Cat middening

curly from cork

I asked for advice recently about our 18 month old cat diving at us attacking and biting. That issue remains unresolved to a large extent. We have just become more wary of him and warn everyone who rubs him that he will snap.
However about 2 weeks ago he was limping and out of sorts , we took him to the vet who had to knock him out to examine him . He discovered he had been bitten on his hip . Antibiotics etc .. he recovered quite quickly and seemed to be fine . A few days later we lifted our carpet. We were about three days with a cement floor waiting on new carpet. For each of these days he pooped in different areas of the room but always on the concrete. He had never ever done this before as he is free to go out his cat flap when he wishes. We put it down to his vet visit and maybe he hadn’t seen the concrete before . New carpet arrived .. all was perfect for about 10 days but the last two days he has pooped . Not in the same spot but close . We cleaned up thoroughly and spayed anti bacterial cleaner .. but same thing again this morning. We cleaned again and two hours later he peed there ! We can’t close the room off as it’s open plan.
Can anyone offer advice ? He has gone from a lovely cat to one with a lot of issues .. he is loved and spoilt , sleeps at the end of our bed, and generally comes and goes as he pleases. He is a pedigree cat , I say this because I wonder is he too highly bred ( whatever that means ) our new carpet deserves better .. any help please ?

Nody

You say anti bacterial cleaner but did you get one specifically for cat pee? Because a normal cleaner would not remove the cat pee smell for a cat (it would for you due to the parfume). Also you did not mention it but does he have an indoor toilet to use? If not make sure to get him a big one asap with clay litter and clean it at least daily (scooping out pop etc.).

Secondly on rubbing; are you doing full back brushes from head to tail? That's usual to trigger cats as you'll see their tails to start flicking as they get more and more worked up about it. Bellies are even more sensitive area for cats to be touched which in many will trigger instant four paw grab and bite reaction. If so limit yourself to scratching between his head only and his cheeks if he turns his head that way; keep an eye on his tail and learn over time what areas of his body triggers him. It could be touching the base of the tail (one of our cats hate it); it could be the full back brushing etc. but watching the tail you'll start to see what triggers swishing (which in turn is the trigger for an attack).

curly from cork

Thank you for the reply. he hasn't had a cat tray since he was a kitten. We did put it back in over the period when he started pooping on the concrete floor but he just ignored it but I can re instate it if you think it would work ? but not in the area he's pooping in I take it ?
The antibacterial spray is just a household one. I didn't realise there was a cat one but I will investigate. Re the rubbing we only rub his head and cheeks really, we definitely don't full rub as he hates that. he seems to have a very short fuse as he's enjoying the rub and before his tail even has a chance to swish.. he has snapped. his ears will go back and that's the earliest sign you get to stop.. quickly!

Nody

curly from cork wrote: »

Thank you for the reply. he hasn't had a cat tray since he was a kitten but I can re instate it if you think it would work ? but not in the area he's pooping in I take it ?

Yes; after two weeks or so you can start inching it to what ever spot you want it to be in permanently.

The antibacterial spray is just a household one. I didn't realise there was a cat one but I will investigate.

Cat & dog pee contains a protein which needs a specific cleaner to break down; if it's not broken down cats & dogs return to pee there as they can smell it as a "pee spot". You can find such cleaners in any normal pet shop.

Re the rubbing we only rub his head and cheeks really, we definitely don't full rub as he hates that. he seems to have a very short fuse as he's enjoying the rub and before his tail even has a chance to swish.. he has snapped. his ears will go back and that's the earliest sign you get to stop.. quickly!

Ears back is a sign of attack is imminent on a target; have you tried using a brush instead to remove your hand from the equation? He may have an issue with hands due to earlier interactions causing a trauma.

Count Down

This sounds like he's been attacked by another cat and he's afraid to go out so he uses the house to pee in and thus marks his territory to warn off this other cat.
The scratching and biting is probably just his personality - some cats are like that and you're just unlucky enough to own one!
We had a ginger tom once who wouldn't let anyone touch him except when he was hungry - but once he was fed he returned to his vicious ways!

curly from cork

Count Down wrote: »

This sounds like he's been attacked by another cat and he's afraid to go out so he uses the house to pee in and thus marks his territory to warn off this other cat.


Hmmm good thinking well that would certainly tally with the bite on his hip ..and the timing is on and around the same . We will organise a cat litter ray and see how that goes

twomonkeys

Your cat sounds a bit stressed out. The trauma of being bitten, going to the vet, and then his surroundings changing (an already stressed cat will see new carpet as a huge environment change) has freaked him out.
You need to find ways of reducing his stress. Have you tried using Feliway diffusers/spray or even catnip??

tedpan

Do you use cat toys to play with the cat, danglers etc?

irishlady29

If you still have the old carpet, cut a large piece off and leave it in the room. The familar smells from it may settle him a bit.
I have a very anxious dog. It was suggested i get Adaptil plug in. Its about 50 euro. Im willing to try anything. Bought it and have it plugged in for just over a week. I believe it can take awhile to work, but reviews are positive. Might be worth giving it a go.

Rainbow Kitty

I've heard that Tom cats will settle down if they are neutered. I got a female kitten just before Christmas and she does the biting thing as well, my hands are covered in scratches and bites, she stalks us all the time too. This is a normal thing for cats as it's in their dna to stalk things. I will be getting her spayed as soon as she turns 6 months as there are enough stray cats and kittens out there!

curly from cork

He is neutered already , re the old peice of carpet good thinking but we dumped every bit of it ! We don’t really play with dangle type toys more with things along the ground like mice, balls, pens . Things we can roll . We were trying to stop him from jumping up at us. Cat nip I haven’t heard of ..

eezipc

We had a similar problem but worse. The cat kept peeing on the couch. It's so hard to stop them doing it but he has not done it for about two weeks now.
What worked for us was the cat litter tray. We brought it back into the house and we spent a week carrying him to the tray. Even when he was sleeping, just kept carrying to the tray.
The tray is back outside now and he seems to have got the memo.
Also he seems to prefer the cheap Tesco cat litter. Not sure why.
We are all happy now. Had to dump the couch though.

curly from cork

We are not doing well ! Bought the antibacterial spray . Cleaned the areas .. put a litter tray close to the spots . He is ignoring the tray and continues to poop . Vet nurse was most unhelpful ( rude ) . He is going out a little and seems to be fine otherwise . Today he went out first thing . Came back . Pooped .. strolled around and went out again.
My new carpet is going to be totally destroyed !!!!!!

loveisdivine

Our cat Ripley has the same problem. She had a bout of constipation and was quiet stressed at the time due to having Ovarian Remnant Syndrome. She started peeing and pooping anywhere but the litter tray. One time she actually pee'd on my head whilst I was asleep in bed.

Anyway, there's good news and bad new. The good is we quickly got the peeing under control. The bad news is, it's 18 months later and she has never pooped in a tray again. Thankfully we have hard floors so it's no problem for us really, but still not ideal. She gets regular doses of lactulose to make sure she's not constipated but I think it's just her routine now. She probably also still associates pooping in a litter tray with pain, from when she was constipated. I don't expect the issue to ever resolve.

Is you car definitely not in any pain or discomfort when pooping?

eezipc

curly from cork wrote: »

We are not doing well ! Bought the antibacterial spray . Cleaned the areas .. put a litter tray close to the spots . He is ignoring the tray and continues to poop . Vet nurse was most unhelpful ( rude ) . He is going out a little and seems to be fine otherwise . Today he went out first thing . Came back . Pooped .. strolled around and went out again.
My new carpet is going to be totally destroyed !!!!!!

Is it always in the same spot?

curly from cork

eezipc wrote: »

Is it always in the same spot?

No but in the same room , he did use the tray one day but has pooped again about 5 mins ago .. I encouraged him outdoors left the door open and watched him , thinking he would feel secure .. he wandered around for a few minutes . Came back in and pooped

mymo

curly from cork wrote: »

No but in the same room , he did use the tray one day but has pooped again about 5 mins ago .. I encouraged him outdoors left the door open and watched him , thinking he would feel secure .. he wandered around for a few minutes . Came back in and pooped

Sounds like he's anxious about outdoors, another cat on his territory, it's common and fights happen, some cats are quite sensitive, I have one like that myself. Look for the feliway or similar diffuser, keep the litter tray, try a different litter, maybe in a second tray, mine like the wood pellet type.
If you don't have a cat scratching post, get one and some cat nip, rub on the post to encourage use. I find my anxious boy likes to sit on the high perch on the cat tree, so if you can, get a tall one.
All this should help reduce his stress level, make sure if you let him out, you leave a window or door open for him.