Hello, I’m Dr. Karyn! Learn my introduction to study extra about me and meet my 5 hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
I grew up in Queensland, Australia, then lived in Alice Springs within the Northern Territory for a few years earlier than shifting to the UK. And earlier than I had the 5 felines I share my house with right now, there was Gilbert and Sullivan; two cute feminine tabbies.
Gilbert was first on the scene, and Sully joined us two years later. They have been by no means the most effective buddies I had hoped they might be, however they appeared to get alongside with out battle, pleased to share house on my mattress and completely different perches on the cat tree. After a few yr, nonetheless, we started to suspect that each one was not effectively when Sully began peeing everywhere that weren’t a litter field.
Sully’s Problematic Peeing
Purchasing luggage, purses, and footwear have been her favorites – significantly embarrassing after they belonged to company. There was the occasional incident on my mattress, however by far the worst was when she piddled on the steam mop – steaming cat urine is an unforgettable expertise. My Dad would argue that probably the most regrettable urination scenario was the one within the fruit bowl, which was solely found after he’d sliced a banana on his breakfast cereal. A minimum of it was a fruit from which the pores and skin was utterly eliminated earlier than consuming!
For those who’ve ever needed to cope with inappropriate feline urination, you is perhaps accustomed to among the ideas, methods, and methods we’d have employed to deal with our wee drawback:
- Urinalysis to rule out irritation, an infection, or crystals
- Pheromone diffusers and sprays to assist her really feel settled
- Including an additional litter field to the three we already had, in a brand new location with a distinct sort of litter
- Cleansing any dirty floor with an enzymatic cleaner designed particularly for this function
A few of these strategies helped for a time, however ultimately, the urination would return. The locations she was piddling prompt that this was territorial habits, selecting vertical surfaces, my mattress, and objects that recurrently entered and exited the home. The issue was clear: regardless of appearances, Sully felt threatened by Gilbert, and was using passive-aggressive ways to attempt to enhance her place within the house.
Sully’s Persistent Problematic Urination
Sadly, realizing this was the issue did nothing to assist me discover a answer, but it surely did exhibit that there might be fairly intense friction between cats that seem like getting alongside simply high quality.
This was an ongoing drawback for my household and I proper up till the time once I moved to Alice Springs, bringing Gilbert and Sully with me. I had prepped the brand new home with pheromone diffusers and sprays, and positioned litter packing containers in a number of completely different areas to offer them loads of choices. After I first allow them to out of their journey crates, they spent the primary 48 hours huddled collectively behind the bathroom, barely shifting an inch. Afterwards, they started to bravely discover their new house, together with their newly erected out of doors catio.
And guess what? All the time we lived within the crimson middle, there was by no means a single territorial pee. Each urination was contained inside the field, and I by no means had to purchase one other bottle of urine cleaner.
Classes from Sully’s Problematic Urination
So what modified?
Properly, I’ve a idea.
When Sully got here into the Queensland home, Gilbert had been there for a few years, comfy and settled in her well-established territory, so Sully employed her pheromonal protection system. Once we moved to Alice Springs, they entered the home as equals, sharing within the trauma of relocation and new territory.
So does that imply that you have to transfer home to cease your cat from marking their territory? Hopefully not! It’s not a very economical answer! However, I had a pal make use of a model of this technique when she was having the identical drawback along with her cats. Like Sully, certainly one of her cats had joined the home later than the others and had taken to urinating on numerous objects and areas. Having tried every thing else, she took my recommendation and despatched her three cats to remain at a cattery for every week. Whereas they have been gone, she did a radical clear of the home, furnishings, bedding, and garments, even utilizing a UV lamp to verify for traces of pee.
Lo and behold; when the three felines returned house collectively, the territorial urination stayed away.
It could appear to be an excessive strategy to method this drawback, however in case you are coping with inappropriate urination in a multi-cat family, and you’ve got explored all doable causes and options, every week away may very well be simply what you have to maintain the cat pee odor away! A minimum of it’s value a strive.
This text is part of Dr. Karyn’s sequence along with her 5 hilarious cats.
