Just ideas that I may have already posted: Try a fairly large Rubbermaid
container with an unscented litter. The high sides may provide security as
Nina has suggested. You could try it with and/or without the lid on it. My
cats had scented litter. I strongly urge you not to use it. Arm and Hammer
makes an unscented (almost) one and I think there are others. Once I found
one my cats accepted I didn't change.
Have Yodel's anal glands checked. They may be impacted.
Use Feliway spray where he should not go and in his area in general.
Try Rescue Remedy in his water.
If you have men who will
exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of
compassion and pity, you will have men who
will deal likewise with
their fellow man.
St.
Francis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <felvtalk@felineleukemia.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: a little help with litter training the new cat
Hi Jeni,
I'm sorry Yodel is having difficulties adjusting :(. You didn't mention
if Yodel's stool is normal looking, or if it is loose. I'm wondering if
using the bathtub had to do with seeking privacy. He might have felt
safer when in, um, such a vulnerable position, having the walls of the tub
around him. Why don't you try a covered box? You could add that just
about anywhere without worry about the dogs helping them to a smelly
treat, (unless your dogs are small enough to go in there too!). You said
you changed the type of litter you were using, but you didn't say what
kind it is. I have found that my cats prefer the silty clumping litter
the best. Maybe because it's softer on their paws, more like outside dirt
in consistency and not as messy in between litterbox cleaning. From what
you say, it sounds like Yodel may need a little more time to acclimate to
your household. One technique for litterbox aversion, that is not health
related, is to isolate kitty in a smaller room with one or two litterboxes
readily available. So putting Yodel back into the bathroom, might help on
both counts. I use a screen door on the bathroom at first to allow the
new cat to adjust to their new home's sights and smells, it's hard on them
to be isolated behind closed doors. After they have gotten used to
everyone's presence and there is no more hissing, I'll switch to a low
barrier, (my dogs respect barriers though). That way Yodel can retreat
back to his safe haven just by hopping the barrier. Of course, Papoose
can follow, but it will be easier for Yodel to contend with him and it
will have been established that it's Yodel's territory which will give him
the upper paw. One other thing, make sure there are plenty of high
"perches" that Yodel can quickly retreat to throughout the apt. Knowing
he can escape unwanted attention quickly will help him feel more secure.
I'm sorry about your husband's coat, but I'm betting that Yodel is much
more upset about things than he is! Nina
JENI RECA wrote:
Hi,
I know this was the best place to ask about cat questions, so here
goes...I just brought a new feluk postive 6 month old cat
(Yodel-lay-he-hoo, yodel for short) to our apartment, we have a feluk
postive 6 month old cat (papoose) now and three dogs. Yodel seems not to
like to poo in the litter box, but will poo in the bath tub and also on
top of my husbands coat on the kitchen table (wow was he not happy about
that, since he didnt even want the first cat) ...our set up at first when
we brought him home to our one bedroom apartment was, yodel in the
bathroom with his own litter pan and papoose had the rest of the place
with his own litter pan. Yodel pooed in the tub, the cat behavorist at
the shelter thought he liked the feeling of the tub and suggested we take
out some of the litter, so we did, and well that didn't help, but we
didnt find poo in the tub, but we didnt see any in the litterpan and well
couldnt find any presents in the bathroom. We gave him more run of the
house and (that may have not been the best choice but he was meowing up a
storm in the bathroom!) we thought we were going ok for a little some poo
in the litter box which is located in a crate with a small opening for
the cats to go in and out of, but the dogs that love to eat poo can not
get to it (just our luck dogs that love to eat cat poo). The other night
he pooed on my husbands coat. I am going to introduce another litter box
in the crate, but we unfortunately can not place a bunch all over the
place because of our dogs. Any suggestions , we are going to try
different litter and hopefully try to get a litter pan that the dogs cant
get into...thank you
oh and papoose seems to like to beat up yodel and hold him down and then
lick him furiously and then beat him up again..is that odd? (i just feel
bad for the new cat, cause he is such a lover and he hates the dogs and
papoose is a bully to him)
