Any cat behavior experts out there?

madmikeb

madmikeb

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As most of you know, about a month ago I went to the gun show, ended up at the shelter and brought two kittens home. I already have an 8 year old Bengal female that is a wonderful cat. There have been some issues with bringing the new cats in. All in all though thing have been progressing and Jinx ( the established cat) has been becoming more and more tolerant of the new guys all the time, to the point that she will actually play with one of them occasionally.
We have lavished more attention on her than ever, set up two new catboxes, which I am very anal about keeping clean, as soon as one is used it's cleaned.
The problem is that about a week ago she started urine marking sporadically around the house, now, starting yesterday, she has pretty much stopped using the catbox for urine altogether. The funny thing is, as her routine has been getting back to normal, her acceptance of the kittens has gotten better, this has gotten worse.:confused: She will do this when all 3 boxes are clean. I have looked online and seen that inappropriate urination can be a problem with Bengals. I have also seen a product called Feliway that is a diffuser that puts synthetic pheromones into the air to calm a stressed cat. Any of you guys have any experience with this?
I love my cats right to pieces but obviously this can't go on. I won't return the new guys to the shelter and I don't want to find her a new home either. She's curled up in my lap as I'm typing this.
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!
 
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Where do your Cats sleep? Has the where changed for Jinx? Do they spend all of their time together?
 
Also, have you changed cat box cleaners? How big of a space do the cats live in? Changed litter brands? Changed location of her box? Is the box out in the middle of everything or more private? Finally, is the Cat hiding at times?
 
Cat's have a mind of their own. Maybe she is jealous or marking her territory. We have a Persian that likes to go poo outside her box sometimes but right outside it, but urinate inside, and nothing we do can make her do anything she doesn't want to do. She is also a rescue and very old. Don't know for sure how old but well over 10 as we've had her almost that long and just stated doing it. Strange thing is she use to go in the shower to urinate and the toilet when the seat is left up. But she stopped that also. We just chalk it up to getting senile as she will round us up to feed her and 1/2 latter do it again like she wasn't fed but still has food in her bowl. Like I said I don't know what to tell you except a cat has a mind of their own. Hope you get it sorted out.
 
It sounds to this non-expert as if, as the kittens grow older, larger and more assertive, the original cat is staking out territory. Like trying to set limits on a human teenager. What you can do about that I haven't a clue.

Have you talked to a veterinarian?
 
Two things occur to me in this situation.
1. Jinx is acting out. She is frustrated with the intrusion on her domain. this behavior is a main way that cats show their displeasure. (Remind me to share a funny story about THAT some time) and also how they mark their territory. She may feel the need to let everyone know what's what.

2. This may not have anything to do with the new cats. She could be developing feline diabetes. This is another main reason why cats will urinate indiscriminately around the house.

I hope you get it figured out and find a solution.
 
Thanks for the responses.
She still sleeps with me, no changes in litter or cleaner. She's not hiding, one box is in a private area, one is in the open, one is kind of semi private. I'm going to stop and talk to my vet on the way home from work Monday to see if they have any suggestions. The bladder infection possibility did occur to me also.
The only changes in the attention she gets is that she is getting more than ever, and she has never suffered from lack of it! She is a sweet cat, but always has been high strung. Fathers side is tabby cat and Asian leopard, mothers side, seal point Siamese and Asian leopard. Bengals also are prone to routines so we have taken great pains to keep her in her normal everyday routine. I really think this is a stress issue. Funny thing is, as I stated as things seem to be smoothing out with the kittens, this issue seems to be getting worse.
 
Have her fitted for a 'cateter'
No, really don't know what you can do besides Febreeze
 
My advice is to trade the cat in on a nice dog. It will be like going from being married to a psycho to being married to a loving gentle lady.
 
I'm not a cat expert, but my guess is territory marking to let the new guys know what is hers. Don't know what you can do to stop it other than do what my daughter does and limit the new cats to one area of the house and let the old cat have the rest of the house to itself.

Pete
 
Last week I listened to a "cat expert" talking about this issue. He stated introducing another cat into a home is not a good idea, that cats don't need the company of each other, and will rebel against it. The only exception was cats raised together which seemed to work in most cases. While the older cat appears to be getting along with the new ones it's possible she isn't and this is her way of displaying her displeasure. One way to find out is remove the new cats and all their "belongings" for a few days and see what happens. If you just separate them the old cat will still sense their presence and the behavior might continue.
 
Sounds like you've thought it through. I agree with the posters on taking her to a Vet, it could be medical. The other thing I'd consider is finding someplace to be just "hers" where the other other cats are not allowed.
 
When our daughter moved back in with us about a year ago, she brought her cat Fred. Well, we think he's a cat, but he might be a creature from another planet that is disguised as a cat. That's a different story, though.

Minnie, our Queen of the House alpha cat doesn't much like Fred and let us know. We used Feliway and it seemed to work until they got used to each other. It's not cheap though. Amazon has the best prices if you buy in bulk.

Meanwhile, our quiet, hides most of the time cat, Moe started to urinate in our laundry basket. Yes, it could be worse, but it was unpleasant.

Our daughter, who is studying to be a social work, but should be a cat social worker, figured out that Moe's behavior started after I retired and was home a lot more. Moe and I are buddies, but for some reason he won't come down to where the litter boxes are if I'm in the area. So, he would let us know that by peeing in my laundry basket. Our solution was to buy another litter box and put it upstairs in a spare room that he likes to be in. Problem solved.

Some experts say that you should have one more litter box than you have cats. We don't have the room for that, but three seem to work fine.

My son's first cat is pretty easy going, but when he brought another cat into the house the second one wouldn't share a litter box with the first one. So, he had to get two litter boxes. It's common for cats, especially cats that are brought in later, not to want to share litter boxes.

One last word about litter. We used Tidy Cats for about 7 years, but with three cats and three litter boxes it suddenly started to track all over the house. I had to vacuum every day. I switched to Arm and Hammer which is about the same price and not only does it not track, it smells better. If you decide to switch for any reason, make it a gradual transition.

A Urinary Track Infection is also a possibility, definitely talk the the vet about that. If a cat has a UTI it hurts to urinate and some cats will associate the litter boxes with pain and avoid them.
 
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