cat p'ssed in baby's cot

[k8bailey]

My two yr old neutered tom is peeing all around the house. He has been doing it for just over a year. when I found out I was pregnant we started to do up the house, nearly everything in it changed, layout of rooms, furniture, new carpets etc. Then my daughter was born, he hasn't been anywhere near her in 7months. He's become very distant from me and my partner, and also quite nervous. This I can live with but the peeing around the house has to stop. He pees in most if not all of the rooms in the house, in various locations. He even does it infront of us! He just stands there with his tail raised and his back end quivering then he runs off leaving a small amout urine.

Today he has got into my daughter empty cot and peed in it. I am sooo angry. What do I do? I am at the point where I feel my only choice is to get rid of him!

He has a catflap. We aso have a 5yr old neutered tom, they both get on fine and the older cat completely accepts my daughter.

We have tried scaring him off when we see him about to do it, rubbing his nose in it, and cleaning with strong smelling dissinfectant. My vets only advice was to get him a litter tray but I don't want him to think its ok too go in the house or for either of the cats to get lazy about going outside.

[terambulan]

He's marking his territory & trying to attract a femail. Is he neutered?

Limit his territory indoors and specially keep him away from your baby.

[MiniMadTez]

Hi, I have heard of this happening several times. The cat isn't accepting your baby and it is not an easy solution. I heard that you can get a spray, but the whole house needs to be cleaned at the same time.....carpets, skirting boards etc.....I would speak to a vet about it to find out for sure what you should do. I know it can be solved, but it may not be a quick fix.

[k8bailey]

Teram - yes he's neutered.

Mini - any ideas where you can get this spray?

LOL at EDDIE - was the toaster on or just plugged in?!!

[Eve]

Could be jealousy, you've changed his domain and introduced a new person who has taken the attention away from him so he is reacting by marking his territory as if to re-enforce his authority.

[madboutcats]

Do not rub his nose in it as it will not help and do not use the disinfectant to clean as it doesnt mask the smell of the urine, use washing powder in hot water as this breaks down the chemicals in the urine and will hopefully stop him going back to the same places, also cats dont like the smell of lemons so maybe get some lemon air fresheners and place where hes going most. The spray is called feli-way and can be bought as a plug in, they dont come cheap, but can be found in pet shops. Jennas right it could be jealousy, though when you started redecorating its upset his usual routine, they are most definatly creatures of habit and change can upset them, i do hope you can sort out this problem, keep us up to date on how things go.

[jules77]

Oh dear, please dont rub his nose in it, you will be making things worse. You need to clean the area with something that will kill off the odour, and strong disinfectant wont do the job. Try

http://www.lamp-post.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod =CH7704

Feli-way could help, try and give him some special attention too, as he is jealous of your new baby, and it wont help if you ignore him in favour of your daughter. But I would restrict him from the bedroom area.

http://www.petmeds.co.uk/nsearch.aspx?keywords =feliway

[carmalee]

just a thought - your cat has been doing since you began re-arranging the house - over a year now and it's become worse since the baby arrived - he's also become more nervous -all these things say he's not happy cat - also when baby gets mobile do you want him/her possibly crawling through areas the cat has used as a toilet. I know it's very difficult but have you considered re-homing him to somewhere where he may be happier. very difficult decision I know but animal welfare organisations will give you advice. whatever you decide good luck

[ruthann58]

you have completly disrupted his life he is feeling insecure and is seeking attention i would look at rehoming him he needs more then you are able to give with the baby taking his place , rubbing his nose in it will do no good whats so ever, as hard as it is to rehome him you must look at what is best for him he obviously needs more attention then your other cat and would be better with someone who can make lots of fuss of him

[Jugglering]

Awww,,,, poor tom is me .... first of all life was wonderful, I had two loving owners but then they decided to totally change my routine and all my familar scents and objects were moved about or removed... and then... just to make things worse, along came a noisy, smelly, time consuming little humanoid who got all the attention and cuddles and I was left on my own... grrrrr... I am so jealous..... Can I have a new home please.....

K8bailey, I am only jesting here of course, but try to envisage life from your cat's perspective. Many cats do not like children and would your tom would probably be far happier in a home without them. As the others have said, please don't rub his nose in any mess he makes, that will only make matters worse. You can buy Feliway online a lot cheaper than in pet shops (petvetcare.co.uk are good) but there's no guarantee that it will calm him down. I would recommend that you ask around your friends and family to see if someone else could offer him a loving home.

[k8bailey]

Right, thanks for all you replies, advice and the links.

I've ordered a feliway plug in diffuser, but I'm also going to take him to see the vet again and see if they can shed any light on this. We're also going to do a proper clean of everything he could've peed on. The starnge thing is that the urine doesn't smell, not to me anyway but I supose he can smell it?

Rehoming him is a possibility but its not what I want to do. He's a lovely cat, who didn't have the best start in life. We tried so hard to keep some sort of routine in place whilst decorating and since having the baby, but it obviously hasn't worked! Also the two cats get on so well, it would be such a shame to separate them.

p.s. We only rubbed his nose in it once, out of pure desparation when nothing else had worked.

[Eve]

Was he a rescue cat? if so, do you know anything about his past?

His past may hold some clue has to why he is so unhappy now.

[k8bailey]

No, he's not a rescue cat. I put an ad in the paper saying I was looking for a kitten, as company for my older male who was used to being around other cats.
I got a call offering me Frankie for free, the owners turned up with him in a hold-all full of dirty old clothes. They weren't intersted in telling me anything about him but claimed he was 8 weeks old. When my mum saw him a week later she said she'd be surprised if he was 6weeks! He was fully litter trained - a blessing as he frequently had diorreah (sp?) He couldn't drink out of a bowl or eat solid food at first. He was also very nervous, skinny, extremely dirty and covered in fleas.

He fell in love with Elvis the first time they met and followed him constantly. He's still really skinny but clean well fed and affectionate. He loves to sleep on the bed, but other than that I hardly see him untill the baby goes to bed, unless he's peeing on something or it's tea time.

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree with minimad and jenna. Your cat's marking his territory and feels second-best now that you have a baby. Keep a cat net over the cot at all times, and have a word with your vet - not just to ask about sprays for the home (that'd be safe to use with a baby around) or for advice about his health, but to see whether the neutering was properly done. Best of luck.

[k8bailey]

Ice - I was wondering about that, could it be that he hasn't been properly neutered? I think to start with he was marking his territory /re-affirming his place in the house but I'm beginning to wonder if it's become a bit of a habit now?

I always shut the door when the baby's in her room and I'm making sure the doors shut all the time now!

[Velvetee]

I'd rehome the cat personally.