Cat Problem

[Trisven13]

Hi - have a 13 year old cat who has taken to dirtying behind our television cabinet despite having a clean, covered litter tray available (which she has always previously used). Need two things preferrably - something to put down to stop her wanting to use this site. Secondly something to neutralise the oh so pleasant odour.

She has been given hormone injections to try to fix it but unfortunately they achieved very little. I'm now looking for other options that allow my house to not STINK...

Thanks

Trish

[kelpiecuddles]

Waiting to hear responses Trish, we have the same problem with our stressed out rescue kitty. Isn't it nice how that smell seems to go all through the house no matter how much you've cleaned it

[PAX]

If it was my cat i would put another litter tray in her new toilet spot then very slowly (over a week or two) move to the desired location.

Lisa

[KitKat]

I would also consider looking at dietary issues...and perhaps put out more then one litter tray? just to give her a choice and so she can see one is available in more then once place.

Has the formular of the kitty litter changed any? or any changes in the routine of the household? Change of diet?

Also Biozet washing powder is supposed to be very good in getting rid of those not so nice smells in carpet. The fact that she can smell the soiled area might be drawing her back to it as well...so perhaps biozet and fabreze? both available at your local supermarket

[Trisven13]

Her life changes quite regularly due to the rescue work we do and she is not a cat with a great fondness for dogs so that is definitely stressing her. She is a cat I inherited when my parents sold their house in Sydney, they were going to put her to sleep and I didn't want to do that without giving her a chance to adjust to life in my house. Unfortunately she hasn't adjusted quite as well as I had hoped, Unfortunately I'm also unable to put litter trays throughout the house as I have toddlers who think that litter trays are play toys - our litter tray is in our laundry with a child-proof gate stopping the kids getting to it.

Will try the Biozet and Fabreze and see if we they help at all.

[Anna H]

Not sure on the answer to that one... but have you tried www.cat-world.com.au ?

Edited November 8, 2005 by ChelseasMum

[Steve]

If you cant put a litter tray behind the TV cabinet as suggested then I would suggest you lock her in the laundry for a week or two. Also have a look at what might be able to get into the laundry and are you using a covered litter tray. Cats are at their most vulnerable when they are going to the toot so this kind of stuff is often associated with some kind of stress around where the litter tray is . She may have just forgetten [old age] so keeping her in one room for a while would help.

You see this kind of stuff if you have more than one cat , a dog or pup or even kids that make her feel threatened when she needs to go to the toot Its why cats poo behind the cabinet and the dog will poo anywhere.

[shekhina]

What's this biozet stuff? And how do you use it on the carpet? My loungeroom carpet stinks like all hell and has done since I first moved in...I've tried those shake and vac things the no vac things...but nothing actually gets the smell OUT, just covers it up. So, what would I have to do with biozet?

[Trisven13]

Yeah Steve have the covered litter tray, dogs can't get into the laundry (well couldn't until a week ago but the pooing started way before that) and have looked into the whole privacy thing. The litter tray is always kept in the laundry facing a wall, with the cover on so that the only entrance is hidden. If it was just recent it would be a case of stress about the puppies in the laundry but it has been going on for a while.

Last time we went to the vets he said that she was getting the beginnings of dementia and I think that is what it is. Sad to say but as an indoor only cat (the only way I will own a cat) pooing everywhere is not very tolerable so that is why I'm hoping to come up with some other solutions. I think she'd go nuts if I locked her in the laundry for a couple of weeks, even just a couple of days.

Thanks everyone

[sugar]

Last night on foxtels UK channel 'How clean is your house' showed using BICARB SODA in the cats litter tray, just a sprinkle to get rid of the litter tray smell. My mother in law also uses it if a drink spills and she just sprinkles it on the carpet and she swears by it.

[Big Softie]

Is the hormone injections acting as a form of "anti depressant". Our 11 year old cat was attacked by a dog a year ago and ever since then has to continually mark every curtain, childrens toy, bench etc in the house - worse when he hears dogs barking. I took him to the vet and the vet said he can be given an anti depressant to calm him down and lessen the trauma in his head. We are unable to give him the tablets and it is very expensive in the syringe form so we are at the stage of putting up with it for the love of our cat. If it continues to get worse (surely it cant!! ) he will have to be pts.

[KismetKat]

Tris - is the litter kept clean? Some cats don't like dirty litter so will go elsewhere. I've started using the new crystal litter which, with one cat, lasts up to a month. I remove solids very quickly (have too or the dog pinches them for a tasty treat )

But given her age I think you might be right in suspecting it is part of the problem.

To discourage her from behind the tv have you thought about sprinkling something she won't like (pepper? chilli powder?)

[Animal House]

Does she wee there or poop there?

If she wees there, the smell is so hard to get out, but a good scrub with Biozet usually does it. If there is any smell there, she will be drawn back to it.

Stress does cause this, one of my cats was most put out by a new member of the fur family and decided behind the tv cabinet was a good idea too, (what is it with tv cabinets? )

Another thing they say to do, is to put their food in a bowl where they have been dirtying (behind the tv cabinet) some dry food etc. They wont usually pee/poop where they are fed.

Hope you sort something out, it can be very frustrating.

[Aly]

Not sure if this will help but my sister had a cat and sometimes she would wee inside she used to put amonia in a spray bottle and spray where puss had been, Im sure she said it gets rid of nasty smells too.

Alys Mum

[~Anne~]

Scrub the area really well. There is a FABULOUS carpet cleaner liquid in Hardwrehouse that sells for around $4 for a litre bottle. Rinse the area equally well and then dry it with an old towel. Smother the area with bi-carb soda and when dry vacuum off. Works a treat every time.

Perhaps also then drop a drop of Nilodour onto the area (sells in Supermarkets, tiny little green bottle of concentrated stuff, not the watered down version).

Saldy, cats do some strange things as they get older. Toileting in areas that they normally wouldn't is one of them. They also can become lax with cleaning themselves. I would say a touch of age and maybe even senility.

I am hoping that my cat is not about to tread that path herself. Normally she is fastidious with her toileting... this morning she was outside and did both a number 1 and 2 on the back porch on the tiles????? !! The garden was 2 foot away from her................

[~Anne~]

Not sure if this will help but my sister had a cat and sometimes she would wee inside she used to put amonia in a spray bottle and spray where puss had been, Im sure she said it gets rid of nasty smells too.

Alys Mum

Amonia and bleaches attract cats... don't ever use them or you'll encourage her.

[ReXy]

i found that my cat altho only 7 was doing this as well but she was obviously stressed due to moving a few times... i used nil odour and also a product i brought from the pet shop and cant for the life of me think of the name but it is a deterant spray which smells quite nice to us but dogs and cats hate it i used it to toilet train a pup as well if they wee or poo on carpet clean it as bets u can then spray a little on the area it is supposed to deter them and mask the smell as u kno once they have marked in 1 spot they will keep going back to that spot ... strangly enough it was behind the tv cabinet my cat was doing it too. from memory i think it is citronella based...

[jemappelle]

Scrub the area really well. There is a FABULOUS carpet cleaner liquid in Hardwrehouse that sells for around $4 for a litre bottle. Rinse the area equally well and then dry it with an old towel. Smother the area with bi-carb soda and when dry vacuum off. Works a treat every time.

Perhaps also then drop a drop of Nilodour onto the area (sells in Supermarkets, tiny little green bottle of concentrated stuff, not the watered down version).

Saldy, cats do some strange things as they get older. Toileting in areas that they normally wouldn't is one of them. They also can become lax with cleaning themselves. I would say a touch of age and maybe even senility.

I find the Bi-Carb works really well. I clean the area really well with Bio Zet laundry powder and then dry with a towel and then pack on the Bi-Carb and leave until dry.

Remember that the smell gets down into the underfelt as well - I have on occasion removed a piece of underfelt and replaced it and cleaned the carpet from underneath as well.

When you have the area cleaned cover it in aluminium foil - the cats hate that and won't walk on it.

Some cats also don't like covered litter trays and if she is a little bit dotty she may have an aversian to the cover so try the tray without the cover. Also cleaning with bleach and ammonia based products attracts the cat so I always clean my litter trays with bleach.

Also maybe try a different litter - what are you using?

The best solution is to rip up the carpet in the whole house

[Wiz's Mum]

Biozet is an enzyme based washing powder (although any enzyme based washing powder will do - tis also good for smelly socks off teenage boy sneraker feet ).

The enzymes actually breake down the odour and stain causing molecules of the wee or solid waste.

With your cat I would also suggest using the washing powder & Febreeze solution just to be sure.

And as a follow on have you changed her litter material? Some cats when you change the type of litter will refuse to use it.

There is one other possibility - I had a Siamese who would leave a solid deposit on MY pillow if I left him alone overnight (charming feloow ) - is she annoyed with you at the moment?