Ok,

I have two cats, one is old and grumpy and little highly strung. The other we have had since kitten.

The older one was destroyed our hallway, clawed the wallpaper and the carpet. We recently put new carpet on the stairs and laminate in the hallway. She has all ready destroyed the carpet by clawing it, its not even six months old yet. When we are home its easy to shoe here away but its when we are out she attacks it, or at three o'clock in the morning. She freaking pukes everywhere, ruined the carpet in the spare bedroom. She pees in the corner beside here litter tray and our kitchen reeks of pee, i am embarrassed to invite people over because of the smell.

The younger cat is fine with regards to wallpaper and carpet as he uses scratching post. He also does his business outside so no litter tray required for him. But he brings things into the house such as mice rats and small birds. One day he brought back 10 mice ! He also managed to get a blackbird thru the cat flap, and i had to try and catch the thing.

Now i know thats what cats do with mice etc etc. But we have a 2 and half year old. Most of the time he brings whatever in and eats it and leave whats left in his biscuit bowl. But sometimes he leaves the torso when he gets board. or sometimes he loses intrest and just leaves it to run off.

We have mouse traps round the house to catch the ones he loses intrest in. But the thing is when he just leaves the mice or rat and the little man finds it. Few times now i have had "Dad, found it !" proudly holding mouse torso.

I cant be having mice running round the house or the kid finding and picking up mouse guts etc etc. Even as i type i know there is a mouse behind the fridge, Trap down.

Last of all is the fighting between the two of them. They are both as bad as each other. Somes time it can be quite vicious. Few vet trips. We have tried lots of different calming things such as plug in's etc etc. When the kid goes to bed and its time to relax, we cant as the grumpy one is on the couch and he just wants to sit on the couch as well, its battle time lots of deep belly growling and swiping.

So with all that said its causing myseld and my partner stress. At the moment its hard to relax, its either fighting,dead things, trying to stop her trashing the house, or cleaning up cat pee without heaving and trying to get rid of that smell.

This has been going on for far to long now. So i am seriously thinking that when we get back from short trip at the end of the month that i am call the cat protection lady to get them re-homed.

I feel bad but like i say the stress they are causing is just too much.

Any thoughts anyone ?

Rehome them as soon as possible for their sake rather than yours.

Maybe the old cat has a bladder problem and you are making her stressed out which makes it worse, happens a lot. The reason the older cat is being sick means there may be something wrong with them or they have a hairball problem. Do you groom it to get rid of loose hair? If not then when it grooms itself it will get hairballs and will need to be sick. Are they on special hairball control diet?

Cats catch things and bring it them in as they think you and your family are other cats and it needs to feed you and teach you how to hunt so you can feed yourself. Welcome to having cats.

Also... kids pick up a lot worse from other kids than holding a dead mouse and are liable to get worse things on their hands from just playing in the park.



So please, rehome them. The cats are liable to be picking up on your stress as well which will make them worse.
They will find someone who loves them for what they are and will most prob have a better quality of life. I'd hate for them to be with you where you have obviously grown to dislike them being there.

Also, please don't then decide to get a puppy or any other animal that needs to live indoors as I don't wish to see a similar post about "puppy is ruining carpet and making things smell".

Here's hoping when you get old and grumpy someone treats you with a bit more respect and doesn't worry so much about their home furnishings and more about you.

Might sound a bit harsh but I'm not concerned about your carpets or wallpaper, rather the wellbeing of the cats you don't want anymore.

I don't think you should have cats or any other animal for that matter. From your post it is evident that you are stressing the cats. One pees, because of the stress caused by you and your husband to the animal. The other one ruins your furniture because it is bored. Owning pets is a huge responsibility and shouldn't be taken lightly.

I also agree with re-homing though I would normally urge owners to hold on to their pets and try to work through the issues that are affecting the pet and the owner. In this case, it does seem as if the older cat, in particular, is not at all happy and the younger one seems to be causing you a lot of intolerable stress with its activities. From the way you describe the situation, I believe both would be better suited to environments which are more accepting and tolerant.

My late cat used to bring lots of mice into my flat when she was younger, I found it incredibly stressful and I used to moan to my friends and family who urged me to re-home my cat. However, in my case, I would just say ''no, never, ever!'', my love for my cat far outweighed the inconvenience of having live mice hiding somewhere in my flat. I would never have contemplated re-homing and the fact that you are even considering it suggests that there has been a complete breakdown in the relationship between you and the cats.

The young one may find a home but I am afraid the older one may languish in a rescue centre for a long time. However, I hope all works out for you all in the end.

unfortunaltely the older one may simply be put to sleep, every where is over crowded and they are putting healthy animals to sleep simply because they cannot find homes for them.
its awful, i could never rehome my cats it would be like giving away my children....

Originally Posted by Lost_Soul:
“unfortunaltely the older one may simply be put to sleep, every where is over crowded and they are putting healthy animals to sleep simply because they cannot find homes for them. ”

Thats why I really think people should make an informed decision when owning pets. I too would never rehome my cat. I have always been brought up with pets, so I cant imagine not having a pet of any sort. My current cat is a rescue cat, got her when she was 6 months old. The best decision I ever made was to have a rescue mog.

Indeed, I would support your rehoming them, while they are both still fairly well and you have a little time to shop around to find rescue spaces.
Make sure you try as many rescues as poss, the bigger ones may be full, but some smaller rescues may squeeze them in if it's an emergency.

It'd be worthwhile making sure both are spayed, up to date with vaccinations, worming, defleaing etc.

Try to resist the temptation of advertising on the free ads, unless you're prepared to do thorough checks yourself.

All the best x

As has been said rehome them both for their sakes and I would advise never have another animal again.

Wow i am truly an evil b*****d. If anyone wants my address i will happily PM them it and you can have the satisfaction of reporting me the the relevant authorities.

Be sure to mention that i also beat the cats on a daily basis and sometimes, when i am in a properly evil mood i burn them with white hot pokers.

Maybe the old one would settle if the younger one was rehomed?

Most cats prefer solitude.

Feliway diffusers are also good at calming them down, in my experience.

Thank you but I don't want your address.

Well thank for your reply as when i read it, it didnt make me out to be Hitlers love child.

Both cats are wormend and flea'd on regular basis. There are also both chipped and spayed.

Contrary to other posters opinons i am not heartless. I am not 100% on the rehoming issue. I wish i had a solution. As i do actually like both the cats. I like their personality. The older one is grumpy and i find that endearing as i can be grumpy myself at times. The younger one is as daft as a brush, and has a really good temperament especially round the kid.

I would never advertise them thru the small ads, as their are some strange and weird people out there, besides me that is. If i was going to do it, it would be thru the cat protection league.

I think it would be unfair to re home just one if you know what i mean.

Feliway diff, has been ordered and is on its way

I think you'll have problems rehoming the older one as she has behavioural problems and her age. The problems may settle down if she is on her own. That would be fair to both, no?

I hope the Feliway works for you. Valium for cats.

BIB- quite, besides my son and I strip the felsh off the bones and make skeletons up from the animals that the cat brings in all in the name of science!

Op- I stuggle to write a nice reply here, mainly because your post does sound pretty negative towards the cats, there are no realy problem cats, problem owners yes. I am hoping it is just that the post is written in haste and frustration.

Firstly - if the young cat is eating the mice it normally means they are lacking something in their diet, maybe look at what you are feeding her, it doesn't mean she won't catch and kill but it should be that she doesn't eat them (this isn't always the case, but is common, some cats even just eat the organs that give them the vitimins they are lacking!), also make sure you worm her really regularly as she'll be infested quicking when eating wild prey.

The older cat - the tiddling in the corner is a stress sign, I suspect she's got upset about something, could be the new cat, could be the new baby, could be something else, so the suggestion of feliway is a good one. It does sound like you have too many to handle, and perhaps rehoming the younger one is a good start?

the older cat needs a vet check to rule out a bladder infection for a start then you need to look at the litter tray situation, how many do you have what litter do you use, how regularly are they cleaned out etc.

A lot of the other problem sounds like boredom do you have scratching posts and other appropriate things for a cat to play with mine insists I spend twenty minutes of an evening throwing ping pong balls for her.

The dead mouse thing is easily solved if you don't give the cats free access to the house depending on what hours you are in or out or have indoor cats.

Cats can be sick due to hairballs or a problem in their diet what are they fed on? How often are they groomed?

Most animal behaviour problems can be greatly reduced by spending the time trying to figure out why and how to improve your living situation.

You don't say if they are male or female whether they are neutered and their approximate ages

Sorry but you can't say things like that without people thinking you shouldn't have pets, pets do things like this some of them often do things like this and pet owners either put up with it or train them or prevent them doing it. We don't say lets rehome them after our holiday.

older cat is female, younger is a male, both are doctored and flead and wormed regularly

OP has said all of this within the thread

and OP, you must be at your wits end with them, it's very easy to write in anger in these situations
having a chat with the cats protection as you've mentioned you may well do, would be a good starting point, just to see what the options are in that area.

although i know you've said that rehoming just one of them doesn't seem fair, i would agree with other posters that just rehoming one (ideally your younger one as he's more likely to find a home) would probably be the best way forward, how old exactly are the cats?

a vet check up to make sure that there is nothing medical behind the older cats issues (vomiting, urination) would be a good move also.

in regards to carpets etc, it's pretty impractical, but placing sticky back plastic, sticky side up over the areas you don't want your cat to be is one option of a deterrent.
do the cats have a scratching post to use?

it's very unfortunate that the cat has destroyed these things, and i'm not really aware of how you could deter the cat from doing it for good, but with the younger cat out of the equation, there is a chance that these behaviours may stop completely.

i don;t really have anything more to add that hasn't been said already, other posters have been a tad harsh in my view when your post was quite obviously written in haste while you are under considerable stress owing from the situation with the cats.
but i'm sure that they have the animals best interests at heart when posting.

as for the smell of urine in your kitchen, have you tried using an enzymatic cleaner to cleanse the problem corner?
the likes of simple solution, or in a pinch, biological washing powder can help to break down the urine deposits and smell.
hope you manage to sort something out

First of all thank you for your post. I have been feel so guilty all day. Reading some of the post's have really upset me. Not that i am looking for sympathy. I just was hoping people would maybe understand where i am coming from. Your right i do have have their best interests at heart.

Yes i am at my wits end and rehoming is the very last option.

Also your are right my OP was written out of sheer frustration. And looking back maybe i didn't articulate every thing in a clear manner, giving the impression that the cats are to blame for everything, but like you said, and i agree my OP was written in frustration.

Another poster has suggested Feliway, which has been ordered and is on its way. So fingers crossed that this helps. The older cat is booked into the vet.

The younger cat (Roger) uses scratching post no probs. But the older one (Kat) has never been interested in using one. maybe the tape idea could prove helpful. At one point we had tinfoil on the hallway walls to try and stop her but she just took it else where. After six months of foil on the walls we figured that it was not that useful.

To be honest i am not sure of their exact ages. My other half does. I know, I know i am the worst pet owner in the world. We have definite age for Roger as we had him since being a kitten. Kat is different as the lady from the cat home could not tell us, as Kat had conflicting dates of birth on her papers when we got her. But i will look into it and get you an answer.

I will be looking into the enzymatic cleaner. Never heard of this before so will go and investigate. Any suggestions where to buy or names of products ?

At the end of the day i am trying to do what is best for the cats and my family, thats all.

fingers crossed on the feliway
don't feel too bad not knowing their ages - i feel like the odd one out at the moment myself on this one as everyone around me celebrates their dogs birthdays - completely alien notion to me, but i feel kind of bad for not knowing when the boys is now. pure peer pressure that one.

brands of cleaners, Simple Solution is one that comes to mind, and one i've had experience with using when our older dog became incontinent
it worked really well to remove urine odours from the carpets when she would have an accident in her sleep
i'm not sure of the difference between the cat and dog versions though, but they usually contain something to break down the urine deposits left behind, digesting them, if you will, which stops the odour.
also useful for where there has been vomit.

we also used a cheap product called "whoops!" by Xanto, it's a foam cleaner for carpets and upholstery for the same kind of little accidents. but more used for fresh soils, rather than older ones.

i know it's just a link to pets at home, but it would probably be worth having a look through the category as they're all cleaning products for use with cat mess etc. so you'd know what to look for
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/cat/c.../cat-cleaning/

I agree with other posters about the main priority being a visit to the vet with the older cat. Besides a urinary infection other conditions such as kidney problems or hyperthyroidism could cause a cat to start urinating more and to vomit. These can also cause behavioural changes, including stress and aggression because the cat feels underpar.

Undoubtedly the older cat is stressed by the young challenger, even more so that it is a male, so she may be marking her territory and keeping her claws extra sharp for the next battle. Alternatively, and depending on how old she is, she may have lost the 'comb' teeth, the row of six incisors between the upper and lower canines which they use to groom and nibble at parasites in their fur, and that would mean she cannot have a good bite at her front claws to help pull off the older nail end and reveal the newer growth underneath, so she takes to scratching more. To help save your furnishings you could ask the vet, or their nurse, to clip her front claws. If this wasn't done and the cat didn't scratch they would become hooked and overgrown.

Besides a plug-in Feliway, there's also a herbal drug sold at vet's and available online without a prescription. It's called Zylkene and comes in capsules of powder which you sprinkle into their food, to calm a stressed cat. A fortnight's worth of those may be worth trying. I gave some to one of my cats who was overgrooming, and although it didn't stop him I could tell the difference in his relaxed behaviour within a couple of days.

For the carpets, urine is essentially water (which will evaporate), urea (which will potentially bleach stain a carpet and with a lingering smell) and bacteria (which festers, increasing the smell). There's no point in cleaning the surface carpet and leaving the underlay untouched, so as cats normally squirt around the edges I'd recommend lifting the carpet (usually held on by wooden batons with small nails sticking up so just needs a good tug) and taking out a soiled section of underlay and washing it separately, or replacing it.

Treat the surface with a solution of biological soap powder or carpet shampoo, but an enzymatic cleaner will be needed to break down a lingering urea smell in really soiled areas. Afterwards, and to help mask carpet smells generally, try using a trigger spray of antibacterial solution, the type used to disinfect counter tops and chopping boards - they kill 99.9% of bacteria without bleaching. I use Aldi's finest, at 79p. Gives a very quick sweetening effect. Also experiment with changing the older cat's litter, because if it is scented or it doesn't like the brand for some pernickety reason it may decide to go outside the tray.

I agree with other posters that the younger cat needs to only be let in and out rather than being free to use a cat flap, thus creating a 'no prey' threshold. The problem then is if that locks the older one in and it urinates more. Besides making sure it goes out enough the solution may be a 'key' collar with a magnetic cat flap so the older one can come and go, the younger one cannot. Putting a conventional collar on the younger cat will allow it to wear a bell. That may not cut down rodent kills but it should help curb the birding, though not blackbirds unfortunately as the cat lies hidden in shrubbery waiting for the blackbird to hop towards them.

Enzyme odour eater from Valetpro (online). I used to have an incontinent border collie with urinary retention (so the urine reeked to high heaven) - this stuff saved my sanity (and my expensive carpet). You just use it mixed with water (don't use other detergents first as they'll affect the enzymatic action of this stuff).

Feliway is great but unfortunately it can take a few weeks to kick in so dont expect it to be an instand fix...i use a plug in for my stressy cat ( she pulls her fur out ) but i believe you can get a spray that you can put straight onto things to calm your cat down....i hope it works x

OP..it is difficult to juggle what we feel is the best for our children and best for pets sometimes..sometimes it all just goes well and sometimes it doesnt..things were probably Ok ish when your baby was just that a baby and not as mobile and inquisitive..once they start moving round they are into everything..even the things you dont want them to touch..especially the things you dont want them to touch..I can understand your stress..you may not have liked the dead mice,live mice etc before your child was everywhere..but it was perhaps easier to deal with..I think you have been given a hard time from some posters on here..yes your post sounds very negative against your cats but I can see you are at the end of your tether..so not just for the cats sakes..but for your sons and your sakes too I think rehoming is sensible..I am of the ilk to teach children love and respect towards all animals..but my children always have and always will come first given the choice x

BIB. I think the OP got off pretty lightly IMO. In their original post they just listed all the negatives about their pets and then wanted an opinion on rehoming them after they went on holiday.

Also I'm amazed as it seems the OP hasn't bothered to Google very simple things like "old cat peeing on carpet", "removing cat pee smell from carpet" or "how to stop cats fighting" or "how to stop cats scratching carpet" because just be spending a little amount of their time researching these issues on the internet they could have sorted out a LOT of their problems a LONG time ago. It's not rocket science (or brain surgery!)

It is in fact rocket surgery.