Hmmm...just a thought...but a "kitty diaper" worked really well for one of my guys who had an incontinence issue! The Dr. Foster & Smith website has a good diaper (hint: the extra-small is *way* too small)...I just put a regular maxi-pad in there and off he went! The hole for the tail is just large enough for "pooh" to get through, too. Perhaps just a temporary solution until you can get to the root of the problem?
Jen -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lora Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 8:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Massive Spraying Issue! 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 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Dress up your holiday email, Hollywood style. Learn more. http://celebrity.mail.yahoo.com
