My cat, Clarence

[Bridget]

I have several cats, as well as my dogs. Clarence is a black, medium haired cat with a white spot on his chest, very pretty. He is our most confident, outgoing, friendly cat. He always meets people at the door. I always say Clarence thinks he's a dog.

The problem is that last summer Clarence began peeing on our things. It turned out he had a urinary tract infection and after medicine he was ok and stopped the random peeing for a few months. Then he started it again. He has peed on purses, our shoes, a chair, the carpet and the list goes on and on. I have begun keeping the litter boxes cleaner, and tried everything else I can think of, to no avail. He was checked again by the vet who says he is healthy, no physical problem; apparently, it is mental.

Recently, I decided I would give this problem two more months and if there was no improvement, I would have to have Clarence put to sleep. I am trying not to give up hope, but the two month marker is coming up fast and Clarence seems to be getting worse. I feel so guilty. I have never had an animal put to sleep because of behavior problems. We always assumed our pets had forever homes with us. However, I also feel that you cannot let an animal ruin everythign you own and it is fast coming to that.

I am trying to celebrate Clarence's life and keep a good quality of life for him. I guess it's quality rather than length, at least I hope. I guess I am wondering if maybe someone else has been through this. Thanks for listening.

[aubie]

How old is Clarence? could you adjust him to being an indoor/outdoor cat?

[Barb E]

I'm sorry he's not doing well.

Have you had the specific tests run to look at his renal function.

Peeing outside the box is a classic sign of renal failure in cats. Caramel and I did very well for quite some time by simply adding Sub-Q fluids to our routine (and she went back to using the litter box)

[JakesDogs]

I know how you feel. I have a 20+ year old Persian rescue that has been doing this for quite some time. In her case, it's age related changes and sometimes I think it's just because she is cantankerous. I have noticed that any sign of prior use or 'dirt' around the outside of litter box seems to have an effect on her. She does have periods where she is better. I also have a young Siamese rescue that expresses her distaste for a 'dirty' (aka used by other cat) litter box by picking a choice section of bedroom carpet. I have wrestled with putting the Persian to sleep for more than a year but she's just too okay otherwise. So, I'll wait and replace stuff after, but I'm able to do that right now. The situation may change if she escalates too far with the behavior. I wish you the best with this challenge.

[weber1b]

Barb, what are Sub Q fluids?

We have a fifteen year old cat that has done the same thing off and on for the last three years. It's latest target was my shoes that I wear every day. All of a sudden you notice your feet smell funny, not a good thing.

That cat is not the brightest bulb in the box, completely deaf and if it were not my youngest son's absolute favorite animal in the world, it likely would already be gone. But then again, I struggle with the thought of is that a good enough reason. Sometimes I think the best thing I could hope for is it catches something awful and passes on of natural causes (and without any prompting or assitance from me). Cat urine is just such awful stuff and once the christen a spot, it's easy for them to keep coming back to the same spot or item to do it again.

[Barb E]

Sub-Q fluids are when fluids are added just under the skin.
When Caramel was Dx'd I had the vet show me how to do it so I wouldn't have to have an office visit each time.

Caramel would snuggle in on my lap, I'd hang the bag of fluids on a nearby lamp and off we'd go It was almost like a quite special time.

BowWowMeow I believe is also doing Sub-Q with her Cleo

[Bridget]

I have a call in to my vet about the Sub-Q fluids and renal failure. Are the treatments terribly expensive, Barb? Thank you for this idea.

As far as outdoors goes, we did think about this, but Clarence is 9 years old and he doesn't have claws, so it wouldn't really be a possibility.

I also struggle with my reasoning; after all it's not like he is a danger to anyone. But I just can't live like this for maybe ten more years.

[GSDLVR76]

I have a 9 year cat who does this but she is perfectly healthy. She pees on anything that is left on the floor that does not belong (dirty clothes the kids didn't p/u, stuff like that). If there is nothing on the floor, she is fine. It's like she is a neat freak and will teach you to not clean up.

[Caja's Mom]

My oldest cat sometimes pees on my bed :-( so you are def. not a lone. If you find a cure there seems to be a bunch of us that need it!

[ninhar]

I had a cat for many years who started peeing where she shouldn't. It was pretty obvious that she had been dumped based on where she was found and my family decided her peeing where she shouldn't was most likely the reason.

After the vet cleared her of any medical issues, I bought a large dog crate for her and she was crated with her litterbox and food when we couldn't watch her. I felt bad about it at first, but figured that it was better than the alternative. I made sure the litter box was large enough for her and it was cleaned twice a day. She didn't have a choice other than to use the box when she was crated. Over time, she was give more and more freedom and the issue mostly resolved.