Cat Weeing Indoors - shall I lock cat flap?

[Kittykatta]

Hello! I wonder if anyone out there can help us problem solve this issue? We consulted the vet 2 wks ago about our young cat who has been urine marking indoors intermittently over the past year. She has been neutered and is 1.5 yrs old (we've had her since 8 weeks old) and we have another female cat who is about 3 and they get on well (sometimes sleep together and play fight). On the advice of the vet we have moved the litter tray (which they don't use now as they go outside) and the food/water bowls out from the utility room where the back door and cat flap are and into the dining room next door, which looks out onto the back garden. I have placed another litter tray upstairs on the landing and covered the bottom section of the patio doors/windows in the dining room (which look out onto the garden) with frosted window film.

In addition to these measures we've been dishing out NutraCys+ capsules (anti-anxiety and bladder-calming apparently) which are mixed into their food for the last 2 weeks and had a Feliway diffuser going in the dining room where the cats sleep. Unfortunately this hasn't been enough to sort out the problem and she continues to mark against the door between the utility room and the dining room and also upstairs against the linen basket/carpet in my son's bedroom. Previously she had marked in 2 corners of the lounge but thankfully has stopped doing it in there.

We have a cat-proof back garden - which means our cats can't get out and other cats shouldn't be able to get in, however on one occasion last year (when she was just a kitten) a large male cat got into the garden and he was probably trapped for a day or so (while we were on holiday and had friends coming in to pet sit twice a day) until he was let out - she would have been only a few months old at this stage. This cat prowls around our house at the front and there's the occasional stand-off between him and our older cat through the hedge of the back garden. Herein lies the problem (I think the key source of stress)...even though he can't (theoretically) get into the garden (although he did once) he must still present a threat to them. It's taken a while to work this out as our cats do still go out in the garden a lot and are used to using the cat flap. During the night they are shut into the dining room (where their food/water and litter tray is now) with access into the utility room where the back door and cat flap are.

The one measure the vet suggested that we haven't tried is to lock the cat flap shut and let them in/out ourselves, to reduce their feelings of insecurity. He explained that the thinking now is that cats find the cat flap a source of uncertainty and potential entry for intruders (even though our garden is cat-proofed apparently). I'm very reluctant to lock it due to the fact they are used to being able to go in and out as they please and seem to spend most nights outside and sleep inside during the day. If we locked the cat flap (and covered it) we would let them outside in the day (providing cat kennels for shelter for when we are out) and try and keep them in at night. Any thoughts on how much of a difference this is likely to make/experience of doing this as to me it would feel a bit cruel, particularly to the older cat who's not causing a problem?

[Lilith]

Hi Kittykatta and welcome

There are people much more knowledgeable than me on this subject who will hopefully be along soon, but yes, I don't feel shutting the cats out in the daytime, even into a safe environment, is going to solve any anxieties; quite the opposite. Especially if Big Brother is watching them and threatening to get in - or does indeed get in. And with the cold weather coming on, even with warm kennels, it's going to be a big change for them.

To combat the wee problem (and I too have had a cat wee problem, and an incontinent old chap and no matter how you love them, it's drudgery sometimes, to say nothing of being haunted by smells real and anxiety-produced; I know how you feel) could it be feasible to confine the culprit, when you have to leave her, in one room? She would at least be warm and safe.

I'm sorry I've no real advice or solutions to offer - only thing I can think of to add is that I've always praised my naughty ones when they HAVE used the tray, and made a big fuss of them - but as I say, do hope more input and advice is along soon, and very good luck, please let us know how you go on

[Ruth B]

I have to agree with Lilith that shutting them out won't do anything to help with the problem, shutting cats outside just feels entirely wrong to me.

I am no expert on the matter but from what i have read, spraying and inappropriate urinating is a sign that the cat doesn't fee secure in its home den area and the den should be where they feel safest and where they run to when threatened. My thoughts would be to try and confine her to a single room while you are not around or are asleep. Make sure she has all she needs, food, litter tray etc. If you have a room upstairs that you could use or one over looking the enclosed garden this would be best as it would mean she would be able to see the intruder outside, or at least if she could she would have the high ground of an upstairs window, which should help her feel more confident.

When you are about then you could let her out of the room into the rest of the house and even escort her into the garden, though with winter coming, if she is anything like mine she will be happy to spend more time inside.

Hopefully as she learns she is in a safe place and her confidence grows she will stop the spraying and use the litter tray properly. Even when you can let her out fully again, you might have to keep the room set up for her, so she knows there is somewhere she can go that she knows is safe.

I know how upsetting it can be when they are spraying and not using the litter tray properly. Quite a few years ago one of my cats was terminally ill, the other cat I had was her daughter and I decided to introduce a third young cat to give the daughter someone to play with. It was a disaster, I ended up with a complete dominance struggle between the mother cat and the new one and then the daughter started it as well. For me the answer was simple and heartbreaking, the new cat went back to the shelter she came from. Fortunately after she was gone, my two settled straight back down, and i heard afterwards that the other was kept separate for a week and then rehomed as an only cat as she had behaved impeccably during the week.

I hope you do find a solution to the problem before it tears you apart, the constant cleaning up and not knowing just what you will find when you get up or come home from work is extremely stressful and unfortunately that just upsets the cats as well.

[Crewella]

I have nothing really useful to add, but just wanted to add my voice to the others in agreement. God luck, I really hope you manage to sort things out.

Just a thought, but do make sure you clean the areas that get sprayed with a biological cleaner (biological washing liquid/powder works) to break down and remove every trace of the scent. If any remains it will only encourage further spraying to 'top it up'.

[Kittykatta]

Thanks for the advice. Hmm, it's tricky! The cats are actually shut into the back of the house at night (to stop them from going upstairs and being disruptive) so this would be theoretically their 'den'. This area encompasses an open-plan kitchen/dining room with a door (permanently kept ajar) at one side into the utility room. The back door and cat flap are therefore right next door to their 'den' in the utility room. Food and water and litter tray are now in the dining room where they are. Probably about 3/4 of the back wall of the dining room is full length glass (French doors with a panel either side), looking out onto the garden. It is the bottom of these windows that I have covered with frosted window film, to make the cats feel more secure (with the exception of the French doors which I only put panels in as I ran out and so have left some narrow strips that you can still see through - should I cover the bottom completely?) To complicate matters you step up a level from the dining room further into the house into the kitchen (which was the original back door to the house) and so when a cat sits on the kitchen floor it can see straight back out into garden unobscurred by window film as they are now at a higher level than on the floor of the dining room! What a complicated picture I am painting! During the day the cats can go where they want in the house, except our bedroom (due to my husband's fur allergy) and the lounge, as we have a large bird cage in there. However I am now keeping my son's bedroom door closed due to the recent urine soiling. There are still 2 bedrooms that can go in where the cats do sleep and I'm hoping we don't get a nasty surprise any time soon in one of those!

So the likely explanation for this seems to be that their 'den' is not feeling secure enough to the younger cat - so what else can be done about that I wonder. There aren't any other room options that we could give over as an alternative den unfortunately. The only thing that occurs to me could be providing a higher cat seat/platform, like a tall scratching post with a platform on top to give her a higher vantage point in there, and possibly covering more of the glass - to maybe halfway down the glass rather than the bottom third and making it solid across the French doors (rather than just panels in the middle)? I do feel the key to the problem is the location of their den being the room next to the utility room where the cat flap is, so potential open access to an intruder, and all the glass overlooking the garden.

[Ruth B]

Getting them somewhere high to lurk would certainly be a good idea, height always seems to give a gat a feeling of security.

You mention that the utility room door is kept ajar, would they accept being shut in and actually closing that door when you aren't around. Cutting off access to the cat flap might make them realise that no one can get into them. Or if they are any thing like one of mine they will be trying to dig a tunnel or take the door off its hinges.

Putting the frosted film on the glass might help, but it always surprises me how much a cat can seem to make out even if the glass is frosted. It might be worth taping something really opaque to the glass, as a quick fix some large cardboard boxes folded flat might work (ask around shops, particularly electrical stores that sell big items) It won't look good, but if it stops the problem you could possibly look for a more permanent solution. If it doesn't help then you know its not that.

As a last resort, it might be worth asking if the vets has a cat behaviourist they could refer you to. A professional might be able to give ideas that we can't think of.

[Kittykatta]

I really appreciate you helping me to think this through! I had assumed closing the door to the utility room would amount to the same as locking the cat flap, but perhaps it's preferable as if there were still outside they could retreat into the utility room until we were back (in which case we would put some food/water and cat bed back in there. And during the night - presumably we would need to keep it closed again so that wouldn't have access outside? I take the point about trying a more opaque glass covering - that's worth a try.

Since my last post I discovered she had marked in my daughter's bedroom where she likes to sleep on the bed as well (luckily up against a plastic bag and it didn't go on her carpet) so I'm looking at having to keep all the bedroom doors permanently closed unfortunately. My husband thinks it time she was rehomed but needless to say the children would be up in arms. I'm afraid consulting a cat behaviourist is definitely (financially) out of the question. No pet insurance or funds for that sadly. Thanks for your help!

[Alice]

This page may be worth reading, if you haven't already, for advice and helpful suggestions....

http://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-to ... ay-indoors

You don't need to pay for a behaviourist's advice - you can email the Catchat behaviourist and get free advice....

[email protected]

I do understand the problems you're having and hope you can find a solution quickly.

[Ruth B]

Glad to be able to give some help even if it is just a bit of brainstorming.

I would always prefer to leave a cat shut in rather than shut out, and when I mentioned shutting the utility room door I was thinking about them being shut in on the kitchen/dining room side. However if they are outside and won't come in when you need to go out, or are the type that will tear the house apart trying to get out, then shutting them in the utility room is certainly an option and better than them being left out in the cold.

The only other thing I can think of is to add an extra tray and try a different type of litter in it. Something with a totally different texture might work, if you use one of the wood pellet ones then try one of the fine grain types.

[Kittykatta]

Hello,

I'd like to contact the cat behaviourist about this as suggested but can't get the link provided by Alice to work (it just says Outlook has stopped working and it can't seem to find a solution to this) - is there another way I can contact them please, as it would be great to run all this by them?

Thanks for all your support - it is a very frustrating problem! I think it's no coincidence that currently most of her marking (it's a combination of small amounts and large amounts, so I think it's urine soiling and marking) is in the dining room where they are shut at night but can get into the utility room and out of the cat flap. I'm at the point where it's bad enough to warrant keeping the utility door room shut so they will have to come and ask to go out when we're around during the day and if we're not around when they want to come in again they will be able to get into the utility room (where there's a cat bed and food until we get back. I think we're going to need to bite the bullet and keep them shut in the dining room area (with no access to outside) at night, as there's no point having this system in place during the day and not at night, which is possibly when she feels most insecure.

[Crewella]

Will it work if you just copy and paste (or type) [email protected] directly into an email? Good luck.

[Kittykatta]

Hi - Yes I think it's worked, thanks!