Am I being cruel to my cat?

[MoseyWalker]

He's my "special" cat, and I love him, but he has to pee everywhere.

So.

I let him run around outside much of the time, and then come in to recharge. He is now limited to the washroom. That's where he eats and that's where he sleeps.

Did I mention that he likes to pee everywhere?

He's a feisty one, and left many pee stains on the door going into a former roommates room. He never did that to me, but..........

anyway. Now he lives either in the washroom or outside. I still give him lots of kitty lovin' (rubs under the chin, etc).

Am I cruel?

[Skittles]

1. if you've had him checked by the vet

I can understand your frustration - cat pee is simply not tolerable, not at all

[Dangerously Amused]

2. Peeing like that isn't normal.

What does the vet say about the possible reasons he is peeing all over?

[MoseyWalker]

3. Picture Mengele, and you'll see

an astounding similarity to my vet.

I went to get his eyes cleaned with an infection, and he ended up in a bag with his head only sticking out.

Small town. No more to choose from.

[City Lights]

4. We have one like that too.

We don't let him outside though. He lives in the basement bathroom when we aren't home, at night, and a portion of the day when we don't feel like watching him. When we do leave him out, we close all other doors and one of us has to keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't peeing somewhere.

We switched our litter to Cat Attract and it worked for awhile, but then Alex peed on my husband's pillow when we were away one weekend.

We've had him checked by a vet and she determined his 'issue' is behavioral. We think it's because he doesn't like Mozart. We've basically had trouble with Alex ever since Mozart moved in.

The other thing we're considering is diapers. We love him, and he's a great cat, but I'm nearing my wits end. :mad: :grr: :argh:

If you're cruel, you're not alone. :hug:

[newsguyatl]

5. something's wrong with him

peeing behavior like that is typically symptomatic of some kind of urinary tract infection.

please have him seen by a vet, and don't punish him for it. chances are very likely he really can't help it.

[sleepyhead]

7. Urinary tract infection, or...

possibly kidney disease or diabetes or thyroid disease (depending on his age). I agree that it needs to be checked out - cats are far more likely to have a physical problem than they are to be doing it out of spite.

[idgiehkt]

6. if he was litter trained before and this is new

its a bad sign.

He could have cystitis and need a urethostomy (sp?). If his tube gets plugged by sediment he could get toxic and start having seizures and die. If it's not new behavior it's one thing but if it is then you need to have him checked out by a vet. Alot of vets put cats in those cat bags, it's no big deal. I once saw a cat (who actually had cystitis) bite into the side of a vet's waist because he wasn't properly restrained. It's better for the animal and safer for the vet to have them properly restrained. That vet got bit because I wasn't willing to restrain that SOB cat. No way.

They can stick a catheter in him and flush out the sediment if he's plugged up.Surgery is a last resort. My cat had to have a urethostomy because it was so bad and then he had to be on special food for the rest of his life.

[judaspriestess]

8. Is he fixed?

please say he is.

[MoseyWalker]

9. He didn't used to be

but has been for a short while.

[politicat]

10. That's usually a UTI or a botched snip.

The latter is pretty rare. The former is really common, especially among males who eat lower quality dry food. (Corn is really hard on cats' urinary tracts.)

Get him to a vet, because that's likely not behavioral.

And get the pee spots cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner. It will help reinforce that he's not supposed to pee "there".

[MoseyWalker]

11. I'll take him tomorrow

I was thinking maybe he was acting out old habits, but don't want him to be actually having any physical problems.

Thanks everybody. I started this out as a semi humorous thread and have learned something.

:grouphug:

[wickerwoman]

12. Another vote for the vet.

Cats really hate peeing anywhere except the litter box so if he's going everywhere it's definitely a physical or psychological problem.

You're not cruel but it would definitely be worth investing some time and money to figure out what the problem really is.