My cats are really getting on my nerves...

[Electra375]

I've had 2 cats since I got married, they are almost 10 yrs old. They are siblings a boy and a girl, both 'fixed'.

Lately they have been a real bothersome annoyance to me. They have never been allowed to stay upstairs due to my allergy to the cat hair and we didn't want them sleeping with the children -- but I find them upstairs more and more these days, only to have to physically removed them, shooing doesn't work anymore. And of course they leave their cat hair all over my bedding -- and I'm certifiable allergic.

This morning I woke-up to my house smelling like cat piss. I'm so discussed. This isn't the first time, but usually I put them out on our enclosed porch and shut the connecting door, last night as I do many nights I left it open. I've had the porch and the kitchen stinking for a few days in the past year. I never did find where they did their deed even with a black light. But this morning I had to find it, the odor was sickening, my couch!!! And the porch cat condo and bedding!!! There is more, but I haven't found it yet, after I remove the toys from my antique family heriloom carpet, I'll determine if it was soiled as well.

I used some chemercially made cat urine odor eliminater, I hope it works. I closed the cat door, so they are outside today. (they go in and out as they please through a medium sized dog door).

I am so discussed b/c I've been cleaning up 3 yr old potty training messes for a month. I have so much stuff to do in a day, cleaning up cat piss isn't what I had planned for today. And now the 3 yr old needs cleaning up... he refuses ask to use the potty, yet anytime you put him there he pees :

I'm sick of the mess they are making with their food and vomitting (yes, I use a high quality cat food and they never have tolerated the cheap stuff). I'm sick of the piss smell, it's in my garage some days too. I'm sick of the cat hair and dirt they bring in the house.

I've always thought it was terrible to get rid of your pets when children arrive. I actually had a cat for 4 years before he passed from old age b/c the woman didn't like the cat and used their child as an excuse to get rid of him. That cat was a dream and the man was so saddened when I took him home. I decided then that the cats are here first and we'll just make adjustments when children arrive.

Well, on days like these, I want to take them out to a farm and shoot 'em : . Or just find another home for them. For now, today anyway, they are outside. I will likely move their food and water outside it a bit. If it weren't still getting cold at night, it wouldn't bother me to leave them out there. But they have always come inside at night.

I wonder if one of them could have a pee problem related to their age?

Something has to give. If I leave them at the animal shelter, being so old they will probably be put down. I can't kill them, it isn't in me. And I can't leave them on some farm, they wouldn't survive, one is retarded from chemical nerve damage, injested too much flea spray the one time I used it, I found out I was allergic to it as well.

I'm just at my witz end about the piss and the dirt and the vomit and the food everywhere...

[paquerette]

Can you take them to the vet? An occasional pee problem might be a UTI. Might only be one kitty, but how do you know which one?

[kathipaul]

Sounds to me like your cats are craving attention and love. They are trying to snuggle with you and your family and you aren't letting them. They are stressed so they are showing it by spraying. It is their way of telling you they are mad at you. You don't sound like you like them too much. Sincer you are allergic to them, it makes sense. It sounds to me like you are at your wits end. Could you contact the local vets and offer them for adoption to a good home? I always see flyers at our vets advertising older cats in need of a good new home. If I were near you, I would take them. People like me are more than happy to help old cats find a new home when their former is not longer a happy place for them. Don't take them out and shoot them and don't take them to the shelter unless it is a no kill situation. Please. They are not doing anything wrong except trying to communicate with you about a situation that is not working for any of you. The best bet is to find them a new, good home.

Could to vomit just be hairballs? My cats throw up frequently if I don't brush them daily. It is always hairballs. They hate the hairball treatment so brushing is my only option.

By the way, you need enzyme-based odor remover to get rid of the cat piss smell. It works by eating the germs that make the smell so you have to make sure the area stays wet for a while so it can do its job. This means spraying it frequently, especially on hard surfaces. And, it will smell disgusting while it is doing its job. Then, you can clean it with vinegar to get rid of all the excess smell and stickiness.

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

no advice just hugs..

[Electra375]

I've got an enzyme cleaner, I'm still trying to find all the spots. Honestly, I think it is my male cat and I think he is showing his age. Why would his condo stink if he were spraying out of anger toward the family? I think he is just peeing where he sleeps or naps. He might be sick w a UTI, but it might just be age. I've got a little investigating to do on aging cats.

There is a cat sanctuary I looked into for a kitten I picked up off the hwy about 3 years ago. I got the cat home and realized she had a paralyzed paw, nothing else was wrong w her. I knew if I took her to the shelter they would put her down. The sanctuary unfortunately wasn't accepting any new residence as were any of the other options I explored closer to home. I ended up having to take the kitten to the local shelter .

I feel guilty that I have allowed them to irritate me so.

[armonia]

Hugs, mama. It might be something health related and not snuggle-related so the vet might be a good place to start.
If they have never been allowed to sleep with you or the children, then they don't know what they are missing, so I don't see how they can be mad about that? I do not think they would start getting mad about that at such an old age. But who knows?
Hope you figure out what is up. It is ok to be upset having to deal with all that. It doesn't mean that you don't love them. It just means you don't like having your house smell bad.

Personally, I would keep them outside and then kennel them at night inside. :

[chersolly]

Hugs, momma!

We recently found a new home for our furbaby after she snapped at the baby. It was a hard decision and I felt like the bad pet owner because our dog was our "first" baby, but you have to do what is right for your family.

[polka123]

1st take kitties to the Vet to see if there is a medical issue as pp have mentioned

You might have to switch to a UTI/low magnesium friendly kibble

Did you mention if they were fixed?

You might have an issue due to old age

I used a homemade combo of equal parts : white vinegar, water & rubbing alcohol for kitty pee.

the constant throwing should be addressed also. Maybe some of the hairball treatment for cats might help and grooming !

I have 5 cats right now - all strays we saved & have not had peeing by anger issue. the only peeing issue I've ever had was medical

Cats do get really lonely tho.

if you don't want the above options, I do agree with a pp that you really sound fed up with the cats. It can happen & maybe finding them a good home might be an option
look on www.petfinder.com for cat rescues in your area (if you go this route) & maybe offering a donation ($$ or whatever they need) to the rescue (we are all funding rescues out of our pockets), maybe someone will be able to take them in.
Taking them to a kill shelter will certainly mean Euth as hardly anyone adopts older pets - they are the 1st to go.
I have an older foster dogs that been up for adoption for 2.5 yrs

I know that it can get tought as I have 4 German Sheps & 5 kitties, a toddler & everyone wants attention :LOL
plus all the Animal Rescue stuff I do.
It does get trying.

I would try the Vet angle 1st

Good luck

[Electra375]

I haven't taken my cats to a vet since 1997. All animals on post had to be seen by the military vet. I wouldn't even know where to go, aside from the fact the testing for urinary problems probably cost more than I have to spend right now.

I give them just the rabies vax myself, but only since a neighbor moved in with 5 plus strays she keeps picking up. I'm a non-vaxer (formerly a selective vaxer), so why would I vax my cats -- but rabies would be serious if my children were to be bit or attacked by our pets, so I re-vaxed them for it. They are outside type cats always have been, they were strays I picked up overseas.

A dear friend of mine and I use to care for strays etc along with an older woman "the cat lady" (she smelled like cat piss) and we got really good at diagnosing and treating problems. This was overseas in Latin America, we went to the farmacia and got what ever we needed. We just never dealt with older cats. She got her vet tech training when she moved to the US a while ago.

Anyway, I have to talk to my dh tonight when he gets home and see if he want to spend the vet fee for a visit. I already know the answer, but I will give him the opportunity to express his view. Keep 'em outside will likely be his answer. Knowing him I'll hear about how stinky the house was this morning and he will have thought it was the cloth diapers -- men have no sense of the difference!!!

[polka123]

WOW, your state allows you to give the live rabies VAX?
Every state I lived in, that was the only one you can't give yourself b/c of it being a live virus.
I don't Vax my pets anymore

Try buying a UTI -tract friendly food - I think even the big brand name (like Purina) have food like that & it's an easy short-term fix. If it work, it works

Are they going in a litter box? you can track their urine output that way.

Are your cats fixed ?? esp the male?

Many Vets I've been to have been really good about making payments.. Call some Vets & see if they will work something out $-wise

[Electra375]

They are both fixed. They have always been out door kitties coming and going as they please. They do not use a litter box, they go outside. They are feral stock, meaning they came from a feral cat.

In 99 I had to put down our 16 yr old cat. He was suffering from renial failure. We had had him for 4 years and when we got him he was on insulin for diabetes and over weight. I got him on weight maintance cat food and less insulin, but his diabetes was not ever really undercontrol. Since his prior owner had declawed him, it was impossible to check his sugar they way I would have if he had had his claws. Then that summer we bought the house he just stopped eating and had this foul odor about him -- his body was shutting down. His uncontrolled diabetes probably caused his kidneys to shut down, but he was 16 yrs old. Putting him down was torture for me. I knew it was best, but prayed for days before I took him in that he would just go peacefully in his own sleep.

Anyway, point, I would never put down a viable animal.

My female cat likes to wander off, I understand from neighbors she spends a lot of time in a ditch across the street. My male cat hangs around the house more. They both come home to eat and sleep, but then are off again in the morning.

As for rabbies vax, you can order it from Valley Pet Supply company, that is where I got mine. It was cheaper to buy the entire vial of 10 does for my 2 cats than go to the vet - it was like $25. I have needles from my diabetic cat that I've never gotten rid of and he's been gone for 6 yrs.

[polka123]

Yeah I used to order all my Vaxes on line also - so much cheaper when I was bringing in all the rescue dogs!

Well, try that UTI-friendly food & try that cleaning solution I make up & see if that helps

i'm sorry about the diabetic kitty you had
((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))

IT so hard to make some of these decisions.
I also do NOT believe in putting down a viable animal but some do it routinely : . Thankfully none of the Vets I've ever worked with will do that

I wish you luck & maybe some other kitty Mamas can give you some good advice

[Electra375]

Update

I know what happened now...

My dh told me that yesterday morning at around 3:30am the neighbors cat got in to our back porch, my cats area, their haven. So, my dh let our kitties into the main house.

Well, it makes sense now that I had piss everywhere. My kitties obviously got upset and were marking their territory. I'd be mad too if someone walked into my house uninvited!

It doesn't make clean up any better, the house doesn't stink this morning, the porch still does. Of course they may be marking it up to keep the intruders away. I honestly didn't have any urine problems until our neighbor started taking in cats upon cats. Don't think I can effectively keep neighborhood cats out of my backyard and there by preventing entry into the porch. Cats have to be trained to use a flapping door, it isn't normal for them to push through something. I'm surprised that another cat would even attempt it, my cats tuck their little heads and run -- really quite strange to watch.

Yes, they are fixed, but that doesn't always stop markings. Females mark too, so I can't tell which one, if it isn't both.

Mystery solved, problem not...

[Ragana]

Your cats sound a lot like ours, except ours don't go outside. We have 2 siblings (brother and sister) raised by us since the age of 8 wks. Hairballs are a problem, and I try to buy the more expensive food, too. But I don't mind that compared to the pee.

We have had the pee problem since DD2 started to crawl and (I suspect) was seen as an invader cat by the male. He never liked the fact that the baby occupied his spot on my lap. The vet confirmed that he is healthy and thought my reasoning was correct. It gets worse when he doesn't get enough attention, during our vacations (when we have someone come in to take care of them), or if the litter box is too dirty (I scoop every day). We are scrupulous about cleaning up the puddles, because otherwise they get in the habit with certain spots. Sounds like you are, too. One product that really helped around here is an enzyme spray I got at Petsmart - it's about $8 for a bottle, but really gets rid of the smell. We have wooden floors, so the powder doesn't help.

That explanation about the other cats sounds spot on. Hope you are able to get rid of the smell. There's almost nothing worse.

[Milky Way]

If you think ten is old for a cat try living with a 22 year old cat, thats what my parents have and he's still alive and kickin. I can vouch cats get meaner as they age, that cat bites everything, he will bite you if you walk near him. Heck he would bite us all the time when we where little kids too so maybe he's just getting even meaner. AS for vax my parents have only gotten rabies since the cat was about 15. He lives indoor and outdoor, outdoor during the day indoor at night. Marking is territorial and there is really nothing that I know of that can be done esp in close areas like it sounds you are. Maybe try ckecking a local pet store and asking them if they have any advice on products that might help. Good Luck