Cat + new house = problems?

I've had my cat for two years [this past October], and until we moved into the apartment we just moved into [a month ago], we had no problems with her marking territory or making messes. She's always lived with at least one other cat, so I don't see why she'd suddenly feel the need to mark, but she has, and my mother is threatening to get rid of her.





What should I do to fix this? Is she uncomfortable? Just needs to be retrained? How do I do that?Cat + new house = problems?
Animals will do this if another animal has already mark the area...some will do it even if the area hasn't been marked.





You should always steam clean the carpets of a new place with vinegar when you have cats. They can't smell the other animals markings through the vinegar. Just add the water to your cleaner as usual and add a few tablespoons of vinegar. I prefer vinegar over the products in the store '; Feliway '; because vinegar is natural.





If this doesn't solve your problem then I would advise you to take her to the vet and make sure she doesn't have a bladder infection.Cat + new house = problems?
As others have noted, she may be able to smell where other cats have marked (even if you can't). When combined with a completely new home, this can be very upsetting for a cat, which will respond by attempting to cover the scent of the previous cats. You can search for old urine using a black light and then treat those spots using an enzyme cleaner. Use an enzyme cleaner on spots where your cat has marked as well. The Feliway diffuser mentioned by another poster worked very well for us in a situation where we had increased tensions between cats that led to spraying. I would recommend trying it. Steam cleaning the carpets will help, but I would try to find the old urine spots and treat them specially with the enzyme cleaner (such as Nature's Miracle).





One important note - please be sure that your cat is spraying, and not just peeing outside the box. Spraying involves backing up to a vertical surface and spraying urine onto it while the tail vibrates. This is very different from normal urination. If your cat is squatting and peeing, then there is probably an underlying medical cause that could have been brought on by the stress of moving. A urinary tract infection would be a likely culprit, and can be diagnosed by the vet and treated.
Chances are, the previous tenants had a cat that sprayed. Your cat is objecting to the smells.





You can try to clean up the smells, but it's nearly impossible.


Also, when cats start spraying, it's VERY difficult to get them to stop.





Things to try:


~Don't clean up all of her mess. Sometimes leaving a little of their smell around makes them quit spraying.


~Confine her when you can't watch her. Bathrooms clean up easily, or get a large dog kennel.


~When she goes to ';line up a shot'; scare her to death. Use a loud noise, a squirt bottle, yell, clap anything to distract her from spraying.


~See a vet. Rule out infection and other problems. Have blood work done.


~Get a dog house and an escape proof fence and make her an outside cat.





Good luck
well now and then i have to empty out the whole litter box and wash it out with bleach....or u need to buy a new one....or next u can always spray them with water when they do something bad....if the cat is kinda old she could have some type of kidney thing i was told about.....make sure the cat has plenty of clean water....if nothing works....i would talk to your vet....
Her whole world has changed and she has suddenly become very insecure. Her territorial marking is a way of overcompensating for her insecurity.





I would suggest confining her to a single room with all her accessories when she cannot be supervised. She will slowly regain confidence, but it's very hard on a cat to move. Give her an extra litterbox when she is allowed out so that she has another option. If she doesn't have a suitable scratching post, getting her one should help too... cats scratch to visually mark their territory and having a perch that is at least 3 feet off the ground gives her a safe viewing point to survey her new territory.
Its a new environment and she might be smelling a scent from a former occupant (kitty) Id get a product called Feliway and plug it into the wall. Keep her in your bed room so shes not doing it all over the house. Put her box and food with water in your room as well but not too close to each other. Cats won't pee where they eat. Use the Feliway and try some Bachs Rescue Remedy as well. Its found in health food stores or Whole Foods. Just 2 drops in a dish of water. If you do all three things for a while she should work out of it. Let her out into the house and watch how she acts after a bit in the rest of the house. Where she marks you should use Natures Miracle to clean really well incase shes smelling another kitty. Also she should be fixed in case what she smells is a male cat and that will cause her to mess as well.


Never put an indoor cat outside especially this time of year!
My female cat does the same thing when she's upset. 2 products that made a HUGE difference:





Feliway Comfort Zone and Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract Litter.





The Feliway is an air freshener that creates a calming scent for cats (it mimicks their phermones) that people can't smell. It's used for spraying and helping them deal with stressful situations. You can get it in a spray too, but you want the air freshener.





I've moved twice with my cat. The first time she was nervous for months and peed all over the carpet in the basement.





The second time we used Feliway and she adapted within days and hasen't had a single accident. We're still using it (just one in the bedroom) because she has always been very nervous and we noticed it has made her significantly less timid.





The Cat Attract Litter was what finally got her to stop after she'd ruined the carpet at the old house. Once their scent is in the carpet, they can smell it and it can be very difficult to break the habit (you may have to replace the carpet if she keeps going back to the same place).





There's an additive in the litter that draws the cat to it. I was skeptical at first but it really does work. It also comes with a little booklet with advice for retraining a cat who has stopped using the litterbox for non-medical reasons.





Of course you should make sure that there isn't anything wrong with the cat. Not using the litterbox can sometimes be a symptom of something else. But if there's nothing wrong and it's stress/move-related, Feliway and Cat Attract have been incredibly effective for me.
she is covering all the markings from other animals that lived there before
She is probably scared and not used to her surroundings, it takes time they are very surrounding oriented. Make sure she know where litter boxes are, you should have a few in different areas. Also try Cat Attract cat litter, it works great. It is a bit more expensive, so I just sprinkle it on top of other litter.
she probably just thinks that she needs to make sure that this place is hers and that she won't have to leave try keeping her in one room so she can get used to it