Author Topic: So I need some advice (animal related)  (Read 790 times)

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Offline AverageJane

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So I need some advice (animal related)
« on: September 05, 2014, 04:39:41 am »
I feel bad posting this here but am hoping there are some animal lover's who may give me some advice,  I was going to post on zoklet where my personality is better known but after seeing some recent posts there I don't know if I would get the advice I am seeking.

So about 6 months ago I took a cat in, she constantly visited my yard eating my dogs food and was in good health. She looked like a house cat someone didn't want any more, she was fat and not beat up, shiny coat etc. Whenever I would take my dog out at night she would come in the yard and we slowly bonded and I gained her trust. I found out she had no front claws so that also hinted to her having been someone's pet at sometime. Anyway, I got worried for her and gave her a home and for the first few weeks she wouldn't leave my basement where her litter box and food was but we became homes and she fit in well with my son and my dog.

She recently started pissing all over my home and if you know cat pee, you know how disgusting and vile it is. I am a little OCD with home cleanliness so this started to piss me off. I tried different litters, a second litter box and took her to the vet to make sure she didn't have any problems (she doesn't, she's also fixed and the vet agreed she must have been someone's pet not too long ago due to her health and weight etc). With a small child in my home I eventually got to the point where I told her "yo this shit isn't gonna fly", as much as it broke my heart to feel that way. I started feeling like maybe she was just a bitch and wanted to make her mark.

After having to clean my bed linens for the 3rd time (not the only place she pissed) I was done. I decided to bring her back outside and feed her daily, visit her and figured she did it once before she would be fine again.

WRONG. She was only out one night and today my mail lady knocked on my door to tell me a cat was in my side yard with their head stuck in the chain link fence. I panicked and ran outside, sure enough, it was her in her fat derpy glory on her back with her head stuck in the fence. I thought of calling animal control but I didn't want her euthanized.  I got some wire cutters and cut the fence and got her out and brought her back in the basement and shut the door so she wouldn't pee all over the place again. She had no marks on her neck and wasn't showing any signs of pain but she is acting weird... won't eat (she hasn't the past few days) and won't move from this one spot in the basement. It sounds sick but I feel like she's dying and it's freaking me out and I feel horrible. I don't want to find her dead. I have no money the next 2 checks to bring her to a vet and this was obviously unexpected. I figured she would come back to my yard to eat but not commit kitty suicide. :( I cried like a baby when I kicked her out and cried when I saw her in the fence and am about to cry thinking of her withering away in my basement for god-knows-why but pissing all over my house is not going to fly. I have bigger fish to fry than a cat being a diva. I have had cats growing up but never one who acts like this.

TLDR: took in a homeless housecat/stray, we were homies until she started pissing everywhere for no reason and she tried to commit kitty suicide after me putting her back outside and idk wtf to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am a sap with a big heart but anything that could endanger my son's health and ruin the integrity of my home is a big "fuck no".

Also, shelters in my area require me to pay for them to take her in and word on the street is they will get put down anyway 90% of the time. I'm also wary of putting her in Craigslist because people are fucked and I'd like to know what happens to her and I worry someone may not be as tolerant of her acting out as I had been.
Monsters are not under your bed, they are inside of your head.

Offline Σ

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2014, 04:44:36 am »
This may sound strange but I would highly recommend watching a few episodes of "My Cat From Hell". I have learned a lot about my the behavior of my girlfriends cats by watching it and you may find a remedy for your problem or at least get the idea ball rolling.
tl;dr: idealism will not un-rape you.

Offline ed rush

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2014, 04:50:22 am »
Thats pretty sad, wish I had some better advice for you but you take a big risk when you become emotionally invested in something you can't control. Hope it works out for both of you.
“Food made by hand is an act of defiance and runs contrary to everything in our modernity.Find it; eat it; it will go. It has been around for millennia. Now it is evanescent, like a season.” ― Bill Buford.

Offline fanglekai

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2014, 04:50:25 am »
Pet the kitty.

Love the kitty.

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Offline ed rush

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2014, 04:56:04 am »
Pet the kitty.

Love the kitty.

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Is that from the Tao?
“Food made by hand is an act of defiance and runs contrary to everything in our modernity.Find it; eat it; it will go. It has been around for millennia. Now it is evanescent, like a season.” ― Bill Buford.

Offline AverageJane

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2014, 04:57:09 am »
This may sound strange but I would highly recommend watching a few episodes of "My Cat From Hell". I have learned a lot about my the behavior of my girlfriends cats by watching it and you may find a remedy for your problem or at least get the idea ball rolling.

This might sound even weirder but I have watched a lot of episodes of that show (Jackson Galaxy kind of gives me the skeevies) and the extra litter box and different litter brand suggestions came from that. I also used some of his tips to befriend her once I brought her in my home and she was skittish. She's a sweet cat but her behavior says otherwise, to me at least. I don't know where she's been or how she acted in her prior home or how long ago that was. I feel like I bit off more than I can chew because I just wanted to help her and now it blew up in my face. I am a really compassionate person and it broke my heart to think of her getting hurt outside but I feel like I should've just left her in the first place when she first started coming around. I worried about her getting hurt and now I'm worried about finding her dead in my basement, she wasnt stuck in the fence at 7am when i took my dog out but I hadnt been out since and the mail lady found her in the fence at 3:30pm... It's just a big mind fuck ya know?

Thats pretty sad, wish I had some better advice for you but you take a big risk when you become emotionally invested in something you can't control. Hope it works out for both of you.

Thank you for the kind words!! I'm glad there are some people who understand why I'm so torn by this.

I feel like a bad person wondering if I should just take her on a car ride with a shit ton of kitty treats and food and let her go somewhere in the open where she wont end up in a fence and have fun doing what she did before I had her and die happy or find her dead downstairs. I can't shake the feeling she is slipping away and I feel like a really crappy person.

Again, sorry for posting here but I didn't know who else to ask - not a lot of friends or family members have cat experience.
Monsters are not under your bed, they are inside of your head.

Offline Σ

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2014, 05:06:15 am »
Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Fang I used to really not like you but now your starting to grow on me.

Also the reason its pissing everywhere is probably because it has some feeling about its territory its trying to convey. Or it could have a bladder problem.

My main questions would be:
1. How did it try to commit suicide?
2. Where exactly is it pissing? It may seem like your cat is pissing everywhere but its pissing in specific places. You need to consider exactly what your cat is pissing on and contemplate why.
3. Does your cat have a good view of whats going on outside from multiple points? If you tend to keep the blinds shut and your cat cant see whats outside it would get very upset and that could be a problem.
4. Is there a possibility that your cat senses its territory is being infringed upon by an outsider? Anything from new neighbors or pets in the neighborhood to a new boyfriend its not quite comfortable with could make it feel on edge and insecure about its domain.
tl;dr: idealism will not un-rape you.

Offline Buggernaut

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2014, 05:15:24 am »
Negative reinforcement. Keep a spray bottle filled with water. If the cat pisses where it's not meant to, it gets the hose again.

Offline fanglekai

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2014, 05:20:35 am »
Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Fang I used to really not like you but now your starting to grow on me.

Also the reason its pissing everywhere is probably because it has some feeling about its territory its trying to convey. Or it could have a bladder problem.

My main questions would be:
1. How did it try to commit suicide?
2. Where exactly is it pissing? It may seem like your cat is pissing everywhere but its pissing in specific places. You need to consider exactly what your cat is pissing on and contemplate why.
3. Does your cat have a good view of whats going on outside from multiple points? If you tend to keep the blinds shut and your cat cant see whats outside it would get very upset and that could be a problem.
4. Is there a possibility that your cat senses its territory is being infringed upon by an outsider? Anything from new neighbors or pets in the neighborhood to a new boyfriend its not quite comfortable with could make it feel on edge and insecure about its domain.

I'm awesome and you'll learn what it is I do.

The cat needs to be loved. She needs to feel secure. Pissing on stuff is a territorial instinct. Indoor cats don't do it normally. Outdoor cats do it.

Honestly just love the kitty.

Offline AverageJane

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2014, 05:39:51 am »
Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Fang I used to really not like you but now your starting to grow on me.

Also the reason its pissing everywhere is probably because it has some feeling about its territory its trying to convey. Or it could have a bladder problem.

My main questions would be:
1. How did it try to commit suicide?
2. Where exactly is it pissing? It may seem like your cat is pissing everywhere but its pissing in specific places. You need to consider exactly what your cat is pissing on and contemplate why.
3. Does your cat have a good view of whats going on outside from multiple points? If you tend to keep the blinds shut and your cat cant see whats outside it would get very upset and that could be a problem.
4. Is there a possibility that your cat senses its territory is being infringed upon by an outsider? Anything from new neighbors or pets in the neighborhood to a new boyfriend its not quite comfortable with could make it feel on edge and insecure about its domain.

I'm awesome and you'll learn what it is I do.

The cat needs to be loved. She needs to feel secure. Pissing on stuff is a territorial instinct. Indoor cats don't do it normally. Outdoor cats do it.

Honestly just love the kitty.

This makes me sad because all I have done is love her! She has been treated very well since I homed her. Always a clean litterbox, good food, treats, catnip and toys galore :(




1. How did it try to commit suicide?
That was a bit of an exaggeration on my part playing off of my guilt for putting her back outside. I felt horrible for doing it and then she comes back to the fence right by the right side of the back of my house and gets stuck in the fence (she was stuck by her head/neck) and I felt like she wasn't going to go "play nice" like "bitch you kicked me out now I will die right by your bedroom window"... I know it was her being dumb and she just got stuck but still. My back yard is huge and I brought her to the WAY back of my yard where she first started coming around with her food over the fence (it backs up to an empty lot) where she used to roam. I guess it was just traumatic for me to find her lIke that when she easily came and went since shortly after I moved in here.

2. Where exactly is it pissing? It may seem like your cat is pissing everywhere but its pissing in specific places. You need to consider exactly what your cat is pissing on and contemplate why.

I have wracked my brain about this. It has been on my bed (I just bought a new king mattress before I moved here so I was livid), on my area rug in my living room, on the landing at the bottom.of the basement stairs (3 feet from her litterbox), in the bathroom on my bath rug........ yuck. I love a clean home and even enjoy cleaning but I have done enough cat piss laundry, thrown away items and cleaned the carpets enough now for a life time.

3. Does your cat have a good view of whats going on outside from multiple points? If you tend to keep the blinds shut and your cat cant see whats outside it would get very upset and that could be a problem.

She loves to look out the windows, she has free window reign in the house. I thought maybe she was seeing cats outside and peeing like 'get out of my yard this is my turf' so I limited her window access and it continued at the same rate.

4. Is there a possibility that your cat senses its territory is being infringed upon by an outsider? Anything from new neighbors or pets in the neighborhood to a new boyfriend its not quite comfortable with could make it feel on edge and insecure about its domain.

I wish I could say I had a new boyfriend lmao or any kind of new exciting things going on in my life but it's the same old same old. My son (2) even came under fire for awhile by myself to make sure he wasn't taunting her at all and he hasn't. They have warmed up to each other very well and he is always "nice to kitty".

Here's the kicker with the last question, the biggest change is me being home more from work. Mayne she doesn't want me in her house?! I thought everything has been peachy keen, she was constantly cuddling me and purring, doing cute cat things but in light of recent family events I have had to take some time off of work and cut down on my 40+ hr work week. I'm not sure how to fix that problem because it is my house....... at least I thought it was :(
« Last Edit: September 05, 2014, 05:42:54 am by AverageJane »
Monsters are not under your bed, they are inside of your head.

Offline bling bling

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Re: So I need some advice (animal related)
« Reply #10 on: September 06, 2014, 01:24:39 pm »
fire the catapult