Call me cruel... or just fed up.
Jan. 20th, 2003 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yellowrosetxOur Siamese cat has apparently decided that it's her God given right to try to use anywhere in the house as a litterbox and hairball bin.
If she was sick, I would be more patient and more tolerant. However, with Kevin aching like he was over the weekend the last thing he needed was to be stepping in "stuff." The cat has been doing this sort of thing, on and off, for years, not to mention she eats a good portion of our other cat's food and then barfs it up. If she ate because she was hungry, it would be one thing, but she seems to be like the kid that just eats so no one gets what she thinks of as her share.
So.... I hit my tolerance level with the kitty. I hauled out the dog crate, the cat one was way too small for what I had in mind. The crate is for large dogs, so there's plenty of space for one 12 lb cat. With my son's help, I cleaned it up. He prepared a litter box, we lined the crate with an old blanket. Food and water were put in.
She was in there for over a day, no problems. We let her out, first thing she did was attack the dry food feeder and barf all over. Needless to say, she's back in the crate for now.
I don't like being cruel or mean to any animal, unless, of course, they attack me. I've tried hairball medicine, that's not the problem. If I put the food up, the other cat will starve because she's a nibbler.
For years, I thought it was because I just don't "get" cats that I couldn't figure out what was causing her behavior. Seems that's not quite the case. I "get" Bats just fine. She eats, she drinks, she isn't destructive, she uses the litterbox. Only problem we have ever had with her that needed to be worked on was her adjusting to the dog in the house. She used to pick on him when he was a pup, now, he's bigger, and she realized that it's not a good idea anymore because he could easily do damage to her. At least that was one I could understand.
I'm open to suggestion here.. we have tried separate litterboxes, Meows (don't ask, the kids named her) just did as she liked. Tried scooping every time, but she still does it. I'd think illness, but last time she was to the vet, he said she wasn't diabetic or anything.
If she was sick, I would be more patient and more tolerant. However, with Kevin aching like he was over the weekend the last thing he needed was to be stepping in "stuff." The cat has been doing this sort of thing, on and off, for years, not to mention she eats a good portion of our other cat's food and then barfs it up. If she ate because she was hungry, it would be one thing, but she seems to be like the kid that just eats so no one gets what she thinks of as her share.
So.... I hit my tolerance level with the kitty. I hauled out the dog crate, the cat one was way too small for what I had in mind. The crate is for large dogs, so there's plenty of space for one 12 lb cat. With my son's help, I cleaned it up. He prepared a litter box, we lined the crate with an old blanket. Food and water were put in.
She was in there for over a day, no problems. We let her out, first thing she did was attack the dry food feeder and barf all over. Needless to say, she's back in the crate for now.
I don't like being cruel or mean to any animal, unless, of course, they attack me. I've tried hairball medicine, that's not the problem. If I put the food up, the other cat will starve because she's a nibbler.
For years, I thought it was because I just don't "get" cats that I couldn't figure out what was causing her behavior. Seems that's not quite the case. I "get" Bats just fine. She eats, she drinks, she isn't destructive, she uses the litterbox. Only problem we have ever had with her that needed to be worked on was her adjusting to the dog in the house. She used to pick on him when he was a pup, now, he's bigger, and she realized that it's not a good idea anymore because he could easily do damage to her. At least that was one I could understand.
I'm open to suggestion here.. we have tried separate litterboxes, Meows (don't ask, the kids named her) just did as she liked. Tried scooping every time, but she still does it. I'd think illness, but last time she was to the vet, he said she wasn't diabetic or anything.
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no subject
Date: 2003-01-21 10:14 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-01-22 01:45 am (UTC)UTI is still a possibility or something related since she's about 14.
Re:
Date: 2003-01-22 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-22 03:50 pm (UTC)It could be simply a behavior issue, and in that case you are right on with your instincts to lock her up. Often times negative "punishment" can rehabilitate a "bad" pet. You mighy try doing other unpleasant things to her to reaffirm that when she does something that isn't good behavior she will get punished. I used a squirt gun to douse my other cat with water when he would scratch on the couch. He learned quickly not to do that. Then when he did do things that were good I rewarded him as well.
Just a thought.
-e
Re:
Date: 2003-01-22 04:49 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-01-22 09:41 pm (UTC)-e
Re:
Date: 2003-01-23 12:21 pm (UTC)I'd put this down to old age, but the Siamese has done this sort of thing before. The vet found nothing physically wrong.