Okay group, this is a matter of life and death. No
joke! If Dartagnan does not completely and
successfully quit spraying I have no choice but to
relinquish him into the care of the local county
Humane Society and have him euthanized.
This is an extremely emotional decsion for me to make
since I am completely anti-PTS! I absolutley do not
believe in euthanasia. After Peeper passed it was
enough trauma for me.
But my house is traumatized! It is completley ruined
and beyond restoration. Nothing and I mean absolutely
nothing is sacred to Dartagnan!
He spays electrical, metal, plastic, carboard, wood,
fabric, and even glass! I have lost hundreds of
thousands of dollars replacing the soiled items.
ELECTRICAL:
He sprays, my electric outlets i.e. plug-ins and phone
jacks! I have electrical shorts in the phone line as
well as with the appliances. Smokes just rolls out the
outlets!
METAL:
He sprays my dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, the
metal storm doors, door HINGES themselves, portable
heaters, the oven, even the actual stove top and the
water heater! He actally even extinguished the pilot
light! I literally had no hot water for two (2) days
and never understood why!
PLASTIC:
He sprays my kitchen trash can, recycle bin, laundray
hanpers, the exterior of the litter boxes, any small
plasic applicance on the counter top i.e. the coffee
maker, tea maker, toaster, blinder, etc. and plastic
bags. When I return home from the grocery store I have
to literally race to empty the bags and put them away
before he gets to them! (It is the same with brown
paper bags!)
CARDBORD:
He sprays on brown paper grocery bags, cat houses that
are designed out of "cardboard", boxes and Coke/Pepsi
cases! I have to break them down and put the
boxes/cases in the recycle bin before he get to those
too.
WOOD:
My lower kitchen cabinets are a joke! Not only that
but he sprays table and chair legs, wooden doors and
PANELS! The doorway thresholds are not immune to his
attacks! Forget about having any wooden furniture this
hous! Curio/China cabinets, bookcases, Grandfather
clocks, armoires, antiques, hutches and T.V./stereo
entertainment centers all ruined. All have either been
replaced or thrown out. The acid in the urine has
literlly eaten away the varnish and the brown sticky
liquid has seeped into the carpet staining the fabric!
FABRIC:
The carpet is unsalvageable! The spray has gotten into
the actaul carpet pad and has soaked into the wooden
floor beneath. I even had new capet installed only to
have to that ruined too! The installers even applied
Kilz paint primer over the original wood floor before
installing the new carpet. No luck!
My curtains and upholstery are completely destroyed!
My couch/sofa, love seat, recliners will never be the
same! I had the fabric furniture professionally
steamed upholstered and then had then wrapped in
plastic. Once the plastic was professionally
installed, I had slipcovers fitted for each
inidividual piece. Now when he sprays, I simply take
the slipcoves off and throw them in the washing
machine, but doing this every one (1) to three (3)
months has worn out my washing maching! I had to
finally break down and purchase a new one (1) last
month! :(
GLASS:
Dartagnan sprays my glass windows when he jumps on the
kitchen counter at night, the windows beside the front
and back door, any glass installed in the wood
furniture and even pitcure frames! When he climbs on
the cat tree-towers he literally sprays was walls and
anything hanging on them!
I know that feline inappropriate elimation and soiling
is the number one (1) problem with pet oweners, but
this is ridiculous! He has managed to "mark" and/or
destroy every piece of household funiture that I own
in two (2) years!
I have twelve (12) indoor cats. Dartagnan is the
youngest. He is two (2). He was netured at four (4)
months old and was equally and easily accepted by all
the others.
There are thirteen (13) litter boxes throughout the
entire house, all in which are easily accessible. They
are all located away from windows/doors and are in
quiet places within the house. Food and water bowls
are NOT in the same locations as the litter boxes.
All thirteen (13) litter boxes are hooded types (I
tried the litter "pans" but he personally did not like
those.) So I switched back to the origianl hooded
version.
All of the litter boxes are scooped twice a day and
are hand washed and sterilized once a month.
I have tried every bran of cat litter known to man,
clay, scoop, non-scoop, paper, corn/wheat based, ect.
and non seem to work. Currently, I am using Tiny Cats
Scoopable version. It has been the most successful
thus far (and that is NOT saying much!)
I have tried adding MORE litter to the boxes, then
taking some out. Some cats like them deep while others
like them shallow. Dartagnan does not seem to care
either way. He still continues to spray regardless.
He has had a diagnostic laboratory urinalysis and
urine culture performed once a year. All have come
back negative!
He has been on Baytril, Clindamycin and Doxycycline
for "possible" bacterial infections.
And he has been on Clomipramine a.k.a. Clomicalm,
Amitriptyline and Buspirone a.k.a. buspar for behavior
displacement and/or territorial aggression to no
avail. Even all doped up he will still spary. He may
not be able to walk straight, but he still manages to
somehow spray!
The house itself is a one (1) and a half story Cap Cad
style with ample room for each individual cat. I
reside in the county on six (6) acres of land and
there are NO outside strays or litters lingering
about!
I do TAR a.k.a. Trap-Alter-Return that is privately
and independally funded out of my own pocket;
therefore, once the alterations are completed the
strays/ferals are released back outside on the
PERIMETER of the land where they are fed ELSEWHERE.
I immedately shower and wash my clothes upon handling
these cats in order to reduce if not eliminate their
smell entirely from being brought into the house.
The only two (2) things that I have not yet done is
contact an animal behaviorist or an animal
communicator, but with all the money that I am
investing in household repairs, diagnostic laboratory
vet bills, medications and cleaning supplies, I have
no more disposable income for a two-hundred dollar
session with an animal behaviorist or animal
communicator!
Not only that, but these individuals informed me via a
free telephone consualtion (thank god) that they would
need to see Dartagnan on several out-patient visits
due to the severe natual of the circumstance AND to
"probably" set up sessions with the other eleven (11)
individually!
WHAT! two-hundred dollars per cat for an average of
five (5) consecutive visits a piece! That is $12,000
dollars! IMPOSSIBLE! Who has that kind of money?!
Besides, I have already spent close to that in the
refurbishing of the house, supplies, veterinarian
bills, etc.
What the hell am I going to do?! Anyone want a cat?
Lora
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