Cats Are Driving Me Crazy. What to Do with Them?

first of all , get them fixed if they aren't and they may need to be tre trained.
close them up into a small room with food , water and a litter box , and don't let them out until they are using the box consistently.

Are they neutered? Do they get along together? Have there been changes in your household? Change in their diet or routine?

I agree you can't leave them outside without front claws, that isn't fair or safe for them. Are the kids more mobile now or playing with the cats more? Any other major changes that may be stressing the cats out?

One thing to try is feliway, they have a spray or a diffuser. The diffusers can really help and it is a natural pheromone. I have seen it help with behavioral peeing many times. You should be able to find it at most pet stores or your vet may have it. It is some times sold as comfort zone. My parents have used it when they had two cats marking in the house and it really did work well.

I have a cat that is 8 that has sterile cystitis, basically if she gets stressed her bladder feels irritated to her and she pees in several places. It will also cause her to have a small amount of blood in her urine. She has had a few bladder infections also, so those have been treated. To keep her happy and going in the litter box I have her on a prescription urinary diet. I recently found out only one diet works for her. We moved and our new vet does not carry the brand she usually uses, so we switched her and she started peeing in the house, switched her back and back in the litter box. Little strange, since it is not something that diet should be able to control completely. When she pees outside the box, she will some times poop too mainly I think she usually does both around the same time. I also have her on cosequin or something similar, it keeps her bladder happy and less irritated. The third thing is she is on an anti-anxiety med, we started her on amitripliylline(sp?) a few years ago and she is friendlier and more relaxed on it. There are several different drugs that are effective and can help for behavioral peeing, talk to your vet about your options. . We also make sure the litter boxes gets scooped frequently and any where she goes is cleaned with nature's miracle and the steam cleaner if it is carpet. That seems to get the smell completely out so she does not use that area again.

Good luck, I know it is no fun to deal with.

I work in animal rescue and have for 10 years. I have worked with private rescues (and currently do) as well as shelters and pounds. The problem you describe is the number #1 reason cats find themselves homeless. Unfortunately, cats that go outside of the litterbox fill the shelters all over the country. It's a common problem - and those animals rarely get adopted. Rehoming these cats is extremely difficult, and usually, it doesn't happen.

First, I recommend you call the Cat Behavioral Hotline. It is free, and the people at the other end are very helpful. Usually you leave your name and phone number and they call you back. They don't sell your information or harass you or anything - I have used them in the past. Their goal it to help keep cats in their homes. You can find their number here: http://www.catsinternational.org/

I have owned two cats that had this problem, myself. The first was cured with a dose of kitty prozac, prescribed by a cat specialist. I didn't think it would work because I didn't think my cat was stressed, but it was an incredible difference! Really wonderful! I was able to wean her off of the prozac again within 6 months. And I had to take my cat to 4 different vets before anyone even suggested it. The second cat could not be cured. The prozac helped for a while, and then she started up again. Like one of your kitties, she is declawed, and so I could not put her outside. In the end, I purchased a large cat crate from amazon.com, and that is where she spends her time during the day. I take her out regularly for loving/play times, and at night, she has run of our unfinished basement. She sleeps most of the time, and during the moments when I do let her out, as often as not, she chooses to remain in her crate. It has been the best solution for all. Some people balk that I keep a cat crated, but since I knew her chances of getting adopted with her problem were very slim, I truly believe this is the best and most humane solution for all of us. The crate I purchased is here:
http://www.amazon.com/IRIS-Pet-Wire-2-Tier-Cage/dp/B000VZ...
But there are others available. You can do a web search (I think this price is extremely reasonable, though).

Good luck.

Join the club, sister. 1 of our cats has been inappropriately peeing one everything from the kids' toys to my husband's golf bag. We've gone through everything but medication (I'm not going to such an extreme--hard enough to feed my family, let alone pay for the 'good' cat's special food and daily meds). Crate training always helped in the short term (we'd leave her in there and just let her out into a tiled room w/ food, water and litter box a few times/day.) She, too would up hanging out in the kennel even when it was her 'free time.' However, as soon as we'd stop crate training her, she'd go right back to it--peeing on our washer/dryer, etc.
That helped me to think that it was the noise of the machines, but unfortunately, there is no other room to house her litter box, short of our bedrooms (where she'll pee on our bed and carpet) of the kitchen (which is just gross).
I tried moving her into the garage, but she peed on the new carpet and on my educational materials.
Her litter would be spotless, scooped several times/day. Multiple boxes (for the 2 cats) made no difference, as they went in the same one ea. time. Different kinds of litter made no difference. Pheromone plug-ins ate through a lot of $ and made no difference. Medical tests proved she had no underlying issues.
Once she peed in the baby's bassinet, I'd had enough.
I thought about bringing her to the humane society, but a big sign behind the desk changed my mind. Basically, it said that you're euthanizing your pet because nobody will adopt a cat w/ behavioral problems. Squashed any misguided hope that a little old lady w/ no noisy children & all the time in the world to pet her & change her litter, would adopt her.
SO, in the end, I made her an outside cat. She was a stray when I found her as a kitten and she remembered her outdoor skills quite quickly. She is declawed, but stays only in the front yard (either sunning in the walkway, or sleeping in the shade of a bush). In fact, she's stopped eating the cat food I put out for her & seems to prefer catching her own food. I keep fresh water out there for her, she'll swing by to rub against us, and goes back on her hunt.
I have heard her get into a tussle w/ another cat 1 or 2x, but she's come out of it just fine.
I feel that she's healthy and happy now & our house is pee-free. For us, it's been a good alternative to euthanizing her.

C.,
I am currently in the exact same boat! I have had good luck with making both of my cats outdoor cats. I understand your concerns about them gettng hit by a car and the lack of front claws. I have found that after a short transitional period both of my cats have adjusted great to being outside. We also have a cat without front claws and both peed in our house. I will say that on very hot days I bring them in our basement so they dnt get over-heated. I would try to make them outdoor cats an d see how that works.

Everyone tells you that you can't discipline a cat, and in some cases this might be true. But after spending hundreds of dollars on tests, and trying pheromone sprays and putting him on Prozac, I finally decided to try disciplining my cat when he sprayed. Twice after he sprayed, I put his nose in it and spanked him and kicked him out for the night. It turns out he was just thinking he was the alpha male and spraying every time we inconvenienced him. Once I let him know who was in charge, he stopped spraying.

I know that won't work on a lot of cats -- I'm just putting it out there as an option.

If you make them outside, make sure you have a place for shade and for the cold........the cold is not going to go over very well with them at first.........

If you decide instead to get rid of them, put an ad on Craigslist.......let them know the issues, so they can decide........make sure whoever takes them will love them and not send them off to some clinic for testing purposes.....

Have you tried putting them in a cage at night or when you aren't home? Buy them a nice cage, pad it, and let them stay in there hopefully that will help.....

Good Luck