Paige Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 We have a kitten who is about 7months old. When we first brought him home in Sept at about 8 weeks, he was perfect. He was perfect until around Christmas when he started peeing outside of his box, attacking my older cat, and getting cranky with the kids. He was treated for an UTI and neutered. After his antibiotics and neutering, he chilled out for a while and we thought the problems were solved. However, now, that he's feeling better (about 3 weeks post-op) he is worse than ever. I frequently find him on top of my senior declawed cat with his mouth on her neck. I doubt he's trying to kill her, but she is stressed. He goes after her every chance he gets and he is a very large kitten. He is longer and taller than her already, but he probably still doesn't weigh as much. She dislikes him but mostly ignores him unless he comes after her. We try to use baby gates to keep him out of her areas but he jumps them and she can't jump that high anymore. Then, there's the peeing. He is not spraying. He is peeing. It is not "a small amount." If the dogs' water dish is full he drinks and splashes in it. If it is empty or close to empty, he pees in it. How can he drink, then turn around and pee in the same bowl??? He will pee on any bag, box, or paper that is on the floor: kids backpacks, homework that has fallen on the floor, toy boxes/baskets that aren't completely full, laundry baskets, plastic and paper grocery bags, shiny dress up clothes, even the lids to the toy boxes. It is obvious that he is looking for an appropriate place and he can hold it because he never pees directly on the carpet, and if we catch him and tell him no, he will run downstairs and go in his box. He did not pee outside his box until around Christmas and now it is at least once or twice a day. I never thought I'd say this, but I am seriously getting tempted to take him back to the shelter. We rent and our landlady would flip out if she knew he was peeing on the floor so much. He also has been scratching and biting my kids for no good reason. He never bites me but I have seen them holding him gently and he just turns his head and bites them hard enough to bleed and leave marks. He used to be so sweet and docile. I will excuse a cat for biting if he is being squeezed or harassed, but he usually seems perfectly content being loved on until he lashes out. We give him lots of attention. He has his own box and it is cleaned daily and is away from all the other pets. It is not hooded, is large and deep, and has unscented clumping litter. Nothing has changed. He clearly does not care to share, however, because he prefers to annoy my older cat and pee in her box. His water is now in the bathtub because he splashes so much and it is in a separate room from his box. The dogs' water is now outside. He has access to his box at all times. When he is naughty, we tell him no, blow in his face lightly, and put him in the basement (finished/daylight- not a dungeon) with his own food/water/box and away from the other pets for a little time out. I plan on taking him back to the vet when they open on Monday to see if there is anything else medically wrong with him, and I think we might be banning him to the basement all the time for a while. The kids can visit him and play with him there and it has more than enough room. I'd like to confine him in a room with his box but we can't because he splashes so much the water has to be in the bathtub or he'll ruin the carpet. I don't know what to do. We love him, but I'm not going to keep a pet that pees all over our stuff, draws blood on the kids, and attacks my elderly cat. I have never surrendered a pet before and have always been horrified by the idea of it, but he's making me miserable and my house stinks. I keep finding new places he's peed that we didn't notice. Do you think his UTI never cleared up? I thought the vet would tell us it was behavioral since the antibiotics didn't change anything. Maybe we need a new vet? I really want to keep him and fix him. DH says he's defective. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Growing up my neighbors had a cat like that. He was an indoor/outdoor cat and would terrorize their elderly cat and attack people randomly from under bushes. He terrorized the neighborhood his entire life. I know it was not the fault of his owners because all of their other cats were always wonderful. It was just who he was. He would come to our house and challenge my male cat. My cat was very large, though, and heavy and strong. He would win against Kahuna every time. But their fights were awful. One time we came home from vacation and there was black hair (my cat) and grey hair (Kahuna) all over our garage. All over. My cat even got a torn cornea once. :( We had to start keeping our female cat inside because she was a cowering wimp, poor dear, and had no defense against him. Anyway, it really could just be who your cat is. I would definitely look into the possibility that the antibiotic was the wrong thing for the specific bacteria causing your cat's UTI, though. Last UTI I had took two different antibiotics to go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Anyway, it really could just be who your cat is. I would definitely look into the possibility that the antibiotic was the wrong thing for the specific bacteria causing your cat's UTI, though. Last UTI I had took two different antibiotics to go away. I have often wondered if animals can be mentally ill or have low IQs. I think they can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Nevermind. He's fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I have often wondered if animals can be mentally ill or have low IQs. I think they can. They definitely can. I had a dog who was dumb as a rock and I swear she had doggy Autism. She never looked people in the eye, ever. If she wanted something, she went to your feet as if they were your face or something. It was like she couldn't connect with people's faces. We took her through beginner dog classes twice and then they moved her up to intermediate just so we wouldn't have to do beginner's again. It's not like she has learned much. She could do three things, all at random. Sit, down, and her version of heel, which was her jumping against your leg and then sitting to your side. It didn't matter which you asked her to do, she would do those randomly until she got it right. I loved her, but I've never met a dumber dog. And she wasn't just dumb. Something was wrong with her mind, too. She was beautiful though. Curly blonde hair with little white freckles on her nose. Her papers clearly showed that she was inbred. :001_huh::lol: I'm not kidding. People, don't breed your dogs to their own family. The results aren't pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) He is a teenager. Kittens got through a destructive stage (in my experience). I swat cats, I push their nose in the pee and toss it outside. I make it clear I'm boss. If I caught kitty doing in the other, WHOMP! and a bad, angry scolding. Also, plenty of exercise ("CatDancer" is great) and loving when he is being good. Some kitties do well with a teeny touch of valium. HTH Edited February 4, 2012 by kalanamak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in AL Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I have often wondered if animals can be mentally ill or have low IQs. I think they can. :iagree: I used to have a cat that we were all sure was *very* lacking in intelligence. Even the way she looked at us just screamed "nobody home". She caught birds, so that instinct was there, but she just seemed quite 'dumb'. OP, if another round of antibiotics doesn't help the kitty (I agree with a pp who said it sometimes takes two rounds), you may just find yourself having to make a terrible decision. This just may be the way your cat is. Also, it may be worth it to seek a second opinion if another round of antibiotics doesn't help. Could you stick another box on the main level of your house? That might help until you (hopefully) get things under control. I'm so sorry, as I can only imagine how tough this is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I'd move the litter box(es) to the main floor before moving the kitten to the basement. Make sure that it/they are cleaned daily so he doesn't look for a cleaner place. It sounds like he's trying to dominate your older kitty and needs to learn who's boss - that would be you. I would watch him carefully and correct him quickly when he goes after her. Generally cats don't like to get wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I have a cat who is prone to UTI's. Her last bout required 3 antibiotic injections two weeks apart. That finally took care of it. My male kitty (just turned 1 year old) loves pouncing on his twin sister and our order cat. He bites their neck etc. as well. His sister play fights back, but the older cat runs from him. He isn't being mean, just playful in a rather aggressive way. I suspect that is what your kitten is doing too. (We had one who did attack the other cat meanly, so I do know the difference.) I would suggest finding a method of discipline that works on him to break the play fighting habit. Squirting him with water or shaking a can of pennies (that might frighten the other cat though) might be the ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 We can't easily put a box on the main floor because we have 2 dogs who think that cat poop is a treat. They aren't allowed upstairs or downstairs and keeping the boxes there keeps the dogs out of them. The kids are in the basement a lot. It's their play area with couches, a tv, games, legos, a play house, train table, books, etc. I do think that some animals are born different or mentally ill. One of my dogs is really stupid, but he's sweet. I can take stupid, but I don't want a cat with oppositional defiant disorder or who is otherwise a sociopath. I don't understand the personality change. He used to love having the girls "kittywear" him in an infant sling while he slept. He slept in their beds, and he never scratched, bit, or peed anywhere out of his box. He didn't attack my older cat either until recently. Hopefully it is a teenager phase like someone mentioned or something else fixable. He's not horrible all the time and is still very sweet with us most of the time. He still wants to sleep with the girls but they don't like it anymore because he keeps attacking them in their sleep (pouncing as they wiggle- not malicious). I'd consider putting him on kitty prozac or something before taking him back to the shelter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto3boys Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 My cat who is now 13 has peed inappropriately his entire life...this past summer when my hubby was deployed and I was pregnant with our third I was about to find him a new home because I was at my wits end. Someone recommended Cat Attract litter...you can buy it at PetSmart and places like that and since I switched he hasn't had one episode. This is a cat that I had on antidepressents, used feliway diffusers, mulitple medical screenings over the years, and nothing else had worked. The litter is pricey-about $20 a bag, but they guarantee it will work and a bag last forever. it's worth a shot! Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have a very sweet kitty who I'm convinced is quite low on the feline IQ scale. He's the one who, for example, will, at age 11, still regularly notice his tail, chase it, catch it, BITE it, scream, look around to see who bit him, then notice his tail and repeat. He regularly gets his claws stuck in the carpet, and can't figure out to retract them, which all my other cats have mastered. He also doesn't seem to recognize people unless he's around them a lot. As far as your kitty goes-are you absolutely sure he's fully neutered? Jumping on the other cat's back and biting her neck isn't fighting-it's attempting to mate, and peeing can be marking behavior and is more common in unneutered cats. Maybe he had a third, undescended testicle or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I had a kitten like the one the op is having problems with. We tried for weeks to calm him down, but he was the most vicious kitten I've ever seen in my life. Ever. He wouldn't just pounce, he would cling to you and bite and claw and yowl. We finally just gave up and brought him to the shelter, where I'm fairly sure he was put down immediately. Dd still has scars from that little beast. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I never had a problem cat but we just watched a marathon of My Cat from Hell and learned a LOT about why cats have issues. Maybe it could help, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennsmile Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 As a kid I had a cat that became an outdoor cat. She loved using anything and everything as a litter box. As an adult I had the crazy barn cat we tried to housetrain. She lived well as an indoor outdoor cat for many years. She was crazy but we dealt with her as best we could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 As far as playfully attacking people in bed under covers when they move, in our experience, that's completely normal for his age. It takes a few more months before they seem to outgrow that painful, playful stage. :) I can remember being afraid to move an inch for fear of attack ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooooom Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 They develop a fear of their litterbox because it hurt when they used it. I have had to retrain one of my cats twice (and he is definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer). I did this by putting him in a large dog crate (that we already had). There is enough room in there for a litter box and a towel for him to lie down on. In the beginning he would sit in the litterbox and pee on the towel. After a few days (probably when he realized that it didn't hurt anymore) he would reverse and go back to the right order of things. You don't have to keep him in there 24/7, the kids would go down and let him out while keeping an eye on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have a male cat that is prone to UTI's. He gets at least one a year (and yes - we're doing everything right). He did learn to "fear" the pain in his litter box. We had to offer him a second on in a totally different room. I also bought cat-nip spray and sprayed the heck out of both boxes :) That helped. If a cat is peeing (not spraying), and prefers to pee on soft things (in our case- laundry), that is a sure sign of a UTI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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