I'm a regular lover of ONP products and an online cat whisperer.  I have a website where I regularly help folks with cat problems.  I often recommend ONP products because they are safe, effective and the price is right.  If you or anyone you know needs a bit of help with your cat, ask me here.  I've agreed to help - free of charge - through this forum.

Morgen

http://www.for-the-love-of-cats.com/  

Hi Morgen!

I have 4 kitties...2 of which are littermates, approx. 10 years old (Jag and Mimi) - both neutered males.  My next fur-baby is Jazzy, a spayed female, 4 1/2 years old and the "baby" of the group is Emmy, a spayed female 3 1/2 years old.

To make a long story short, when we had just the "boys" and Jazzy, the home was peaceful.  When Emmy came into our family, a lot of tension began to develop between the boys (esp. Jag) and Jazzy.  As a result, inappropriate urination became very frequent with the boys and Jazzy.  None of the kitties had ever "gone" outside of the litterbox prior to this.  As a side note: I do have numerous litterboxes set up.  5 downstairs and 3 upstairs.  This may sound excessive, but having just the "one per cat plus one" wasn't enough in our case.  So, I have placed a box in every spot that was marked.

As the tension continued to increase, I decided it was best to isolate one of the kits.  Jazzy had a tendency to hide and not socialize, so I gave her a suite of her own.  She now lives in the master suite.  We have a large bedroom with an open sitting 'room' in the area of the bay window.  I covered a bench with a pillow seat, and it is the perfect height to reach the window sill.  The bath suite is also a large area, where I keep her two litterboxes (she prefers to urinate in one and defecate in the other).  We also have a large "wrap-around" closet that I leave open so she can have plenty of hiding spaces, when the mood strikes her.  I also keep a radio on throughout the day.

I work from home and am able spend time with her when my schedule allows a break: usually 30 mins. at a time, 3-4 times a day.  We play with her toys, I brush her, I try to hold her, but she isn't "that kind of cat".  Also, she sleeps at the foot of the bed, so she is with me throughout the night.  On a rare occasion, Emmy will go in and "visit" for a few hours at a time.  They don't interact, but don't mind each other either.

It still seems that Jazz just isn't happy.  She used to vocalize with a series of melodic chirps and mews.  Now, she meows loudly with a demanding or complaining tone.  She used to purr so loudly that she could be heard across the room, but now, she rarely purrs and I have to place my ear against her to hear it.

Since the cats have been separated, there have been no further episodes of inappropriate urination (this used to occur several times per day).  I want my kitties to be happy, and I feel guilty keeping Jazz isolated, no matter how roomy and nice her area is.

I've tried reacquainting the kitties gradually and allowing Jazzy to leave the bedroom and enter a small area where the other cats can (but rarely) access.  Every attempt has resulted in one of the community cats urinating outside the boxes and can last for a couple of days, and Jazzy exhibiting signs of increased stress.

I've tried numerous other things as well, but don't want this message to be any longer than it already is.  Do you have any suggestions as to how I can help my Jazzy to be a happier cat?  I honestly don't feel that reintegrating the cat family will work, so my focus is on helping Jazzy to feel content and happy.

Thanks!  Brynn

it sounds like The group Living/New Home from Pet Essences will be your best bet. 

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Pet-Essences-New-Home--Group-Living-Flower-Essences/137006.aspx?mf0

Added to the water, it calms all the kitties down.  A little added on the top of the front feet will also help to accelerate the calming.

I generally suggest one box for 2 cats, one for each male and at least one extra for each level or floor in a home.  It sounds like the number of litter boxes is not the problem.  However, the scent of repeated markings is a problem.  If you could get some odor remover, that will remove that draw.

Why have you isolated Jazzy?  It is the little one, Emmy, who is the offender to the group.  Jazzy used to be the queen-bee - alpha female.  Now, you have moved Emmy into that position, so Jazzy is very unhappy.  Emmy is the one who should be isolated.  Jazzy is the queen, treat her with respect.  She needs to know she is special, loved and the head of the household.  The boys may be older, but females always run things - look at your own life! ;>)  "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," so the saying goes.  Jazzy is mama in the kitty world.  Emmy needs to back off.  She will only learn to do this if you support Jazzy.

Some scoop-n-smooch will help, too.  Every single time you come in from outside, or out that magic door, where-ever that may be, give Jazzy some scoop-n-smooch.  This means scoop her up & smooch her head someplace.  Usually cheeks and the top of the head is sufficient.  No matter how much she struggles, she really secretly likes it and will pout if you forget it.  Place her gently on the floor when you are done or she struggles a lot.  Keep control of her, don't let her jump or "escape" or the process doesn't work.  You must always keep control. 

Try these suggestions and if you continue to have trouble, contact me at my website.  I'll be glad to help.

Hi Morgen,

I am a cat lover in need of advice.  My husband and I adopted a 1 1/2 yr old spayed female cat 3 yrs ago Pookie is her name.  She had been passed around from home to home and I took her to save her from the shelter.  She is very shy, She bonded with me but seemed unhappy until I adopted  a 11 mos old male from a shelter.  They get along fine. They don't play together but they tolerate each other very well.  I also added a dog to the mix.  Pookie's confidence seemed to increase as she could hold her own with the puppy. We all lived together happily but Pookie would occasionally urininate on the bed or couch.  I assumed it was dirty litter box or once it was a kidney infection.  Now, 3yrs later, we have had a baby and moved to a larger house.  The cats have staked out their territory, Pookie upstairs, and Sam, the male cat, downstairs. But Buddy, the dog, goes everywhere. Pookie now has increased her urinating on the bed and the couch in the living room. (We don't frequent the living room often.) She has been checked out by a vet. We did try anti-depressents but did not work out because she would hide when she knew a pill was due. Sometimes she urinates on the bed where the dog sleeps, sometimes where my husband sleeps and has been known to urinate on the bed on my side while  I was sleeping in it.  She is very bonded with me and I promised her a forever home but I can not live like this.  Can you help us with a solution with out having to re-home her.

Thanks,

Crystal

Your cat is feeling very threatened by the baby.  She is no longer your baby, but the human baby is your special one.  You need to re-train her to the litter box and do some serious deodorizing.  At don't stop at the sheets - all the way to the mattress is how deep to go.

This may mean you and your spouse will be sleeping on the floor for a day or so while the deodorizer dries and works it's magic. 

Get some good deodorizers in and then confine her to a small room - usually a half-bath or the bathroom - with a hard floor.  A utility or laundry room also works well.  Make sure that if there is a sink you put about an inch of water in it and put in the stopper.  No soft things.  She gets litter box and food/water bowls.  Some toys are fine.  She gets lots of attention, affection and love.  She is in re-training, not being punished.

Every morning and evening, you go in and clean the litter box.  Make a big deal about it, scratching the box and making a lot of commotion.  Praise her for any soil in the box.  Ignore all the misses.  Later, come back with food to distract her and quietly clean up the misses.  Make no sounds like groaning while you do this.  This goes on for 3 days.  After 3 days, she should be using the box well, and you can let her out. 

If she is not using the box corectly, clean the box completely, and start over with a new kind of litter.

After you let her out, watch her but not too close.  You want to trust her but you won't exactly.  She knows this.  At the first sign of a problem - when she uses the couch again or something, she goes right back into confinement for 3 days. 

Do not punish!  Punishment does nothing but make an angry cat who wants to get even.

Give her lots of love and affection.  She needs to know you love her.  She needs to know she is your special little girl.  Tell her how pretty she is so talk to her a lot and pet her when she is accepting pets, scratches and cuddles.  Talk to her a lot.  Girls like to talk, it's how we get things worked out.  Ask anybody.

Confine her away from the baby and watch carefully if she is urinating on your bed again.  That means something may be going on with you.  Have your health checked and then work on her again.

Morgen

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely try it, but in the meantime, do you have any suggestions about any onp products that will help with her anxiety.  Pills do not work for us, is there anything else that might help.

Thanks,

Crystal

Try the Pet Essences preparations or the ONP brand.  These are drops, not pills. 

Try some "Just Relax" by ONP, item #999201

Morgen

Morgen,

  I am the owner of 2 male cats ( Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis).  They are brothers from the same litter.  We brought them home when they were 6 months old, they are now 3yrs old.  They have both been nutered, and declawed.  I love my boys... although they don't believe that they are cats. Frank is the sweetest 'dog' you could ever have.  He fetches, sleeps with his legs in the air, and spoons you after you've gone to sleep.  He kneads dough, and has the loudest motor you have ever heard... Sammy is slightly more cat like.  He loves to chase lasers, and like to be carried around like a child.  I often will pull up a stool in the kitchen so he can watch as I prepare dinner.  He has always been the more  dominant of the 2, however never dominating.  They have always gotten along, and never been seperated.  We have not added any other animals or people to the mix.

 About 6 months ago we noticed that one of Sammy's front fang teeth had been chipped.  We spoke with a vet, and she said not to worry unless the tooth started to discolor.  We kept a watchfull eye on the tooth, and decided to take him in after we noticed some discoloration starting.  Upon examination, it turns out that Sammy has some genetic disease that causes his teeth to degenerate around the gum line.  The vet told me that there was not much we could do to prevent this, but that we should pull the teeth.  We had 7 of his teeth pulled, but were able to save the front chipped fang.  When we brought him home, Frank who has always been the sweetest loving cat... was slightly agressive towards Sammy.  We heard him hiss for the very first time since we brought them home.  This was very concerning behavior for Frank.  We spoke with the vet, and kept an eye on him.  After a few days things went back to normal.

The vet requested to see Frank since the disease is genetic.  He has the same problem although not quite as severe.  They only pulled 2 of Franks teeth.  He didn't even need to spend the night, and was only out of the house for 10 hours.  When we brought him home, afraid of how they behaved the last time... Frank barely made it out of carrier, when Sammy attacked him!  His tail was about 3 inches around, and he had a mohawk all the way down his back.  He viciously went after Frank who was just out of surgery.  I had never seen anything like this in my whole life. ( Growing up my parents raised and bred hymalayan and persian cats)  It was so bad that we couldn't get him off of him even with a squirt bottle and broom.  We had to separate them completely.  We tried over the next few days to integrate them... No success Sammy actually drew blood on another occasion from Frank.  Our vet was shocked, since shes treated both of them and never would have excpected this behavior.  She gave us some kitty valume to feed to Sammy.  We gave him the valume for 6 days, each day trying to bring them both into the same room... No success.  The worst part, is that they both have separation anxiety and have never been without one another.  The howling outside the door was too much to bare through the night.  But when you were alone with either of them you couldn't keep the cat off of you.. They needed exorbanant amounts of attention.  I went so far as to buy a harness and leash for Sammy.  He was able to wiggle right out of that and get to Frank.

It took 10 days to get them to tolerate each other again...

Everything had gone back to normal.  Except one of the cats has started defacating outside of the box, in fact right behind it.  No urine just defication.  We have an automatic litter box, so it usually only has to be freshened up twice a week.  They have never done this before.  We couldn't figure out which one of them was doing it.

Then about 1 month ago... We spent the weekend with some friends who have cats.  We stay there often, and have never had a problem.  When we came home, I tossed the suitcase next to the bed and didn't think twice about it.  The next morning both cats were sniffing around the suitcase.  Sammy got upset and as Frank turned the corner we saw a repeat of previous incident.  This time it took 4 days, of hissing, growling, yowling, and separation... I finally through them both in the bathtub together to give them a bath so that they smelled the same... This seemed to work wonderfully... And during the separtaion, we were able to figure out which cat was deficating outside of the box.  It is Sammy!  We have been extra cautious not to come home smelling like other animals, immediately washing close, and leaving suitcases outside.

My in-laws came to visit last week.  They have a new puppy, and as such all of there stuff smells like him.  They left the bedroom door open during the night... and in the middle of the night we woke to the most hurendous sounds of Sammy and Frank at it again.  We separated them, and first thing in the morning they both got a bath.  Again this seemed to work... But Sammy has been becoming even more agressive.  They seemed to be fine, so I went to the store.  I was gone a total of 2 hours... When we returned, Frank was on top of the cat house in the living room.  I was starting dinner when I realized he was growling in a very low constant tone.  Sammy was under the table staring at him.  Upon further investigation I realized that there was urine and defication all the way down the wall next to the cat house. Frank was shaking and growling and wouldn't stop.  He looked very disturbed.  Then we realized that he had chased him all the way through the house.  Frank was so upset he messed himself all the way through the house.  It was everywhere.  When we bathed Frank, we found 3 puncture woulds on his side.  Now as a defense mechanism he keeps spraying the minute we try to bring Sammy into the room.  I have been reintroducing them slowly as they have been separated for another week now.  They are fine when I'm around, but I notice Sammy going after him when I leave the room.  I have started putting him in the 'glass box' - The biggest shower- it's 8 feet by 4.5 feet, with a bench whenever he starts this behavior.  Then I will bring him out after an hour.

I am at a loss for why this behavior has started from no where, and how to make it stop... Any help or insight you can give would be helpful.

Thanks,

Alley

Sorry it's so long winded...

Hi! We need some help!

About a year and a half ago we adopted Ruby, a calico, at 4 months old. She is a sweet cat, but independant and will only allow people to pet her on her own terms. My boyfriend and I live in a small apartment. Up until about her 1st birthday she would "suckle"-usually just when I was in bed and she was near me. My vet advised that I not allow her to continue that behavior so I tried my best to stop her. Around the time of her 1st birthday she starting a very confusing behavior. Every morning, at about 4, she would jump ontop of my bedside table and starting pawing it like she does with her litter. This, of course, results in her knocking off all the items I have ontop of the table. After about a week of being awoken by such behavior, we decided not to let her in the bedroom at night. So instead, she started to cry and scratch at the door around the same time. I have no idea why this behavior is happening. I try to pet and sooth her when she starts to paw at the table, but she doesn't respond. I will check, and her food bowl is full, her water is full and her litter box is clean. I also started giving her treats, after these incidents to try and distract her, but then started to realize it might be rewarding the behavior, so I stopped with the treats after a few days. We adopted a kitten after a few weeks of this because we thought she might be lonely. She and the kitten, Pearl have taken to each other quite well; they bathe each other, sleep together, play together. And the behavior did stop...up until a few weeks ago. What is wrong?

Peppermint extract will calm them down, and it sounds like Frank is being pushed around by Sammy.  The puppy just added to the problem.  I think some bonding play is really the answer, but you need to calm them down, first.  Get some Rescue Remedy or some peppermint extract or both.  Rub that on their chests and get them to be in the same room with each other without hiding or attacking each other.  Any rushing at the other means the offender - not the hider - is put in isolation - a carrier in the middle of the room works well.

When they can remain in the same room, then begin some bonding play.  A streamer or d'-bird is a good start.

Ruby was likely removed from her mother too early.  The general rule is 8 weeks, but just like humans, some kittens need a little longer.  Suckling is alright as long as it is not destructive.

The 4am is a pattern that is long-standing, and probably can be broken by tossing some balls, making sure the litter box is cleaned every night and putting out extra crunchies.

I suggest adding some play time about an hour before bedtime - your bedtime.  Stop all play 30 minutes before bedtime and talk to her to let her know it is bedtime.  Put some calming drops in the water bowl for overnight.  Some anxiety/fear drops may be the best answer....

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Pet-Essences-Anxiety--Fear-Flower-Essences/137002.aspx

A couple of drops in the water bowl, increase until she calms and then drop back by one dosage.  There is no way to hurt the kitten doing this.

I hope you can help.  I have been searching for an answer or help for weeks.  I have 2 cats a male and female - brother and sister- that I have had for 7 years.  Up unitl Oct. 26th they were the best of friends.  Suddenly they are at each others throats.  mY 2 cats are primarily indoor cats - basically 99.9% of the time they are inside.  Well about 3 weeks ago we noticed a stray cat roaming around our yard - my cats saw him/her and that is when the trouble began.  We came home after party one Sunday afternoon to find massive fur balls everywhere and my female cat unerneath my basement stairs growling and yowling nothing we had ever heard.  My male cat was hissing and his tail was all puffy.  I have tried many things.  First of all they have been separated since then, I have tried to bring them together but they just hiss and growl, I have purchased the feliway diffusers and have them all over the house as well as the spray that I have put everyhwere.  I now have the cats on anti anxiety meds hoping to clam them and then reintroduce them.  The stray seems to be gone - we have not seen him in over a week( live in the woods - I do not want to know what happend) I even borrowed a humane trap from my vet in hopes of catching the cat and rescue it but to no avail. The cats have been on the meds for 5 days and have been in separated rooms for 18 days - it seems much longer!!!!  Do you think they will ever get along again?  What else can I try????????????

Feliway diffusers are OK, but I like Peppermint Extract.  It works to calm them.  You can put it on cotton balls around the house, and if you need to, wipe some on their fur.  Don't get it too close to their noses, or they can't smell food and water.  But on a foot or at the base of the tail, or even the chest - that's great.

This is very common, and likely means that the stray tried to get inside.  Your cats took that as an extreme threat, and blame each other for the poor thing outside.  Add some Rescue Remedy to the water bowl.  Put a second water bowl at the other end of the house for a while.  A second litter box wouldn't hurt, either. 

This is temporary, and will pass. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but this does ease.

Treat each cat like you always did, and don't try to bring them together.  Don't offer more than one session of play to each cat per day.  If they really want more, they will have to play together.  Once they play together, no individual play.  I suggest a streamer or fishing pole toy.  You want the cats to interact with you, and then with each other.  Joint play sessions will build back that trust and bond between them.

Allow each cat to find their own secure spot. Your bedroom is neutral territory.  Neither cat or both cats will sleep with you.  No favorites allowed!  Your bed is prime turf and worth fighting over, so don't allow that to happen.  Don't keep them from the bedroom, but watch to be sure they both get time on the bed.  You may even walk in and surprise them sleeping.  They won't likely be giving each other baths for a little while longer, but if they can drop the hard feelings, don't be surprised.

Plant some mums around the house outside.  Not only will they repel fleas, most cats don't care for the scent.  These plants are not generally a cat repellent, but it won't hurt anything.  If a stray has passed by, it likely has fleas and you don't want those indoors.