# New here, problem with litter box tormenting and kitty peeing on the stove!



## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi all, Im new here. Let me tell you about the issue I am having. I have 2, male orange tabby cats. Both of them are 2 years old. Chester is a fairly relaxed cat and very easy going. His brother Cheetos, is either calm and collected or very grumpy. 

I recently moved in with someone whom has two cats as well. A big dominant male cat, Coda (5 yr old) and a submissive female cat, sam. Sam is also very skittish at times. The problem lies with Sam and Cheetos. Coda is the dominant male cat in the house hold. Cheetos is trying to become the dominant cat. Coda, will not have this and sometimes holds Cheetos down until he submits. 
The three male cats get along otherwise, usually just by ignoring each other and giving each other space.

Cheetos and Sam usually swat each other when they cross paths. Cheetos occansionally chase sam after these swats. Other times they are content with lying a few feet apart on the same couch or bed. They sleep almosst every night on the bed together both on different sides of my boyfriends body. 

Sam, in response to Cheetos tormenting sam outside the litter box, has been peeing on the stove. So this has been going on about six months. In the beginning the frequency was not very often, once or twice a month. Sam also gets occansionally chase by Coda as well, but mostly by Cheetos. We have caught cheetos sitting out side the litter box waiting for sam to finish and then chase her away. Sam has now been doing this weekly. 

The stress in the household has seemed to increase this frequency lately. Chester has just had major cat surgery, and cheetos seems very irritable by this fact. He hisses and spits at chester (they are very close brothers and inseperable until this surgery). I assume this hatred currently is because Chester smells funny from the vet and he looks funny with a half shaved body.

We have tried adding more litter boxes. We have tried moving litterboxes to other areas of the house with no luck. We tried the feliway plug ins for a while. No drastic changes with that either. Sam pees no where else that we can find besides the stove. Sam and Cheetos both went to the vet last night for a check up. No medical issues. We have tried the "rub" one cats check to gather cat phermones and then rub it on the other cat so they all "smell" the same. No major luck here either. Been doing that for a couple months now. The problem has been getting worse not better.

Cheetos is now on prozac as of last night, to hopefully help him mellow out. Hopefully, this will stop his from chasing sam. 

Does anyone have any other ideas in which we could try to resolve this problem? Seperating the cats does rid the problem. But in an apartment, locking cats in a bedroom all day isnt a very good or desirable solution. I am not overly thrilled to be medicating my cat, but it is a better option than giving the cat away.


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## Lopn (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi,
I am so impressed that you are working so hard to keep the family together and yes, I would agree that medication is a better option than re-homing because a cat with urination problems will likely be euthanized at a shelter and you would likely have trouble getting a rescue to take a kitty with potty problems because they are so hard to get adopted...

Now, this may be an obvious question but is everyone involved spayed/neutered? You sound like you know what you are doing so I assume you would have thought of this already, but wanted to ask just in case... Cats who are fixed tend to have less of these kinds of issues... no guarantee, I've seen fixed kitties with these problems, but it is a good thing to do either way and may help resolve some issues... 

Also, what kind of space are you living in... size wise... does everyone have plent of room to escape from each other when they need a break?

Oh, and make sure you don't clean the stove with anything with ammonia in it... that smell actually can attract the cat to continue to use that spot as it now smells like where they are supposed to go...

It's not surprising that the two formerly best friends are fussy with each other given that one is recovering from surgery... that happens very often and usually resolves back to the way it was after everyone is feeling better... a friend of mine had a brother and sister who were inseparable until the brother developed a UTI... she hissed and spit and called him all kinds of ugly names until the meds started to kick in and he started feeling better... they are very sensitive to these things but not very sympathetic about it...

I don't know if any of this is helpful, but I hope so... good luck!
Lopn


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## Lopn (Nov 24, 2010)

p.s. Also, you might try spraying the feliway on the area where she is going... maybe spray it on a paper towel or cloth and wipe in on the stove area... it may be that the plugins are not helping near the box but they usually won't go where the feliway has been sprayed directly... you may have to repeat it often 'cause it's an area you likely clean often...


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

There is a motion-activated repellent called Ssscat! which I found effective in keeping my cats off kitchen counters. This will work for your stove. Most pet stores and others carry it and the aerosal lasts about a year. 

Ssscat Automated Cat Deterrent - Repellents - Cat - PetSmart


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## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

thanks for all of these suggestions. All of the cats are spayed / neutered. We need to keep the cat family happy. Giving any said cat away would definately create unwanted indirect resentment in my human relationship. Putting kitty in a shelter isnt any good for them either. 

After a through cleaning of the stove, inside and out and moving stove and cleaning every inch of the kitchen. It seems we have finally gotten all the "smell" out. I have throughly cleaned before, but must have missed something. With this cleaning, and the prozac , the last week has been "Accident" free. Hopefully this continues. We also have but a differently covering on the stove that seems to have helped. I bought one of those "puppy pads" absorbant things on the stove, so if cat does decide to use it, then it will be absorbed. Hopefully this will reduce cleaning time. 

i will definately try the feliway on the stove if the incidents continue. I hadnt ever heard of that automatic spray thing that would deter cats. Definately purchasing one of those if kitty doesnt stop. Luckily it would probably work with this "skitish" kitty.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

the reason your cat peed on the stove is it is stressed big time. this has happened to someone I know whose cat did the same thing on her stove, in her bathroom sink, on the floor right in front of her. They are telling you they cant handle what is going on with the other cats in the house 

You might go back and redo the introductions. The feliway is a good idea. Plus there is a natural calming liquid called Compusure Liquid by Vetri Science. Its like a natural prozac. You can buy it on line or get it from your vet.

one of my cats flipped out after eye surgery and couldnt be handled. I thought we were going to have to medicate her to get her to calm down. My vet insisted giving tranquilizers always be the be the last possible route to take. She had me use Composure and I got immediate results.

Some cats need longer times to slowly get adjusted to other cats in their territory. Keeping them separated and slowly and short sprints let them see or trade rooms with the scent of the other cats. 

Sometimes we put cats in with each other too quickly and a turf war starts so you have to go back to zero and start again with introductions.


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