I posted this reply:

I can totally relate to issues of not enough space or not wanting every room to have a toilet! And I am really happy for you not having out-of-litter-box issues with only one box for multiple cats. I can promise you that generally speaking the best advice is to have multiple boxes in different locations (exactly because of a dominant cat like Stephen’s!) to avoid the nightmare of those out of box incidents which can escalate to your whole house being a litter box!) So if you only have one, keep the box meticulously clean and scoop more than once a day, because what’s working right now can deteriorate if dynamics change between the cats in ways you wouldn’t even know until it was too late.

–Tracie Hotchner

The Happy Litter Box Website

–Tracie Hotchner

I recently adopted Cookie from our local shelter.  He is a senior male cat who had been shuttled around for quite a while before ending up in the Shelter. He is gray in color with amber eyes and no tail.  No one has any idea what happened to his tail.

We love him so much and he is adapting to us very nicely. He has/is having a problem with the litter box.  He will urinate in it but that is all. I want to try Cat Attract insofar as I have been trying everything I can think of to get him to do his “business” in the litter box and not throughout the house.  I have changed litter/boxes, etc.

Do you think Cat Attract will help him?

Thanks so much.
Peggy

Hi Peggy

I know that Cat Attract litter will make a huge difference for your wonderful new kitty. The herbs Dr. Elsey puts into the litter actually draw the cat into the box!

Thank you so much for adopting the little beauty, even without a tail! Although I usually send a coupon for free Cat Attract litter only to those people who have bought my book The Cat Bible, I would like to do the same for you in honor of adding Cookie to your home and also to support your patience with his litter box issues. I would certainly recommend adding a second box — some cats are so finicky they like one box to pee in and one box for poop — with the addition of Cat Attract litter, I think you’ll have your problem solved! So please send your mailing address so I can send you the coupon. Also, tell me if you do decide to get The Cat Bible so I can send you an autographed bookplate to put in the front inscribed to Cookie.

–Tracie Hotchner

Hello Tracie,

I wanted to send a follow up to you regarding the awesome donation of full pallet of Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Cat Attract Cat Litter. Pete called me at work excited with the news that the litter had arrived.

As you can imagine, we could not wait to put it to use. We had just brought one of our shelter cat’s home from having surgery for urinary crystals so we gave him a special litter box with Cat Attract litter and then placed another box of Cat Attract in the main area of the shelter where we have our incontinent cats roaming freely.

The next morning when we arrived to clean the shelter it was obvious that our incontinent cats had all used the new Cat Attract litter. The best part was the way it clumped. I don’t think I have ever had cat litter that clumped so well, making scooping a breeze and keeping the box clean and fresh. Our surgery cat, Blossom, thanks you for making the litter so easy to use and clean as well.

It is hard to find words special enough to express our appreciation of the blessings you, Cat Chat Radio, on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius 112 / XM157, and so many of your sponsors have blessed our shelter with. FMAR and the animals who come to stay while waiting for a new start… even if their new life is a lifetime of love and care from Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue (FMAR) all thank you for your compassion and support.

Please pass on our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Cat Attract Cat Litter for their generous donation of a huge pallet of Cat Attract cat litter.

Marcy LaFramboise

Dear Marcy,

This is fantastic news! I know Gina, Jim, and Dr. Elsey at the company will be thrilled to know that their wonderful product made such a big difference — it may be that those kitties who were not previously using a litter box may now be able to get a forever home!

This is a great testimonial to share with others who may be experiencing the same problem of their cats not wanting to use the litter box for any number of reasons. Having a product such as Cat Attract can be of great help in addressing these types of issues.

Wishing everyone at FMAR well!

–Tracie Hotchner

I’m the dad of Tora and Moo. You sent me a bookplate already and a coupon for Cat Attract. At Pet Smart in Calgary, I found the unscented Dr Elsey’s litter. It’s amazing. My female is now using the litter box. YEAH!! She loves the litter I guess.

I think I also told you I had some weird allergies… this litter does not make me ill at all.

I wanted to follow up with you a couple weeks ago by calling to your radio show but you were very busy with some sadness on the show over the death of a pet.

My story was not that important, just this exciting follow up! So I have a 2 cat house and 2 litter boxes. All is good. Thank you again! and stay well.

–Robert

I wanted to thank you for suggesting to Precious Cat that they send us Cat Attract litter. We deal with a lot of litter box issues at the shelter and have used this litter in the past to assist us in re-training the kitties to go inside the box.

I spoke with you last night regarding locating fluorscein tablets for my cats. I called a number of vets, drug stores, pet stores and even swimming pool stores. I was told it is sometimes given to small children to see if they pee in the pool! Unfortunately I have had no luck. I appreciate any help you can offer. Thank you!

So I wrote her back, having had no luck myself in finding flourescein:

Dear Regina – I am so pleased you wrote in because it turns out it’s quite a bit more complicated than I realized (I might have to revise that part of the book!) I turned to “Dear Sally” (the wonderful behavior consultant of the show) jumped through a few hoops to find this out and here is her answer:

I called Cornell because I remember Dr. Haupt from Cornell mentioning flourescein MANY years ago. I talked with Don Personius, who was very helpful. He said between 2 and 4 flourescein STRIPS are rolled up and placed in a #4 capsule and given to the cat by mouth. The end result should be evident within a few hours and last 24 to 48 hours. Results depend on the pH of the urine, detected with a black light. He warned that it could stain fabric. So I went back and searched for the strips, which are indeed used for ocular stains. Here’s a link I found: http://www.dogcatetc.com/006ak1-0mg.html

I don’t know if you have to be a vet to order so Regina should probably go back to her vet and ask him to order the strips. She’ll need the strips, the #4 gel caps and a black light. Might be easier to set up a video cam!

So Regina- if you have the determination for all this I hope you’ll let us all know how it worked out! Maybe a phone call to me on he show next week might help figure out the issue a different way? Good luck – let us know your results!

Tracie

The Cat Bible

We have 2 cats (Mom – Alley and her son – Licorice) that my husband and I adopted from the SPCA a couple years ago. The little cat, Licorice is 2 years old and has been neutered. My problem is that I bought an electric litter box in December, and ever since then he has been defecating on my carpet floor in my basement. He was very curious at first to the electric litter box, but then everything went downhill from then.

We ended up taking him to the vet at the end of January because we noticed his poo was tiny and hard. We found out he was constipated and that his anal glands were very compacted. The vet said that he probably developed a fear of the litter box because he was constipated and made a negative connection with the litter box because it hurt to poo. We put the electric litter box away in a closet at this point! He suggested using Feliway spray first, to see if that would detract Licorice from using the carpet. It did, however Licorice just started finding new spots that were not sprayed. After we tried that for a couple weeks, He suggested putting Licorice in a small room (hardwood floor) with a litter box. We did that for a week and, at the end of the week, he started using the hardwood floor to poo.

We brought Licorice back to the vet to check his anal glands and they were 30% still compacted. This was the end of February. Our vet suggested Prozac, so we put Licorice on 0.5ml of Prozac for 3 weeks, (still didn’t work) increase it to 0.7 and then 0.8ml. By the end of March, Licorice had not defecated on our carpet 6 out of 34 days. So back to the vet we went the beginning of April. Our vet suggested something stronger – so he put Licorice on Clomicalm. We give it to him at night before we go to bed (because it seems he defecates while we are asleep). So far, it hasn’t worked. He’s been on it for 5 days now. The vet said it should work immediately.

My husband and I do not know what to do at this point. We could never put him down, but at the same time, we are quite frustrated that nothing is working. We have 3 litter boxes, we’ve placed them in spots that Licorice uses the carpet. We even have some in private spots. We’ve tried the spray, the drugs, the quarantining… nothing seems to be working. Can you help us please?

Here’s some really good advice from Dear Sally, who is the official cat behavior consultant on the show. You might want to contact her through her page on my website and get some personalized help.

First they should have the cat checked out by another vet ASAP.  The pharmaceuticals mentioned will NOT help the problem! (Is the cat peeing in the box??) This does seem to be physical — perhaps the fear caused by the electric LB led to fear of pooping, hence the constipation and pain. And long-term constipation can lead to mega colon, which is very nasty. IMPACTED (the correct term) anal glands is a whole other matter. (Is he scooting?? Is he straining in the LB??) They can be expressed (also kinda nasty), and surgery can be done if it’s a chronic problem.

Have they considered a stool softener? It can be as simple as some plain pumpkin mixed with CANNED food — more moisture is definitely needed here! Consider having X-rays of the colon area to determine the degree of constipation. The links below (including one from Jean Hofve on www.LittleBigBCat.com) explain the behavior-constipating connection, options for stool softeners and more.

www.marvistavet.com/html/body_constipation_and_megacolon.html
www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=nlarchive&show=volume2no1112

My cat used my bed for his litter box this morning. I will begin explaining some details from a few weeks ago. I have the litter box in our laundry room. It has been there for at least a year. Giovanni (the cat) has never had an accident in his 7 1/2 years with me. A few weeks ago the doors into the laundry room were closed for about one and a half days. We started smelling a foul odor and then realized what it was. I threw away the dog bed he was using for his litter box and everything seemed fine. Last week when he was going into his litter box I opened the washing machine door. Well he flew out and ran. I of course tried to comfort him but I have a feeling he is afraid to go into his box so he did his business on my bed this morning. I read chapter 7 in your book, THE CAT BIBLE. I feel horrible and definitely want to resolve this problem. What do you think? Please help!

(I have switched from kitty crack to Weruva food successfully for the last two months.) Thanks so much for your help!
-Janet, Long Island

Well this is a tricky one because once a cat is upset with another cat – or gets frightened by something – they can really hold a grudge or their fear. There are a few ideas that come to mind. The first would be to get a bottle of the Spirit Essence called “Trauma Free” which you can learn more about on my website, which links you right to their website. Putting a few drops of this on Giovanni’s Weruva (and congrats on getting off the kitty crack!) and also rubbing some on the inside of his ears. This may help lower his emotional issues about the laundry room. The next suggestion is to throw away the litter box and get a new one, which may not have that negative association (we don’t know how a cat’s mind works, but there’s a chance that his fear of the washing machine door and laundry room may also be connected in his mind to that specific litter box). You can buy an inexpensive under bed storage box and throw away the lid – many cats prefer it to the more costly litter boxes. I would definitely switch to Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract litter because it does what its name suggests. Lastly, there is the option of moving the new box – with the new litter – into a different space. I’m sure you must have thought of that – and rejected it – but at this point, anything is preferable to your bed! Maybe once Giovanni “bonds” with his new litter box, you can move it by slow increments back into that scary laundry room! Let me know if any or all of this helps! Oh! And also send me your mailing address so I can send you an autographed bookplate to put into your THE CAT BIBLE, inscribed to Giovanni.

Tracie

The Cat Bible

UPDATE:

Dear Tracie -Thanks so much for responding to my email! Fortunately, Giovanni is fine. I cleaned his litter box very well and bought Swheat Scoop litter. I also moved the box into our half bathroom off the workout room. I watched him very carefully for a few days and he went into the box after several hours. He has not had an accident since that day. Thank Goodness! I love your book and your radio show too! Thanks so much for sending the autographed bookplate inscribed to Giovanni!

Dear Janet – I felt terrible that I hadn’t been able to answer your email immediately and am so gratified that you figured it out for yourself! Self-reliance is everything and you applied empathy for your kitty and logic, the perfect combination (after all, that’s pretty much what I do, too!) Congratulations and Whew!

My husband and I have emailed you before about the dominance and accompanying pee all over the house issues that we have with our five cats. We have three male tabbies, a calico and a torti. Two males and the calico are litter mates. While we have tried everything you suggested about the pee issues, the truth is that we have just learned to live with them.

At your book’s suggestion, we have switched the cats over to moist food and that has helped litter box issues, but not the peeing.

My question to you today is twofold. First, is it possible for a neutering not to take? Chesapeake who is about five and a half has been wanting to go out in the worst way. We have seen him pee outside the box in front of us and he did it again yesterday. I have taken him to the vet but he is IMPOSSIBLE to medicate! He is too big and too strong for either of us to hold him. She did recommend giving him Cosequin to try and calm him down. I can usually get him to take that on his food.

The second part of the question is that after he peed on a window yesterday, we took him outside and put him in a cat carrier. Since he has been back in the house, he is now the Pariah cat and none of the other cats want to go near him. I am spraying Feliway but that isn’t working very well.

I don’t have to tell you that the whole scenario is very sad not to mention a mess. We constantly have to cover counters and we have had lots of things ruined due to cat pee. Every cat has a box and we have boxes in different places in the house. We even have one under the bed storage box with litter in it. While we suspect that the majority of our issues are from two female cats, now we have this new issue with Chessie.

Jon and I have really appreciated all the helpful advice in The Cat Bible, but now we are asking for any other advice that you may have. Our veterinary care is not the best out here. We have to deal with the doctor that we have due to distance and cost. Thank you in advance for your help!!

Dear Bobbi – First of all, my heart goes out to you for the mess and stress you are living with. Thank you for not giving up on your kitties, but instead trying everything you could and reaching out for help. I am going to do the best I can to point out where I see the greatest problems and what you might do about them. You have already done a few things very well, perhaps with encouragement from THE CAT BIBLE: certainly having the right number of boxes and in different locations, as well as switching to wet food only, are very good basic fixes. But there is so much else going on! This is truly a situation where a vet behaviorist would be so helpful in excluding any physical or medical problems and then unraveling the behavior issues. But you say you are isolated in Virginia and have only one not-so-fabulous vet to turn to. But if you go on my website to look for locations of these vets who belong to AVSAB, maybe there is one nearby. Also, if you are near Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech vet school is (where I am speaking in the end of April) they might have a behavior department that would help you at little or no cost.

To begin with, your situation has so many layers of confusing information and illogical solutions and assumptions (by you and your vet) that we need to wade through that first. How long have you had five cats? It would seem that at some point things were fine and then you added one or two “cats too many” and that tipped the equilibrium and caused territorial and other issues. You say the females are the problem – how so? What do you say that? Why were you trying to medicate Chessie? And with what? And why would a vet give an arthritis supplement – Cosequin – to calm down a cat? Surely this vet must be smarter than that – or could you have misunderstood? (and by the way, where such supplements are concerned, I vastly prefer Platinum Performance which you can find out all about on my website where I have given them a page – but it has no calming effects, that’s for sure!) But if your vet was literally giving a joint supplement and telling you it would calm your cat, you are going to need to look elsewhere for medical help, that’s for darn sure!

First of all, go to my website and look at the page for Spirit Essences – these are based on the same principles as Bach flower remedies (like “Rescue Remedy”) but formulated just for cats’ emotional issues. You’ll have to look at the description of each essence but I could recommend putting a few drops of “Safe Space” and of “Peacemaker” on top of all the kitties’ food. It will get you onto a calmer plane to make other adjustments, which I am going to recommend. These flower essences are subtle and theoretically take a week or two to show any change, but so far my person use of them and that of other listeners has been pretty quick and a dramatic improvement.

As for Chessie wanting to go out – and now being a victim of the others since you placed him outdoors in a cat carrier (for only a short time, I hope?!) – this is no indication of whether his neutering was successful. He’s not showing any Tomcat behavior anyway – he’s not trying to fight, he’s trying to flee, it sounds like! Since I think what you have is an overcrowding situation, and since Chessie is so eager to be outdoors, I have a suggestion which I think will solve all the issues at once: an outdoors enclosure where Chessie (and perhaps even one or two of his littermates) can live full time or spend most of their time. I really like the product Purrfect Fence (now linked on my website because I am about to make a big push for people enclosing their cats outdoors and never ever letting them run free). This system is simple as pie to put up, nearly invisible to the human eye, not too costly and completely flexible in that you can add it to existing fence, can put it against the side of a garage, shed or the house itself, and it is temporary so if you are renting or plan to move, you can move it as easily as you installed it. If you have access to a big old log you can put it in there for climbing and scratching, you can put a couple of shelves at various levels for Chessie and/or brothers to have that vertical space they crave (which is partly why they are up on your counters) and you can make a little sandbox for a litter box and either use sand or litter and scoop it as you would an indoor box. If you put a cat house out there and bed it with synthetic lambskin over some straw, Chessie can even live out there in cold weather. There are lots of pre-fab small dog houses available at pet stores or on the web, otherwise you’ll have to construct something both weather-proof and with a roof at something of a slant to let water and/or snow slide off. But certainly the top of that house will become a favorite roosting place for him.

I think making an outdoor cat space is going to change everything – and give Chessie (and whoever else joins him!) a higher quality of life with fresh air and visual and mental stimulation. This solves many of your issues in one fell swoop, with the addition of the Spirit essences to chill out ruffled feathers amongst the cats. Let me know if you undertake it and what the results are – good luck to you!

Tracie

The Cat Bible