY territorial and tends to feel threatened easily. She used to pee all over my mom's living room in her house in NY, and it was always when she saw another cat outside the house...she even peed ON my mom one time while she was being held and she saw another cat.

The reason I was so nervous about her cat living here was because we have our own cat. We thought they wouldn't get along and Doodle (my mom's cat) would start peeing all over. I am thrilled to say that the two of them get along FAMOUSLY and we have had ZERO problems with Doodle until very recently.

Fast-forward to about a month ago. My mom left for CA to spend 2 months with my sister and her kids out there. She left her cat here (obviously). The very same day that my mom left for CA, we came back from dropping her at the airport, and found that one of the cats had peed AND pooped next to the window in the living room. I didn't know for sure that it was Doodle. So that night, we locked Doodle up in the guest room (where my mom was staying). We did that for several nights in a row, and there were no more accidents. However, the very first night that we left her out again, we woke up to find MORE pee and MORE poop by the window.

By this point, I am flipping out. I will admit that I took her to the vet hoping to find that something was wrong with her, because at least then we'd have an explanation. There WAS something wrong with her, she had a very bad UTI. I was relieved. We gave her antibiotics for 10 days and just had her retested last week. No signs of the UTI and she's been seeming as though she's feeling better.

I assumed the problem was behind us, because that was 2 weeks ago and nothing has happened since.

I woke up this morning to find pee and poop, again in the SAME place in the living room.

I am going to lose my mind. My daughter, who is 7 months, is up on her hands and knees and beginning to scoot backwards. I give her approx. 2 weeks before she is full-on CRAWLING. I absolutely WILL NOT take the chance that she's crawling in this cat's filth.

With that said, here's what we have tried so far:

1. We tried putting down bubble wrap all along that wall. She pooped right NEXT to it.

2. We tried steam-cleaning the carpet with pet-odor solution, thinking she wouldn't smell it and wouldn't go again. THAT didn't work because the smell does NOT come out, no matter what we do.

3. We thought maybe she was having trouble getting to her litterbox (upstairs). We left it downstairs in the livingroom for almost a week. She stopped using that litterbox and started using OUR cat's litterbox, which was located right next to hers in the laundry room upstairs. So, we moved her litterbox back upstairs. It had been untouched downstairs. The next morning, she pooped in the exact spot that the litterbox had been.

4. When Doodle WAS using the litterbox, we found that she was missing the box completely and we would find cat pee all over the floor underneath and around the box. We recently switched her to a covered litterbox. I took some of the "clumps" from her old litterbox and put them in the new box so she would know to go there.

So, here's where we are at right now: I am ready to call my mom and tell her that either she needs to come back and bring the cat back to CA with her (she's gone until the end of Sept.), or we need to board the cat for 2 months until she comes back. I know that with either solution, she will not be happy.

I need to have my house back. I am so embarrassed--we can't have friends over because of the smell. I recently joined a playgroup, and we've been to everyone else's house except mine. I was asked to host, but I had to make up an excuse because I'm too embarrassed to tell them the REAL reason I can't have them over.

Please help, I have tried everything I can think of and at this point, I feel I have given her enough chances and I just want her OUT.

If you have read this far, I TRULY appreciate it and I appreciate any advice you can give me Chat Icon

Posted 7/21/09 10:24 AM