Vent...about my cats....grrrr

So...I have three boy cats, one is 4, one is 3, and one is 6 months(but is huge....).  Lately, all three have been acting less than loveable.  The oldest is throwing up everywhere.  I have tried it all with him...hairball meds, olive oil, you name it I've tried it...changing his food, taking him to the vet...nothing..  And its so gross.

The next to oldest has decided to pee on everything in sight.  Ugh.  And their boxes are cleaned twice a day.  And no UTI for him, its totally behavioral. 

Now...the baby cat has started doing #2 on my carpet in my living room, my office(I work from home)...

I am seriously ready to put all three in the pound.  How horrible am I?  I just cannot put up with this from them all.

I love them dearly...but its not like I should even be near the poo or the pee for that matter while pregnant...and luckily the hubbie has been there when its happened most of the time so he has cleaned up for me but even he is at his wits end.

What to do?

Wow, that really sucks. Maybe they are in protest of the baby coming? I swear my cat & dog both know I am pregnant. Although, they have gone to the other extreme and have been wanting to snuggle me ALL the time. You are right, you should not clean it up, it should be your hubby that does it. I am so happy for the few months that my hubby will be responsible for cleanng the litter box!

I hope you can figure out the issues. I know having all that on top of being preggers can be really stressful.

Tina

It is...and it doesn't help that the MIL came through this weekend to go with us to a funeral in Miss and Memphis(how freakin cold!!!) and they puked all over the carpet in front of her no less!  And of course, her and the FIL have been in favor of sending the boys packing for a long while!!!

The thing is, they are all very snuggly...and wanting attention...but this bad attention is getting the best of me...I really dont have the time to deal with them, deal with the job, deal with fulltme school, and being pregnant and being a wife.  Lawd have mercy...some days I just want to accidentally leave my front door open...:)

I was having similar issues with my 3 year old neutered male - the vet told me to go to a pet store and buy either a pheremone plug in or the spray and to put it on his litter (or plug it is near the box) and that should draw them in and correct the problem. Luckily (sorry Newman lol) he had a UTI so that was the cause and it has since stopped.

AS far as the pukey boy - try giving him his dry food on a flat plate or tray. IT causes them to slow down when they eat and actually chew!

Good luck!

Liz

The throwing up is concerning if it is a new thing. I have a long-haired male cat and of course he horks up a hairball pretty much weekly. At one point he started throwing up a lot more often - I took him to the vet and it turned out he had eaten some of a plant that slows peristalsis and he was totally impacted, there was nowhere for his food to go. Had I not taken him to the vet he probably wouldn't have lived much longer. Other than the vomiting, he displayed no symptoms.
Is he throwing up undigested or barely digested food or does it look more like runny/soupy vomit?

The baby cat is probably pooping on the carpet either because of the other cat peeing there OR because the older cats might be playing "keep away" with the litter box. This happened with my cats at one point - my older male cat would harass the younger female cat when she was in the box. She could usually manage to pee in there, but was afraid to poop in it. We moved the litterbox to a new location (it was in the bathroom and our male cat likes to think he "owns" the whole bathroom) and the problem resolved. Now why your first cat is peeing everywhere I don't know.

With 3 cats, do you have one box or two?

The pheremone plug-in is called Feliway - it might help calm them if there's an anxiety problem.

If it does seem like the cat that vomits a lot is eating too fast, you can also try switching to an "oral care" type food, the kibbles are much larger and they have to chew each one.

Ah yes...kitty problems.  We have them too.  Our oldest is 10 and was hand raised by husband so he's completely weird and doesn't know he's a cat. 

We were having big problems with one of ours (never figured out which one) pooping on the floor right near the litter box which was so frustrating....I mean the box is right there...use it!  We ended up moving the box out of the spare room we were keeping it in because we had company coming and needed that room.  We moved it out to the loft/office and amazingly, it stopped.  I don't know if it's just because it's in a more open area or what but they haven't done it since we moved it.  We also added a second box when we moved to our current house and that seemed to help.  We have one upstairs and one down. 

We haven't had issues with peeing but my Mom's cat did and unfortunately he ended up having to be put down on the reccomendation of her vet.  It was completely bahavioral and they tried everything to break him of it.  He would pee on a basket of clean laundry, he peed on my bed repeatedly when I went to visit.  He just could not be stopped.  My Mom felt like the worst person in the world but she couldn't give him to someone else with this problem and she couldn't make him an outdoor cat because he had been declawed.

Good luck!

Thanks for the responses!  The one or ones(not sure at this point) throwing up...sometimes its soupy, and sometimes I know its hairballs.  The oldest two are very long haired(and I hear ya about the cat that thinks he is human...my oldest is like that and refuses to even play with the other two...he'd rather be curled up with me...). The baby cat is a pig and eats way too fast as is the other fat boy(the middle child).  The oldest child would go without eating forever if he had too...he just doesnt care much for food and I have to watch him because he'll lose too much weight.

There are two huge litter boxes, and they have been tucked away in hall closets but they have been that way for months with no issues til now.  Maybe I'll try bringing them into one of the bathrooms I don't use.  I dunno.  and i might try that plug in thing.

I just don't know.  I feel terrible for even thinking of getting rid of my boys, but I don't want my baby around all that crap...ya know

My friend who gives her cat the antacid meds also has one of her cats who has long hair shaved.  Not bald...but short haired type shaved.  She's actually allergic to cats but does OK w/them except this long haired one...which is why she shaves her.

Does the cat that's puking have long fur?  If so...try bathing him and brushing him to keep the shedding down.  I'd also suggest asking the dr if you can give him something for an acidy stomach.  I have a friend who has a cat that pukes all the time unless she gives the cat some pepcid AC or Tums or something like that  (disolved in water and w/a syringe).

Re the peeing cat...Is it possible he has kidney disease?  Have you had blood work done on him?  I had a cat that had kidney disease at 5 years old...and he started peeing everywhere, which was the only 'symptom' he had for at least a year or two.  I don't think much can be done if it's kidney disease...but it's worth a check just in case.  Also, if he has some other disease -I don't know what it's called...I want to say cystitist or something like that...but it's tiny stones that get in the urinary tract, not a UTI...he'll be trying to pee all over the place.  It's very common in male cats - My Siamese cat I had in high school had it for years...and my Ukrainian water buffalo (Ukrainian fat cat) has it too.  My Ukrainian cat is doing OK eating Purina One Urinary Tract Health,  Sophisticat Urinary Tract food (can't remember if it's PetCo or PetSmart), or Nine Lives Urinary Tract food.  My siamese cat...he had to have the real deal prescription food only sold by vets or online w/a vet prescription (as if you'd want to buy it for any other reason)...and is outrageously expensive.  There is a difference in the above - the kidney disease and the other problem my two cats have had...but a major symptom is trying to pee everywhere....and just doing a little here and a little there.  If there's ever any blood in the urine, get him to the vet immediately...though I'd say take him to the vet anyways and make sure these are not the problem.  If they're not...I know there's some sort of spray that deters cats from their 'normal' peeing spots (ie where they're peeing when they're not supposed to) that supposedly deters them.  I don't know if it works...but it's worth a try....but hopefully they won't just relocate to another place.

The poohing cat....I don't know.  One of my cats lost their mind the other day and did their business on the floor outside the laundry room where their box is at...I don't know who it was (I have three also - one male, two females) or why...but it hasn't happened again. 

Try to wash the pee and poo area with vinegar...it'll kill the smell, which may be what is attracting the youngest cat.