Conference misery::feline_v1

    What I would do is haul the cat off to the vet to see if there is
    any physical problem. Indiscriminate urination is one of the first
    signs of FUS, bladder infections, etc.
    
    Deb

I agree with Deb in 1742.1 -- go to the vet first.  If phylical ailments
    are ruled out, some possibilities may be:
    
    -Unhappy with litter box cleanliness or location
    	(He may even want his own box!)
    -Anxiety  (It sounds as tho' it has happened more while you all
     		are away.)
    -Some other psychological problem
    
    Good luck!
    
    Anne

    Well I guess this is the best note...
    
    We got 2 little kittens, approx. 4 weeks ago. They were litter trained,
    and all was well for the first 3 weeks.
    
    Now we noticed that they spent a lot of time playing in the spare room.
    One night we found a soaking wet bed and a number of other presents! So
    we cleaned it all up, and though nothing more of it. 
    
    Now however the smallest one seems to randomly urinate anywhere. His
    count so far has been:
    
    twice in a corner of our bedroom carpet (disenfected heavily in
    between)
    a couple of times on plastic bags  - once in the lounge in front of us,
    while we watched tv.
    Lastly, he was on the window sill in our bedroom, when he jumped ono
    our bed, squatted and let fly!
    
    Each time we've scolded him, rubbed his noes in it and taken him
    straight to the tray. He get's a lot of praise when he uses the tray.
    I've seen the notes about tin foil, I'll try that in the carpet where
    he's ben twicee.  Thing is he still use the litter tray . 2 mornings
    ago, we took him back to the litter tray every 5 minutes and he
    eventually used it. He uses it at night.
    
    Anyone know why he's doing this? Is it lazyness, or a desire to be near
    us?
    
    He's off to the vet in 5 days for his 2nd vaccinations, so we'll get
    him checked for physical things.
    
    Many thanks,
    
    Greg

    How old is your kitten?  Small babies have a very short attention span,
    and can also be very lazy about making it to the litterbox.  Whenever I
    have a kitten in the house (three stories) I make sure there is at
    least one box on each level for him to get to.
    
    If your kittens enjoy the spare room, keep a box in there for them (I
    don't recall reading if there was one already in the room).  As they
    get older, their litterbox habits should greatly improve.  Also, check
    them for worms.  Roundworms are a common problem in small kittens and can
    compound the problem of breaking litterbox.
    
    The praise you are giving them is great.  I still praise my cats, and
    they are full grown.  Gotta ensure the good box habits remain so!
    

    Addendum to previous.
    
    Roundworms would create a problem with defectation, not urination.
    

    Rubbing their nose in "it" does nothing but get you a
    smelly kitten, and them a face full of whatever....
    
    They are babies, and need to be reminded often to
    use the litterbox.  Make sure the litterbox is always
    clean, because they will go elsewhere if their nose
    says it's not.  Make sure you leave the litterbox
    in the same place, too.  Don't keep changing the location.
    They need a litterbox that is easily accessable, too.
    Put one where they keep going, (in the room where they
    use the bed), or in the corner they chose.  Or, limit
    their access to the whole house to just one room, until
    they become fully litterbox trained.  Multiple locations
    of litterboxes will help, too.
    
    Lynne

    It is generally unwise to punish a cat for not using the box.
    Cats are VERY clean creatures and if they are not using their
    box THERE IS A REASON.  You may not always be able to discover
    that reason, and its not always necessary.
    
    Also, you must be VERY careful to NOT create a connection in the
    cat's mind between punishment and the catbox.  When you scold a
    cat and then dump it in the catbox it will come to associate
    the scolding with the catbox and that will have the exact opposite
    effect.  The same is true with a scratching post.  If you yell
    at your cat for scratching the couch and immediatly put it on the
    scratching post, the same connection forms.
    
    Studies have shown that positive reinforcement is MUCH MUCH more
    effective in changing an animal's behavior (human's included) than
    negative Rf.  
    
    You need a three pronged approach:
    
    1. try to discover why the cats are not using their box
       and remove urine from areas already used with an enzymatic cleaner.
    2. try to minimize the damage they can do by not using the box.
       This may mean confining the cats when you are not around to
       supervise. 
    3. Encourage them to use their box(es) with positive reinforcement,
       by providing multiple boxes etc
    
    I entered a good sized article on eliminative problems in cats.  I'll
    try to find it for you.
      Nancy DC

    See Note 3598  "Eliminative behavior in cats"