Behavioral issue or stress?

**sadiejude** · 18th July 2011, 05:59 AM

Hi All

About 2 months ago I adopted 2 mainecoons. One of them is having serious issues with the bathroom. She is going on beds, rugs, blankets...etc. Before I got her she did have a uti but was treated for it. After looking at her records apparently this has been an issue the whole entire time. Here is her background info...They both came from a hoarder. The lady had 200 maine coons in her small house and only had 20 litter boxes for all 200 cats. Im sure with "justice" its a stress issue but I need to know how to stop it. I love her with all my heart and want to help her but i have a brand new house and new beds and the beds are now pretty much ruined. I keep the doors closed but with small children they sometimes forget to close them and she sneaks in there. Ive dealt with her vomiting everyday on new carpet and fixed that..she had serious digestive issues and not to mention the 10 different illness/diseases she had from the hoarders house. Is there anything i can do to make her comfortable so i can keep my doors open freely and not have to worry about her messing?

**sadiejude** · 18th July 2011, 06:41 AM

Ohhhh thanks so much for the reply!! I never thought of doing that. Right now she is in my master bathroom with nothing but her litter box and food/water. She has something about rugs..When i placed her in there before i took my bathroom rug, folded it and put it up on my sink so she wouldnt pee on it and she STILL did! she jumped on the sink to pee on that rug. They were in vets care for about 2 months before they were well enough to be adopted out and as i was looking through her records they have a daily report on there and she was in a kennel with a litter pan and blanket and it said she always went on the blanket and not in the box. Im assuming when i crate her then i dont put anything in there with her right? no blanket? How long should i do this for? When she was in my bathroom and besides peeing on the rug she did use her box..i thought maybe she understood so i let her out so i didnt feel so cruel and she went right into the other room and messed on the rug. My sons bed was the victim tonight. The other cat is perfectly fine. Very different in behavior. Shes tripled in size and is very well behaved. These girls were nothing but bones when rescued. Justice is also having trouble with being on the my counters. I dont discipline her badly for it but i am firmly working on it. I realize her being on the counters was her only way of looking for food when she was at her old owners home. I keep food and water full at all times for her but being she was so sick from certain foods she wouldnt eat ANY food i put down for her so she would go looking. I now feed her an all natural dry food and once a day i give her the soft food made by the same company. Seems like if she eats a food with 2 proteins in it shes vomiting..bad! projectile vomiting. but thank goodness its been 4 days of her eating the new food and she hasnt thrown up at all. When you mentioned neutralizer..what kind should i get? and how long do i crate her for? Thanks so much for the help!

**sadiejude** · 18th July 2011, 07:32 AM

Well she was in there lol I walked back to check on her and her head was sticking out from under the door. So being that shes an escape artist i moved her to the other bathroom so she wont injure herself. The space under the door is only about 4 inches..how she did that is beyond me. I placed her and litter box in the bathroom she normally messes in on the other rug. Sooo maybe replacing the rug with her box will help. but shes peed in the bathtub multiple times since shes been here. As far as I know they cleared up any problems she had. heres what she had when rescued...Its a sad, sick, long list :( poor thing..

Ear mites
Conjunctivitis
Otitus
Tapeworms
URI
Ringworm
Tritrichamonas
Fleas
Ear infection
Eye infection

Hmmmm..maybe i should take her and have her stool checked. I saw her showing every symptom to Colitus (which is why i changed her food) and i now see that Tritrichamonas is a parasite that can cause Colitus. But maybe since her diarrhea has stopped that may not be an issue anymore. They were dewormed with Strongid it looks like..or Drontal. not sure. I cant believe how many parasites these cats had. And another thing..she cannot meow. She tries but no sound comes out.

**Helen & John** · 18th July 2011, 08:04 AM

I can't help a great deal but to help with breaking her cycle of toileting try using an orange oil based scent where you don't want her to go, also scrub areas with a solution of bio laundry powder or liquid.

Fingers crossed you can get to the bottom of this.

**afgreyparrot** · 18th July 2011, 08:10 AM

Wow...that made me so sad reading this. What a messed up life all those cats must have had.

sadiejude, you are an angel.......

**sadiejude** · 31st July 2011, 09:05 PM

Thank you Candes!! I took your advice and did the crate thing. I kept her in there mainly at night at first. During the day when she was out if she went to the bathroom elsewhere i would immediately put her in the crate. After 3 days she seemed to of caught on to what would happen if she went anywhere but in her litter box. When she went in her box inside the crate id reward her with a treat. When i let her out for good i kept the bathroom door open to see if she would mess on my rug again or in the bathtub and she hasnt so far and its been a week. Now im going to try leaving my room open and see what she does. I also put her on an all natural food and so far she hasnt vomited at all! She has gained weight nicely and even comes to cuddle with me! shes never done that before. Shes been down a rough road and i think shes finally starting to trust us. Thanks again for all the nice replies...