Is there a way to stop cats wee'ing in the wrong places?!

poiuytrewq

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Quick background. Moved house to a farm almost 2 yrs ago. Found we had a resident stray who looked pretty awful. Very timid and only seen at night from the window!
Seeing she was starving we started feeding her. She had continual kittens which I think died as they never stayed round.
We decided to trap her and caged her for a couple of weeks, along with one remaining kitten. Fed them lots! Took to the vet she's spayed, flea'd wormed etc. Vet said she could be freed but to keep the kitten as it was too young to castrate but old enough to be separated!
So once mum was ok (stitches wise etc) we let her free. Intending to feed as usual of course. Well she refused to go! Sitting outside the door all night so we got her back in.
They have been inside ever since. They don't sit on our lap but do come and sit in the room with us and the dogs in the evening and will play and take treats. They follow me round in the morning before work and look really healthy and lovely.
99.9% of the time they use a litter tray. My o/h has been very reluctant to let them out and keeps on about another week just to be sure they come back.
Occasionally though they use the spare bed or sofa or something.... obviously cat pee bloody stinks.
I am going to let them out, pretty certain they will come back as they seem very at home and certainly love their food!
They won't unfortunately be able to come and go at will though as for example, overnight we shut the dogs in the room which the front door comes into. They are very brave with the dogs but I don't think they would come through into a small room with them, if they did the dogs would go mad barking as they do when someone approaches the door.
So I think we will still need a tray which is a pita but any way to stop the ruining of furniture please??
 

poiuytrewq

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Gosh, um, feels like forever. 2 months?
We had put off having him castrated as we are gradually really making friends and the vet visit terrified them and set us back miles. Is it time to bite the bullet?
 

Shady

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How long have they been in? Pound to a penny it's the male thats peeing.
For some reason cats love peeing on bedding, towels, sofa's etc, it's something to do with us and can be difficult to stop, kittens do it the most but it can be any cat really, kittens do usually grow out of it, i think it's also a bit of laziness, i would put waterproof mattress protectors on for now and get the kitten castrated and access to outside again asap
 

poiuytrewq

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Will do.
I think the mattress is a skip job, it's the spare room but I'd not want to sleep on it!
I think my partner is worried they won't come back and will now be even worse at hunting as they are so used to us catering for them.
I think after this length of time we should be considered home though.
 

Aru

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If the kittens not castrated that would be the first thing to change! Males do like to spray urine to mark their territory so worth ruling out.

Cats do also sometimes like fabric though so I'd either restict access or put something like aluminium foil on the problem areas to break the habit.
However you may need to chuck some of the bedding as the smell can linger and they tend to repeadedly go back to the same spots!
Also when in doubt add more litter trays! The general rule is have one per cat plus one extra to reduce the risk of accidents from territory battling or fussiness!
If its the female soiling unusual areas then I'd be worried about both uti's and stress if its an ongoing issue.
 
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Tyssandi

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Quick background. Moved house to a farm almost 2 yrs ago. Found we had a resident stray who looked pretty awful. Very timid and only seen at night from the window!
Seeing she was starving we started feeding her. She had continual kittens which I think died as they never stayed round.
We decided to trap her and caged her for a couple of weeks, along with one remaining kitten. Fed them lots! Took to the vet she's spayed, flea'd wormed etc. Vet said she could be freed but to keep the kitten as it was too young to castrate but old enough to be separated!
So once mum was ok (stitches wise etc) we let her free. Intending to feed as usual of course. Well she refused to go! Sitting outside the door all night so we got her back in.
They have been inside ever since. They don't sit on our lap but do come and sit in the room with us and the dogs in the evening and will play and take treats. They follow me round in the morning before work and look really healthy and lovely.
99.9% of the time they use a litter tray. My o/h has been very reluctant to let them out and keeps on about another week just to be sure they come back.
Occasionally though they use the spare bed or sofa or something.... obviously cat pee bloody stinks.
I am going to let them out, pretty certain they will come back as they seem very at home and certainly love their food!
They won't unfortunately be able to come and go at will though as for example, overnight we shut the dogs in the room which the front door comes into. They are very brave with the dogs but I don't think they would come through into a small room with them, if they did the dogs would go mad barking as they do when someone approaches the door.
So I think we will still need a tray which is a pita but any way to stop the ruining of furniture please??
Google Jackson Galaxy as he is amazing and has videos of this problem and how he fixed it
 

Aru

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As for releasing back into the outdoors...send them out hungry for the first few forays back into the wild!cats generally will return for their dins and they chose ye before theres no real reason why they shouldnt come backa again.
 

poiuytrewq

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Thanks!
Pretty certain mum is neither stressed or anxious, she seems quite at home! I wonder if maybe years back as a kitten she did belong to someone as she's happy to be in our company whereas I'm told true feral cats don't ever become.
Kitten for example had no human contact as a tiny kitten and although plays with us we never stroke or make the first move with him.
 

poiuytrewq

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Tried to re-introduce the big wild world today. Baby was terrified and still is refusing to have anything to do with me at all. Think he's still hiding upstairs (far away from the door!)
Mummy cat was quite interested and happy to sit on the inside looking out the open door but had no interest whatsoever in going through it!
Will keep trying!
 

cava14una

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To catch boy see if vet can lend u a trap. You will?Update need to keep them separate though or mum will probably set it off
 
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