Cat Chat Feline Forum

I have got two cats who I love. They are 3 years old and I have had them since they were kittens.

The problem I'm having is that after having my baby they won't stop urinating around the house. Every room smells of cat urine. They urinate on the carpet, in the bath, on my husband's clothes, in his cricket bag and many other places.

The worst thing though is that they are constantly urinating on my baby's things. They have urinated in his Crib, over his clothes, in his baby bath, on his baby play mat, in his pushchair and also his car seat.

I have been back and forth to the vets to rule out medical issues and all they can do is throw antibiotics at me for cystitis, which makes no difference whatsoever. I have bought more litter trays and done all the usual stuff to encourage the use of them, but it hasn't worked. I have tried Feliway for months and they are also on Zyklene - again, nothing has made a difference.

Urinating in his car seat is the final straw - I nearly felt sick with anger/guilt when I sat him in it and then realised the straps were damp. When I lifted him out of it there was cat urine all up his back.

I just can't do it anymore.

How is the best way to get cats re homed?

They clearly aren't happy here and enough is enough, I can't have my baby being exposed to urine over all his things on a daily basis.

Really sorry to hear about this - particularly as you obviously love your cats. It sounds as if they are really unhappy too, and feel their territory has been invaded, marking everything with their urine. I can see you have tried what you can to make them feel more settled but the fact that both are doing this makes it much harder to deal with.

You will need to contact rescues in your area - there are lists on this site - and explain the situation. I'm assuming this problem didn't exist before the baby arrived, so they should be fine in a house with no children or even being introduced to a new environment where children are already established - though not babies.

Thanks Jacks - I do feel really upset.

One of my cats is showing signs of cystitis again this morning.

Their behaviour is just so erratic - they even pulled wallpaper off one our walls a few days ago.

Surely it's not fair to them to keep them in a home they aren't happy in?

As baby is getting older things are getting worse

Do they have outside access?

Yep Jacks is right. You can't go on like this. It is not fair on anyone.
Many years back a friend of mine had a large, laid-back Tom cat, Keegan. She took in a small, very nervous girl called Mavis. She got her because other friends had a baby and Mavis had reacted in the same way as your cats. Both cats had outside access.
A couple of years later my friend had a baby. Keegan was fine with the baby but Mavis started her old tricks again. My friend re-homed her with folks who had no children. She lived out her life, happily, as an 'only child'.
Hopefully your 2 would be the same.

Yes they both have outside access via a microchip cat flap.

I will be so sad to see them go.

My biggest fear though is that they won't be re homed together because they love each other so much.

I just feel so upset about it all. They spend most of their time hiding under the bed and one of them has practically stopped eating. It's awful and I feel guilty for them being do unhappy all the time

Hi. if you do think the best solution is to rehome your cats, click on the map here and you will find rescues in your area:
http://www.catchat.org/adoption/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is best to go through a rescue so the home-checks and the right home is found. If the cats are particularly close then do tell the rescue they need to be rehomed together.

Best of luck.

Thanks Janey. It's breaking my heart. When I see them around the house I just burst with love for them, I know it's not their fault, I can't bear the thought of re-homing them (it makes me want to cry) but I just don't know what else to do. I hate to think of them being unhappy. They really aren't the happy, loving cats they used to be and I know they deserve more in their life than feeling miserable living with me