behaviors
Written by J Love
I have 2 cats, Presley (4 1/2 yrs old) and Obi (4 yrs old). Obi was introduced when Pres was 6 months old and they have treated each other like brothers. Personality wise they are different. Presley is lazy and territorial, but acts like our child. Obi is skittish however will let us love on him on his terms (most of the time right when we come out of the shower he is waiting on us and jumps on the bed to be petted and kissed on). Both are males. Pres sleeps on my head and when my husband is away Obi does too, but normally Obi sleeps in the chair in our room that faces me. In the last 3 days I've noticed that one of the cats have pooped and urinated in the dining room several times. When I saw this I immediately cleaned it up at first I just used a general cleaner for our hardwood floors, but last night I used the cleaner and bleached the floors. There is nothing new in the house. They have 2 litter boxes, both which are very clean. Neither of them have ever done this before. We haven't changed our routine or had any changes to our house. After bleaching and scrubbing the floors; I went ahead and mopped all floors, it happened again sometime in the night. Why is this happening? They aren't old and have ever done this thing.
2 other questions:
1) how do we get Pres to be more social with people? He hisses and snaps at people unless they've slept at our house for at least a week. With my husband and I, he is a teddy bear and allows us to kiss his belly and neck and pet him wherever. He follows us around so he can lay with us and he especially loves it when we are in the same room.
2) how do I get Obi to be less skittish? He allows us to love on him when we come out of the shower. He lets me love on him a lot more than my husband, but anytime we walk up to him he immediately gets very alert. Most of the time I can pet him, but he doesn't like to be held. We got him when he was 10 weeks old from Pet Smart and he has been in a strong loving environment ever since. He does see how we love on Pres and comes up when I'm showing Pres affection to get a little of attention, but I don't want to completely move from Pres to Obi b/c I don't want Pres to feel jealous of Obi. How do I help Obi?
Sorry for the loaded questions. Please help, really with the first paragraph the other is just bonus questions.
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J Love, it certainly can be hard to figure out what your cat is trying to tell you when he poops and pees on the floor. It is a very clear message from the cat, that we humans have to decode. Usually, but not always soiling issues are caused by a change of some sort. It doesn't have to be big or even inside your house. Maybe construction outside, a stray cat, a new food or litter.
I usually try to start at the litter boxes when trying to figure these things out. Some basic rules are, one more box than cat, plain-fragrance free litter with out fancy additives the cat may find offensive, no hoods when possible, no plastic liners, scoop poop out only, do not stir box, clean box with mild dish soap and water only, one box per level of house when possible, placed away from noisy appliances that may startle the cat when he is in the box, make sure the area around the box is not offensive like a carpet that smells funny or cement that has been cleaned with a strong smelling cleaner and always make sure access is easy and user friendly.
Denying access to the soiled area in the dining room if possible is the best way to help prevent habit. Place a chair or another large object on the spot or some clear double sided tape or even a food dish. If need be close off parts of the house so the choices of places to go is smaller and try reintroducing the litter boxes.
To reintroduce litter boxes, take a very yummy treat such as tuna or salmon and lead the cat from the kitchen to the litter box on its own 4 feet, have him step in the box, out of the box and then place the treat down in front of the box. If you do not know which boy is doing this, you can take turns and also go to each box with each cat. It sounds a bit crazy but what you are doing is reinforcing that the litter box is a nice place to be. Be sure not to take the cat in your arms and put him in the box, he may sense your tension and get a bad vibe.
The best way for cats to warm up to people is for the people to give the cat what it likes. Have your guests give him a treat or play with him or brush him, whatever he prefers. Socializing with cats has much to do with personality. Obi may always be on the skittish side. Food and toys are the best way to reduce nerves and anxiety. I have a very lovey cat (a boy) but when people are around, he disappears until things settle down. My other one (also a boy) is a bit wild when he is out and does not want to be held but he rubs on everybody that comes over and sleeps on me.
I hope this information helps and please let us know how the soiling issue is going and if you need more help.
PetDoc.com
Thank you so much for your response. I'll try anything to keep the soiling from happening. Yesterday I returned home to find it happened again. So I cleaned the area and not even 10 minutes later one of them did it again. After cleaning again, I placed a clean litter box on top of where he was going and for the rest of the evening and overnight, no soiling happened. I even gave extra love to the cat that I think is doing this. Hoping he doesn't have some attention issues. Thanks for your help. I'm glad this forum was available.