First, a cool article that talks about a study showing wolves and dingos were better at problem solving than domesticated dogs. I’d be curious to see this study done with different breeds of domesticated dogs, including those who are a little more “wild.”
Second, I think (in my sleeping med induced haze) that Toby is trying to get me to clean. He just started doing mini pees outside his litter box–on the overflow from my laundry basket (I really hate doing laundry, seriously, least favorite chore) and my mail pile (which I also take forever to go through–I grab anything urgent and then wait to throw the rest away). He kept trying to go back. The areas are sprayed with a ton of Nature’s Miracle and he’s now happily cleaning himself in the front hallway. Hopefully he won’t do anymore while I’m at work. He used the litterbox before going to the other places this morning so its not like he’s forgotten it. Boo 🙁 Massive cleaning and Cat vs Cat reading. He’s normally awesome about the litterbox so I have a suspicion it’s either because Jarrod left yesterday and it’s anxiety related (Jarrod is around a lot and is currently out of town for a wedding) or something Keen related. It’s not a full pee that he’s doing in the two spots, more like just a tiny little dab–like when a dog has emptied his bladder but still wants to mark more spots on his walk.
Or maybe once my antihistimine sleeping pill gets out of my system I’ll be able to think better.
We had a cat who did that, and we thought it was behavioral at first. Then the puddles got bigger and we took her to the vet. Hello, UTI. Frustratingly, from that point on, if she didn't think the litter box was clean enough to pee in, she'd use a corner. And she was super picky about what was "clean enough." If she hadn't been so darn cute…
If it's a stress or anxiety issue for Toby, have you tried spraying some Feliway around? We did that for Elwing when Evan moved and it really calmed him down in the upheaval. He only peed once, by the front door and thankfully not on carpet, and he hasn't done it since.
He's still doing his normal amount in the litter box so I'm waiting to try the vet–if he stops using the litter box or uses more than those two spots (which are also spots where Keen likes to roll so they likely smell of Keen) I'll take him in. Also if it lasts past me giving the whole apartment a good cleaning and him some extra playtimes. *Crossing fingers it's not a UTI*
My bottle of feliaway disappeared at a shelter event so I need to buy a new one. It was magic for my fosters.
Does that feliaway really work? Captain Lou has killed two of my potted plants, so far. I understand that potting soil kind of looks like litter, but I'd rather not have that happen again.
Also, I'm with you on the laundry. I am SO with you on the laundry. You can't even imagine.
If the issues are anxiety-related, Feliaway is like magic. Now, if he just likes the feel of potting soil on his bum…won't do much.
Feliaway mimics the pheramone that cats put out when they head/flank rub something or someone. So it makes the cat feel like he/she is already in a safe place.
You can get it as room thing that you plug in (like those scented Glade plugins) or a spray. I prefer the spray because my apartment is small and most of my outlets are in use. I believe my shelter uses the outlet one because it needs to disperse the scent over a greater area. I wish I could meet the scientists who invented it and give them pie and hugs for being so awesome. It's also great for travel anxiety or introducing a new cat to a home. There's also an off brand that's similar. I can't remember the name but it's sold at Petsmart and has a picture of a white cat in front of a white puffy cloud and blue sky background. It's much cheaper and seemed to help for low level stuff.
Ditto on the Feliway. Years ago I had a cat plant problem, so I cut out a piece of cardboard, with a slit and a hole for the trunk of the plant, and placed that over top of the soil.
And sadly, ditto on the UTI. My old UTI-prone cat would do that when he had an infection–those small amounts outside the litter box. But I hope not. 🙂
And I have the Cat vs Cat book too! Had to create a lot of vertical space in my apartment when we brought She-Devil into the home and she disrupted everyone's lives.
I love her books. Starting From Scratch has also been invaluable with my fosters (mostly I get the older cats who would freak out in the shelter).
There was no pee today but TONS of affection and insistent "Play Now" and "Pet Now" behavior. And he curled up at one point on a pile of my boyfriend's shoes/work clothes and was purring like a mad kitty. Crossing my fingers that the signs of "anxiety-related" pee hold. We just finished treating him for an eye infection and were kind of selfishly looking forward to a few weeks of not chasing him around with meds (the vet gave me stuff to rub on him as it wasn't available in dropper form and he will refuse to eat rather than have pills or food-based gels, thankfully he's a super clean kitty so once you get it on him he licks it all off and hasn't figured yet how to rub it on things…).
As for vertical spaces–I may need to write a post on all the vertical spaces he's "claimed" I freely gave him some but others he just decided on himself and I woke up to all my Peters novels on the floor. Or he just really doesn't like Egypt…
lol Not a Peabody fan, then. Or maybe a fan, but bad balance. He should start with hard covers, work his way to paperbacks.
I'll look into Starting From Scratch, thanks.
My white cat is so unclean that you can't use the smear & lick method! I remember him once walking around with hairball malt on his nose all day.
I'm not really here, I'm just dropping off the new address for my site. Its thoughtsbylilahpierce.blogspot.com
I'm late to the party, Bethany! I hope the problem is resolved!!
I've had better luck with nixing revisiting (and smell) with "Get Serious" than with Nature's Miracle, if that's of any help!