Cat owners

[Blair138]

Do you have a humane/safe way for keeping cats out of rooms? My brother''s male cat has sprayed 2 of my very expensive pieces of luggage and ruined them for good. I am ready to kill it. I shut my door, but he can get in. Is there any way to keep him out? He won''t be leaving for another month until my brother goes back to school. HELP!!!!

 

[princesss]

Is there any way to baby-proof the door? I know a lot of people that do that.

 

[jewelerman]

I can feel your pain...my sisters cat did this in an open suit case with my clothing still in it when i went for a visit!Seems that i was staying in the cats room...im cusious...how does the cat get in with the door shut?

 

[blondebunny]

Date: 7/26/2008 6:46:31 PM
Author: jewelerman
I can feel your pain...my sisters cat did this in an open suit case with my clothing still in it when i went for a visit!Seems that i was staying in the cats room...im cusious...how does the cat get in with the door shut?

my cats open doors... they jump up and hit the handle.. damn cats!

Umm.. well are there any female cats in the house that arent neutered?? We noticed that our kitten was spaying (him sister was at our house and wasnt neutured) and as soon as she was gone he stopped...

its reallly a way of marking territory... i know that I have seen sprays and stuff at like walmart or a pet store before thats supposed to help with it??

OR you just get him neutered?

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 7/26/2008 7:19:58 PM
Author: blondebunny

Date: 7/26/2008 6:46:31 PM
Author: jewelerman
I can feel your pain...my sisters cat did this in an open suit case with my clothing still in it when i went for a visit!Seems that i was staying in the cats room...im cusious...how does the cat get in with the door shut?

my cats open doors... they jump up and hit the handle.. damn cats!

Umm.. well are there any female cats in the house that arent neutered?? We noticed that our kitten was spaying (him sister was at our house and wasnt neutured) and as soon as she was gone he stopped...

its reallly a way of marking territory... i know that I have seen sprays and stuff at like walmart or a pet store before thats supposed to help with it??

OR you just get him neutered?

blond bunny.
That cat opening doors thing is wild!I LEARN ALOT ON THIS FORUM!

 

[blondebunny]

Date: 7/26/2008 7:25:11 PM
Author: jewelerman

Date: 7/26/2008 7:19:58 PM

Author: blondebunny

Date: 7/26/2008 6:46:31 PM

Author: jewelerman

I can feel your pain...my sisters cat did this in an open suit case with my clothing still in it when i went for a visit!Seems that i was staying in the cats room...im cusious...how does the cat get in with the door shut?

my cats open doors... they jump up and hit the handle.. damn cats!


Umm.. well are there any female cats in the house that arent neutered?? We noticed that our kitten was spaying (him sister was at our house and wasnt neutured) and as soon as she was gone he stopped...


its reallly a way of marking territory... i know that I have seen sprays and stuff at like walmart or a pet store before thats supposed to help with it??


OR you just get him neutered?

blond bunny.

That cat opening doors thing is wild!I LEARN ALOT ON THIS FORUM!

ya.. me and ff could figure out how the door to our last bedroom kept opening up..and then we caught her..lol

 

[Elmorton]

Echoing here, but has your brother neutered his cat? Typically, neutering stops that behavior, and it can be done REALLY young and it''s relatively inexpensive. It doesn''t hurt the animal, and it NEEDS to be done - even when a cat is domestic and indoors, it''s really irresponsible to not neuter, as any cat can get loose and the cat population is always larger than the amount of homes for them.

In the meantime, products such as Feliway might be able to help - it''s basically a hormone spray that calms that cat so he doesn''t feel like he needs to mark his territory. There are also plug-in versions that can "scent" the whole room. I don''t think it has a scent to humans, just cats.

You might also take some hot sauce and mix it with water and spray your door, but I tried this on an Xmas tree and it didn''t exactly work.

Please see the vet and get kitty neutered - it''s the humane and responsible thing to do. If he''s already neutered, I might take a trip to the vet anyway - if this is unusual behavior for the kitty, it could be a health problem.

 

[Blair138]

Thanks everyone-well the cat was found as a stray-we believe he wasn''t originally a stray though because he is a Siamese and very well behaved. My brother ''rescued'' him and we don''t know exactly how old he is. BUT he is not a kitten so I don''t know about neutering. As for how he gets in the room, my door doesn''t latch because the door itself sits crooked, and yes, we''ve tried fixing it, save getting a new door, which is a little overkill...

OH- and there is no female cat in the house, but we do have a dog, and I know why he sprays, he does it over places where the dog had accidents before-BUT I Don''t know why it''s always on MY SUITCASES!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

That''s wonderful that your brother has rescued a stray - good for him, and for you for letting them stay with you.

First off, you HAVE to get the cat neutered ASAP. I seriously can''t overstate the importance of this. That is by far the #1 cause of inappropriate elimination/spraying behavior in male cats. It doesn''t matter how old the cat is - it can be done at any age, and is a very minor surgery - most male cats are up and about as normal within 24-48 hours. If cost is an issue, there are almost always free and low cost spay/neuter clinics. Just google your city''s name and "low cost spay/neuter" or call around to local shelters and ask them where to go.

Neutering has numerous health and behavioral benefits, including drastically reducing the risk of testicular and other forms of cancer, as well as relieving significant stress on the part of the cat. I promise - it is the single best thing your brother can do to make his cat happier and a better pet.

As far as the cat''s current behavior, a couple of thoughts. The first is that cat''s noses are MUCH more sensitive than ours, so even if you think you''ve gotten out the smell of the dog''s urine or of the cat''s, the cat can probably still smell it, and as long as kitty can smell it, he will keep peeing there. The only way to truly get rid of the smell is to use an enzymatic cleaner which will actually "digest" the proteins that cause the smell. Nature''s Miracle is a good one (make sure to get the original - most pet stores sell it). Kitty is peeing on your suitcases repeatedly because he can still smell his own urine there and so he thinks its an OK place to pee.

The second is that kitty may be ill. Cats, and male cats especially, are prone to urinary tract infections. These can be very serious, even life-threatening, and need to be checked out. So I''d say a vet visit is high on the list.

There are other possibilities for kitty''s behavior as well, and additional solutions you can try. This link has some really good information about this specific problem - please take a look at it.

 

[Blair138]

Thanks AmberGretchen-I''ll pass the info on to my bro-Ultimately it''s his cat and he decides what to do with him-He talked about neutering in the beginning of the summer and I think he just hasn''t gotten around to it-hopefully he will soon

Oh and the suitcases-it was one time only on 2 separate suitcases from a matching set-I threw the first one out and he killed the second one!!! And my dog didn''t pee on the suitcase at all!!! I think the cat has an aversion to the pattern on the suitcase

 

[zhuzhu]

Don''t assume your luggages are gone for good yet! I used Dumb Cat for my futon - when my Cappo got so confused after we installed a pet door and put his litter box out in the garage. It worked wonders! The smell is completely gone and something about this product keeps cats from marking on the goods. http://www.petco.com/product/12829/Dumb-Cat-Anti-Marking-and-Cat-Spray-Remover.aspx

It is a good idea to keep it handy if you have cats.

 

[omieluv]

Is there anyway you could install a lock on the door? Nothing fancy needed, just one of those hook lock type of things that you can screw into the outside of the door, which would keep it closed, if placed out of kitty reach. When the kitty is gone, you could remove it.

 

[pjean]

Date: 7/28/2008 1:03:29 PM
Author: omieluv
Is there anyway you could install a lock on the door? Nothing fancy needed, just one of those hook lock type of things that you can screw into the outside of the door, which would keep it closed, if placed out of kitty reach. When the kitty is gone, you could remove it.

Now THAT''s a good idea. Blair, I feel your pain - I too have thrown out a suitcase. There''s something about the texture or material that just made it impossible to get the smell out, even with Nature''s Miracle. (I buy NM by the large jug, and I used to have to buy them 2 at a time. Sigh...)