Cats having "accidents"?

[OrneryPest]

Does anybody know whether steam cleaning will completely get cat urine out of a carpet? Both of our cats are very old and hopelessy senile and have taken to urinating all over the place, and we were wondering if steam cleaning or other drastic measures would work, or whether the carpets would just need to be replaced.

 

[cattitude]

Nope...won't work..not even professional cleaning. If they're old, they could have kidney issues or diabetes, or like you say, just senility. I'd have them checked out. Are they going in one particular spot more than another? I just lost my old guy and he had trouble with the litter box and would pee just outside of it. (I have a large closet I use as a "litter box room.") I used the puppy pee pads and placed outside the box and put the edge under the box to hold it in place. He would "go" on the pad and I would change the pad every day.

You will have to replace the carpet but for now you can take up the padding under the "spot" and use Nature's Miracle on the carpet. Even if you can't smell the urine, the kitties can. Nature's Miracle seems to do the trick.

You might want to try a large litter box ...a lower sided, longer Rubbermaid container. Older cats have trouble navigating. If you are using a hooded litter box, try removing the hood. Maybe place a couple of litter boxes in different spots in the house. If you're using the clumping litter, try switching to clay and emptying it totally once a week.

Good luck..it's hard when the babies start to show their age.

 

[luvscats]

I have an older kittie also and had to switch to a larger kitty box with a lower entrance and it's uncovered. I bought a Rubbermaid storage box and cut an entrance in it. He seems to be able to maneuver a bit better.

Has anything in your home changed? New family member? Did you recently move? New pet? Is there a tom cat marking outside your house? How old are your kitties? I agree that they both ought to be checked out by a vet.

good luck and keep us posted on what happens.

 

[OrneryPest]

Thank you-all! We drug the carpet out and scrubbed down the floor, and we'll do without a carpet until we see what more happens. The cats are about 19 or 20 years old, both neutered males. and we get them checked regularly at Three Notch Vet, and the vet tells us that a lot of their blood test readings are way out of spec, but at their age there's nothing much that can be done that'll help them any.

We're gonna try to clean the wood flooring as best as we can, before we put a new carpet in. Got any suggestions for that?

Oh by the way, here's our cats' web page: We are Siamese if you Please

 

[luvscats]

hmmmm...sounds like you're in a difficult spot. my oldest cat is 15. I'm slowly getting rid of my wall-to-wall carpet and using area rugs. with pets, the WTW carpet is just aggravating to try to take care of.

sinc you've already consulted with your vet, the only solutions I can think of are to not install WTW carpet and maybe contain the cats to a certain area of the house if possible. I really wish you the best of luck.

 

[OrneryPest]

Well, one of our cats, the one with the worst uncontrollable leakage, has begun smelling like he's lost interest in grooming himself, and the other one probably isn't much better. My experience with Siamese Cats is that this starts happening about two or three weeks before the cat's death, and there's really nothing the vet can do at this point. So I suppose we'll soon be making a trip to the animal shelter to see if we can find new cats.

MrsPest and I disagree on one point, however. She prefers Siamese because they don't shed as much as most other breeds, and I prefer American Shorthair because I think they tend to have fewer bred-in health difficulties throughout life. Any thoughts?

 

[OrneryPest]

Just an update. Our cat Mercury, the one with the uncontrollable anal seepage, is still alive and kicking, even though we didn't expect him to last this long. We're just trying to make life as comfortable for him as possible. It's becoming nearly impossible to pet him because he's losing so much weight that his backbones stick way out and give us no petting surface on his topside, and his anal seepage rate makes it impossible to pet his underside without latex gloves.

If you believe in prayer, I suppose you can pray for him, but at this point I guess all we can do is try to provide as much comfort as possible for him.

 

[dawn]

Just an update. Our cat Mercury, the one with the uncontrollable anal seepage, is still alive and kicking, even though we didn't expect him to last this long. We're just trying to make life as comfortable for him as possible. It's becoming nearly impossible to pet him because he's losing so much weight that his backbones stick way out and give us no petting surface on his topside, and his anal seepage rate makes it impossible to pet his underside without latex gloves.

If you believe in prayer, I suppose you can pray for him, but at this point I guess all we can do is try to provide as much comfort as possible for him.

 

[OrneryPest]

Well, folks, Mercury finally died in peace early this morning.

 

[cattitude]

Well, folks, Mercury finally died in peace early this morning.

 

[Bann]

Well, folks, Mercury finally died in peace early this morning.

Aww. I saw the thread was already a couple of months old, so I jumped to the end first. I'm so sorry for your loss. Your cat lived a long time! My cat's vet said Siamese live about 20 or so years. Mine is only 9 right now.

I would put in my vote for another Siamese. My family & I've had Siamese cats my whole life. I've stayed with them, others in my family have adopted others, and I just don't find them the same. But I'm sure everyone feels that way about their favorite breed of pet.

Good luck on your new search.

No time to visit your Siamese page, this morning - I'll do it after work, I hope it's still there!

 

[kvj21075]

im sorry to hear that


if u havent put carpet in yet, use Kilz on the wood floor!

 

[OrneryPest]

Just some reminiscences about Mercury. He was World Championship Lap Cat. He'd see me beginning to sit down, and immediately think, Ooh Ooh, my person is sitting down! It's canonically invalid for my person to sit down without a cat on his lap! I've gotta remedy that immediately and forthwith!

So, any time I'd sit down, he'd instantly hop up onto my lap even before I had time to even pick up my newspapar or book or crossword puzzle or whatever.

I guess I'll miss that.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Well, folks, Mercury finally died in peace early this morning.

I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[RareBreed]

I went to your site. Very nicely done!! My in-laws had a Siamese that could say her name "Ming". She wouldn't meow, she'd "ming". They had never noticed that she said her name until I pointed it out. She, too, has passed but that's a fond memory I have of her.

Sorry for the loss of Mercury.

 

[daisycreek]

I am sorry to hear of your loss .. it's hard to lose an old friend,


you should check pet finder.com, I bet there are some meezers who would love to have a good home.

 

[daisycreek]

My cat's vet said Siamese live about 20 or so years.

I have a 3 mo. old tabby point kitten.... geez talk about mouthy! my other cats hardly ever meow... but this one makes up for all of them, and don't try to get away from her.... MMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAOW........... see those ears? she was ticked off cuz "crazy chow dog" was sneaking up on her!

 

[ArkRescue]

So sorry about Mercury and I'm sure you have many fond memories.

It seems so hard to find dedicated cat people these days to adopt the available rescues - maybe it's because their cats live so long and they ARE dedicated to them (vacancies are few and far between)? I've seem some adorable cats at Tri-County every time I've been there to drop off donations (which I do every 2 months or so).

Whatever you decide with regard to a cat breed, I'm sure you'll be happy if you get another lap cat, whatever the breed. It's hard to know which cats will be lap cats. Your new addition will be lucky to have you that's for sure.