Cats trashed my basement so I did some remodeling

[Bob Zaod]

Cats are great. I’ve had dozens and never had a problem with urine. With that said, bringing another adult male into your cat’s territory (basically its den) was likely the culprit.

Yep. I have been a Cat Daddy all my life and on the rare occasion I dealt with that it was either a sick cat or 2 males in the same house.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Dude, you put all that time and money into that job, and had 2 pisses and 2 shits on the new floor already, and those cats aren't gone??

One (you said you have 2, iirc) of those cats has a problem with the other. There's no reason for a cat to not use a litterbox, even neglect (the box, not the cat), other than not wanting to share it with another cat, for some reason.

I'd figure out the problem or that floor is gonna get ruined. Vinyl or not. Eventually they'll figure out that you're ok with their bathroom habits, and start shitting on the ceiling!

Wow

 

[Jarick]

Dude, you put all that time and money into that job, and had 2 pisses and 2 s***s on the new floor already, and those cats aren't gone??

One (you said you have 2, iirc) of those cats has a problem with the other. There's no reason for a cat to not use a litterbox, even neglect (the box, not the cat), other than not wanting to share it with another cat, for some reason.

I'd figure out the problem or that floor is gonna get ruined. Vinyl or not. Eventually they'll figure out that you're ok with their bathroom habits, and start shitting on the ceiling!

Wow

I can't get rid of the cats. Wife won't let me.

They piss and shit on the floor almost every day regardless of what I do. I put fresh litter in the boxes, a second litter box, scoop daily, still an issue. Replaced all of the flooring and still an issue. Now it's just a little easier to clean up.

They also trashed the couch that was down here too, and will piss on anything left on the floor, so we still can't use the basement much. They pissed all over my drum rug in my office which I have been very careful to close the door every time I don't use it, so I had to clear everything out again and toss the rug.

Also I got a mat for the Peloton bike that no longer gets used, and that's the new litterbox for one of them. Every day it's one to two shits.

Told the wife I want the cats gone last week and she blew up. She rarely every pushes back on anything but put her foot down.

 

[Warmart]

Assuming they're all "fixed"? Have you tried "no pee spray" - it's some kind of cat repellant? Maybe even adding one MORE litter box.

Must suck to deal with this so I hope you can figure out a solution!

 

[Jarick]

Assuming they're all "fixed"? Have you tried "no pee spray" - it's some kind of cat repellant? Maybe even adding one MORE litter box.

Must suck to deal with this so I hope you can figure out a solution!

Yes, went through a gallon of the no marker stuff, and also bought one of those plug in hormone things that's supposed to help. They just don't care.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Told the wife I want the cats gone last week and she blew up. She rarely every pushes back on anything but put her foot down.

Wow, that's uh..., yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love cats. More than dogs even. But cats have a kind of aloof personality, that, to me, finding a good home for one of them (I really think the problem has something to do with dominance of one cat over the other) would be much easier than dealing with the hurt when they eventually die.

Even with the cool personality that mine has (he comes over and lays at my feet the minute I start to play my guitar, as well as a few other endearing mannerisms), if he were doing his deeds outside of that box, especially after the investment you made, he'd have to go, not necessarily to a shelter where they'd destroy him if someone didn't adopt him, and I'd just go and get another.

Young cats can be a lot of fun, hint hint. Lol

As an aside, my guy has gotten conditioned to my going into the kitchen when I make myself a sandwich, so I give him a little piece of ham. He was just in there, looking up at me to say, "I'm here. Where's my ham?" I pulled off a piece and dropped it to the floor, but it landed right on his face!

Bastard actually looked at me for a minute, like, WTF dude?

 

[Jarick]

Wow, that's uh..., yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love cats. More than dogs even. But cats have a kind of aloof personality, that, to me, finding a good home for one of them (I really think the problem has something to do with dominance of one cat over the other) would be much easier than dealing with the hurt when they eventually die.

Even with the cool personality that mine has (he comes over and lays at my feet the minute I start to play my guitar, as well as a few other endearing mannerisms), if he were doing his deeds outside of that box, especially after the investment you made, he'd have to go, not necessarily to a shelter where they'd destroy him if someone didn't adopt him, and I'd just go and get another.

Young cats can be a lot of fun, hint hint. Lol

As an aside, my guy has gotten conditioned to my going into the kitchen when I make myself a sandwich, so I give him a little piece of ham. He was just in there, looking up at me to say, "I'm here. Where's my ham?" I pulled off a piece and dropped it to the floor, but it landed right on his face!

Bastard actually looked at me for a minute, like, WTF dude?

Well the problem cat was adopted by my wife as a kitten and he's about 18 years old now. He lived with her parents for over a decade when she couldn't keep him in apartments, and then they returned the cat to us when they moved last year.

He's got health issues, both digestive and kidney issues. Basically his body can't process the food very well, and that gives him the runs, and that destroys the litter boxes, and then neither of the cats want to use them.

At this point really my option is to wait until the old cat dies, then hope the other cat resumes using the litter box properly.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Well the problem cat was adopted by my wife as a kitten and he's about 18 years old now. He lived with her parents for over a decade when she couldn't keep him in apartments, and then they returned the cat to us when they moved last year.

He's got health issues, both digestive and kidney issues. Basically his body can't process the food very well, and that gives him the runs, and that destroys the litter boxes, and then neither of the cats want to use them.

At this point really my option is to wait until the old cat dies, then hope the other cat resumes using the litter box properly.

Well if he's 18 and in poor health, it won't be long. Yeah, and no one would take a cat like that. That's too bad. Poor guy.

I had my previous cat from a kitten, (he was so cool; would head-bump you on command! haha) and he had urinary tract issues his whole life, but we fed him a special diet and he was fine. Until his kidneys started failing, and that was extremely hard for me. I couldn't let him be euthanized, but he went downhill fast. Tore me TF UP the day the vet called to tell me he'd passed overnight. Had him for right about 18 years. Black with that little white bow-tie.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Still miss him sometimes. He scrapped a little bit- see the nicks in his ears?

 

[la szum]

 

[Jarick]

Well today was the day, had to put the old cat down. Was pretty sad and hard to do, but for the best.

He had been getting progressively sicker over the last few weeks, then stopped eating earlier this week, then stopped drinking water. Was very snuggly for a few days, then went into hiding. So he was ready.

Timing worked out as we're going on a trip next week and didn't want to have someone else deal with a sick or dead cat.

Now I'll get to go back to having a single litter box and a lot less to worry about for food, so that's good. Hopefully we can get to a point where I'm not constantly cleaning up after cats.

 

[TSJMajesty]

That's hard, even if he was using your new floor as his litter box.
My last one was 17, and he had urinary problems that a special cat food took care of. But at the end he started peeing wherever. His kidneys were failing and he too got snuggly.

I so hope this guy I have now outlives me, because I don't want to go through it again.

Little focker is TUNED in to when I break a string... did it last night, and there he is, wanting to play with it. I think he was in the other room when it happened! It's those kinds of personality quirks that make us miss them when they die.

 

[Jarick]

That's hard, even if he was using your new floor as his litter box.
My last one was 17, and he had urinary problems that a special cat food took care of. But at the end he started peeing wherever. His kidneys were failing and he too got snuggly.

I so hope this guy I have now outlives me, because I don't want to go through it again.

Little focker is TUNED in to when I break a string... did it last night, and there he is, wanting to play with it. I think he was in the other room when it happened! It's those kinds of personality quirks that make us miss them when they die.

Oh man, the litter boxes and food.

We had two different litter boxes when we got him, a regular covered one and then a system with wood pellets and pee pads. I liked the latter because it was a lot easier to clean and didn't smell. But adding him to the mix was a no go, and the cats started using the floor as the litter box. I tried buying a second fancy litter box, but the old cat would destroy both with his digestive issues then both cats would go back to the floor.

Finally I ended up with two cheap covered litter boxes, a box of disposable liners, and big bins of cheap sand litter. Halfway through the week I'd just toss the bags and put new ones with new litter in. Wasteful, but easier to clean and the cats would use them longer before going on the floor.

Then for food...he had digestive issues with regular dry food, so we moved to wet food. That worked for a bit but the digestive issues got worse, so he had special prescription food that cost $5 per day. The other cat ate regular food, but would try to eat the prescription food, and the old cat would try to eat the regular food. Then the dog would eat the cat food and she got really fat so now she's on a diet.

But he was a very sweet old cat, very snuggly, and happy. He liked to lie on my lap while I was working and liked to bask in the sunny spots on the kitchen floor. Our other cat can be standoffish, so the cuddly cat was a nice change of pace.

 

[Jarick]

About a week after the old cat is gone, I haven’t cleaned up a single cat mess the entire time. Even the litter boxes were fairly easy to deal with. I had been cleaning up 2-3 messes per day the last several weeks.

Also our other cat (Scout who is about 7) is so much happier. He’s like a kitten again running around the house and playing with toys and jumping up on counters. He must really not like other cats. Between the peeing and being a lot more subdued.

So it’s of course sad the old guy is gone but it’s sure easier now.

 

[TSJMajesty]

So the moral is, don't be an old jerk, pissing and shitting everywhere, or people will be glad when you're dead.