You MUST read this :)

topic posted Fri, March 23, 2007 - 9:08 AM by  Angelina
www.craigslist.org/about/be...2344.html

I hope he found a home! I'd take him - he sounds like every other adolescent male cat out there....
posted by:
Angelina
Vancouver
  • Re: You MUST read this :)

    Sun, March 25, 2007 - 3:35 PM
    My surviving cat is like that, a lot. I think if they're born wild there's a greater chance of that type of behavior.
    • Re: You MUST read this :)

      Mon, March 26, 2007 - 3:50 AM
      That's exactly like our 1st rescue kitty Vicious.
      He was no more than a tiny ball of Fur, Fangs & Claws When I found him.
      He too was feral from feral parents & I still have the scars to prove it.
      The Vet said he was about 4 or 5 weeks old when I found him.
      I'll tell you the 1st 2 & 1/2 years were a real challenge.
      Nothing but Teeth & Claws.
      • Re: You MUST read this :)

        Mon, March 26, 2007 - 7:27 AM
        Yes, that does sound like quite the challenge!
        • Re: You MUST read this :)

          Mon, March 26, 2007 - 11:14 AM
          Barb,
          Or anyone that can help.
          Vicious still has extreme obsessive behaviour & he's 6 yrs now.
          Any suggestions on how to keep him from urinating on my personal things?
          I don't mean spraying.
          When Vicious pee's, it's always 3 times more than any of the other cats?
          I don't know if this has anything to do with the Vet dianosing him with F.I.P.?

          So, when Vicious feels miffed about "me" locking him away (from beating up another cat) he usually pee's on something of mine like my clothes, bedding, & yesterday, at my computer he peed on my bare foot.
          We are talking major flood, & he always runs off & hides before I can grab him & rub his nose in it.

          It's amazing how he can run & still be peeing!
          After yesterdays peeing incident, I was afraid to put him in my bedroom, so I put him in the cat carrier & he went nuts!
          He took all the fur off the bridge of his nose while biting the door.
          I only had him (Vicious) in there (carrier) long enough to find my White Kitty, check him out for any real damage & then put him away back to his own room.
          Thanks
          • Re: You MUST read this :)

            Mon, March 26, 2007 - 4:41 PM
            If I understand FIP is a nasty thing for a cat. He - Vicious - sounds like an asswhole. He's 6? Can you put him outside?
            Good golly, you must be a lot more tolerent than I am. He'd be begging at the back door and lucky at that.
            My cats tolerate one another if not snuggle - the fighters get grabbed and thrown outside. "Go get F**ked! Assholes!"
            Now and then, there's a hissy spat but nothing that won't get resolved. Oh, I'm talking Becky's place where there's 5 kitties and I spend most of my time there.
          • Re: You MUST read this :)

            Mon, March 26, 2007 - 8:04 PM
            When I had a cat that peed on things, this is what I did:

            1) Never leave anything accessible. No more throw rugs. Pull up the bathroom mat everytime you're done. Don't leave anything on the floor, not even shoes if you can help it. If it's on the floor it's considered open for debate.
            2) Get plastic tarp to put down on beds, etc until you can get a handle on what is going on with Vicious. This will save you peace of mind. You won't need to change the bedding and the flip the mattress everytime he decides to pee on your bed. All you need to do is wipe up the plastic when he pees. And remember to occasionally change out the tarp because kitty claws might leave some pin holes eventually that the pee can leak through.
            3) DO NOT respond to the peeing. This is really important. He wants attention and even yelling is negative attention. DON'T RESPOND. If you do, make sure it's really positive. "Ah, gee, Vicious. You must not have been feeling well today. Well, that's okay. We'll just clean this up and figure it out later." You don't want it to be a contest of wills. So, nothing but a positive voice.
            4) Have him checked out for everything. He's approaching old age anyway. My cat quit peeing once we discovered he was diabetic and got his blood sugar under control.
            • Re: You MUST read this :)

              Mon, March 26, 2007 - 9:55 PM
              have your vet prescribe your angry cat clomipramine or fluoxetine.
              • Re: You MUST read this :)

                Tue, March 27, 2007 - 11:28 AM
                Yeah sometimes bad behavior and attention seeking behavior like that means that he's trying to tell you that he's not well - babies cry, cats misbehave and wizz on your stuff. Get him checked for UTI's, UT crystals, etc. Have you given him catnip too? It causes a bit of a playtime-spaz-out, but they get mellow pretty fast after that.

                Sometimes they also repeatedly pee on items left on the floor because they can smell that they have peed there before and therefore it must be okay. Use vinegar and hot water to clear out pee smells on any of your clothing or bedding.

                My sister's cat was physically healthy but extremely neurotic, and she peed on everything she could to let my sister know that she was scared and unhappy. It wasn't until she became a mostly outside kitty that she gained some independence and chilled out.
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    Re: You MUST read this :)

    Sun, April 1, 2007 - 5:36 PM
    awwww. poor kitty. i hope he finds a home too!

    as far as the kitty peeing everywhere: first rule out any physical illness or disease. i don't think fip is a thing to piss about but if he's ailing in anyway then he'll be peeing.

    then raebob's suggestions are good to follow. even the prozac!
    • Re: You MUST read this :)

      Sun, April 1, 2007 - 7:16 PM
      Thank you Kimmie!
      • Re: You MUST read this :)

        Mon, April 2, 2007 - 3:04 AM
        Exactly what RaeBob and Angelina said. Especially not to rub their nose in it - I used to think that would be a way to cure them too but it's actually the worst thing you can do...
        Sounds to me like the little vicious is trying to send you messages - give him lts of love and attention and he might just come around. Takes heeps of patience - I know ;-)
        My guy is really old now and poops all over the place (which is a little easier to clean up than pee, but still it's a chore) but it's not his fault - he has gastrointestinal issues and kidney failure, so it's normal for him.
        • Re: You MUST read this :)

          Tue, April 3, 2007 - 12:06 PM
          Thank you Uta,

          I didn't know about "not" rubbing their nose in their pee.

          So I take it that peeing on him in the tub is out too?
          This worked for our Spaniel mix, & she has yet to pee in the house again.

          I want to thank everyone here for the wonderful advice & the benefit of your knowledge, that I seem to be truly lacking.
          Any other wisdom & advice is always welcome & greatly appreciated.
          I love all my Fur Children, & want to do my best for them.
          • Re: You MUST read this :)

            Tue, April 3, 2007 - 4:55 PM
            Hee hee - yep, cats have a much different mentality to being 'trained" than dogs do. Cats will do what instinct tells them, and what previous experience has told them will lead to food or petting :) Dogs will simply do something naturally as soon as they have been made to do it several times - hence the "pavolv's dog" experiment. Creatures of habit.

            So when you think of it that way, a cat will do what comes most naturally to them - that is, pee where it already smells like pee, because that must be the "pee place". When they're ill, they find something that smells the most like their caregiver and either lay on it, pee on it, or do something to get your attention through the place where you must spend the most time (usually a bed, or clothing that smells most like you like a jacket or pair of shoes).

            I know a lot of people have cats that they think are just assholes sometimes, but in reality they are just acting out of instinct."That moved, I must kill it" said Fluffy to the Laboutin shoe. "This smells like me, I'm going to sleep on it" said Muffy to the cashmere coat. "I've peed here before. I'm not a messy cat, so I will continue to pee here because it is the place where pee goes, according to this smell" said Button to the mattress.

            If your cat is a psycho, he probably just wants to chase and kill, because he is genetically programmed to do so. Get him a wind up mouse, a scratching post, and some cat nip. Pet him when he's still, and when he wants to run, let him go at it. Put on an oven mitt and play "get the thing" with him. My boy cat Solly used to leap on my back with all claws out when he was about 2 until he was about 4. He was an adolescent cat and wanted to be outside hunting. Since he's an indoor kitty, I got some toys and played "get the thing' with him until he realized that moving, fuzzy thyings that were smaller than him were for killing, and people were for petting. Of course, that logic backfired when we got a little sister for him.. :)

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