(no subject)

[jessikast]

I am waging a war with my cat.



Anyone who knows cats knows right now this is doomed to end badly.

After nearly a year of happily using Outside as her toilet, Deeves has decided that our bathroom is her bathroom too. True, that used to be where her litter tray was kept originally, but now there is nothing there to suggest that this is a good place for a kitty to contemplate the universe.

The cat door isn't blocked or anything, so it's not a case of her not being able to get outside. She's not peeing EVERYWHERE so it's not a medical problem. She doesn't seem unduly stressed so I don't think it's that. I believe that she has developed a habit, which needs to be changed.

It's hard enough to change my OWN habits, let alone a cat's.

I devised a multi-pronged attack:

1. Clean the bathroom floor REALLY REALLY well (disinfectant one day, bleach the next) in the hopes of removing all traces of any smell that makes her think that the bathroom is a toilet. Also using Odarid, which I've used with success in the past as it's pretty much the only thing that really dissolves animal smells.
2. Buy more feliway, just in case it is stress. If not, hey, kitty harmony is always a good thing.
3. Feed Deeves in the bathroom, since apparently cats don't like to toilet where they eat.

None of this has worked so far. (I even caught her in the act once and hoped my loud noises and chasing her out of the bathroom might help make here think she ought to find somewhere else, but nope.) When just feeding her in the bathroom didn't work I thought, well, maybe she thinks that THIS side is the food side and THIS side is the toilet! So I scattered the food over the whole floor and waited for her to hoover it up. She did so, and them promptly left something in its place.

Now, I know that cats are not known for being quick to change habits, or even very smart, so I will persist with this approach for a while longer. But it's frustrating. I believe I'm doing everything right. WHY WON'T MY CAT'S BLADDER BEND TO MY WILL?!?!

Comments

[factioncat]

You could try keeping the door shut...

[jessikast]

That's actually my last resort: I would like to be able to change Deeves' habits without needing to remember to shut that door ALL THE TIME.

I suppose worst comes to worst, though, taking away any access to the bathroom for a week or so will force her to take up new habits (hopefully outside; I live in fear I will discover a secret kitty toilet in the back of the spare room or something).