PLEASE HELP!! Cat urinating in heat ducts

[EricaR1408]

God, I need help before it gets cold outside! I previously had 2 cats which co-habitited great, no litter box problems at all! HOWEVER... I recently adopted a kitten that was a stray from outside(other 2 cats are adult spayed females). He is a not yet neutered male. Well, the 2 others had him cornered behind a couch for the first couple of days and he peed on my carpet. Me not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, shampooed and re-shampooed the rug in that spot. Well, there was a heat duct close by and we continued to smell the odor. So Hubby went to the basement, took off the heat duct and got a puddle of shampooer cat pee splashed on his feet. Took the heat duct off, will replace it soon...
Here is the newest problem, I don't know if they can still smell the odor, or if they knew it was there before and now think it's an okay place to go, but one of them is peeing down all of the other heat ducts that are accessible to them.
I keep smelling this cat urine odor, and I take the vent off of the top and stick a paper towel down the duct and find a puddle. I have the flexible duct that attaches to the aluminum one at the vent. I am afraid that all of the flexible ducts will need to be replaced, not sure if they are "waterproof" on the inside. I need to know what to do here. I thought about getting the plastic air deflectors that they sell at Home Depot, and ataching them on the vents to prevent them from doing it over and over, however, I'm then afraid that they will then choose a place on the carpet.
I don't want to get rid of the male, he is such a sweetheart, and my 2 year old son and him play together so nicely, but without help or suggestions, it is looking as if that is what I'm going to have to do.
I don't even want to THINK about how bad it will smell once I turn on the heat for the winter!!! Thanks in advance! Erica

[darcat]

Hi Erica,

It is frustrating that you just can't have a heart to heart talk with the culpret who is peeing in your heat ducts. Cat get pretty stubborn once they develope a habit like that.

Have you ever heard of a scat mat? It's just great. It's made of a sheet of vinyl and there are is a battery attached. When your pet walks on it they get sapped with someting like static electricity.

It's a wonderful invention. I had a cat that kept peeing on my couch. I bought a scat mat. My cat was quickly trained never to pee on my couch again. You can use these mats on the floor in front of your heat ducts. I think it could help. Scat mats are not cheap but they are worth the money. They worked better then anything I have ever tried in training a cat with a bad habit.

One place You can find them at www.futurepet.com. You can also buy dummy mats if you need to train your cats in more then one location. They are about $10 I think. Once your cat gets sapped a few times by the electrically charged mat when they see that dummy they will probably stay away. Hope this helps.

[liz4277]

Stress-induced urine marking is probably one of the most difficult behavioral problems to correct. However, before assuming this is the only reason for your cats' ongoing spraying, I'd first eliminate physiological causes, especially in your 11-year-old female, as inappropriate elimination can also be a sign of urinary tract inflammation or infection. Assuming everything checks out okay on the vet front, you can tackle the problem step-by-step. Most behaviorists believe in a two-step process: 1) Discourage inappropriate behavior and 2) Reward good behavior. The first task in discouraging bad behavior in this case is to level the "playing field" by removing every trace of urine scent from your house and your garage. Wash down all vertical surfaces with a vinegar-water mix and dry thoroughly. If traces of scent still remain, you can use an enzymatic product which neutralizes urine, available in pet stores. Fortunately, a relatively new product has been developed for discouraging cats' urine spraying. Developed by Feliway Farnam, the product comes in both a spray, to be applied to areas previously marked with urine by cats, and in a Plug-in (Feliway Comfort Zone), for whole-room treatment. Feliway works by mimicking the "friendly facial pheromones which cats use to mark their territory. The theory is that cats will not mark with urine on areas they have previously marked with facial pheromones, and it works very well, judging by the accolades this product has received. Now comes the fun part: rewarding good behavior. Your cats need to view each other as the source of *good* things, rather than as territory invaders. Good thing include special treats, fun play sessions, and snuggling and petting. You can accomplish this by playing with them together, using a wand-type toy so you are somewhat removed from their mutual play. As they start to play together, reward them with lavish petting to both cats, and follow-up with treats, always in the presence of the other cat. None of this will happen overnight. You have to pretend that you are introducing the "new" cat to your older girl all over again, and let them become acquainted with each other slowly, very slowwwwwly. In the meantime, keep cleaning up errant sprays, and using the Feliway. If, after several weeks of the new regime, the cats are still insistent on marking, you might want to ask your veterinarian about using medication. Some behaviorists have gotten good results from a med called "Buspirone," which apparently does not have the undesirable side effects found with Valium or other tranquilizers. I hope this information will be of value to you. I also highly recommend the book, "The Cat Who Cried for Help," by Dr. Nicholas Dodman. This book covers territorial battles, as well as a number of other behavioral problems.
Good luck! And please let me know how it comes along.
LIZ

[CKelly976]

Originally Posted by EricaR1408

God, I need help before it gets cold outside! I previously had 2 cats which co-habitited great, no litter box problems at all! HOWEVER... I recently adopted a kitten that was a stray from outside(other 2 cats are adult spayed females). He is a not yet neutered male. Well, the 2 others had him cornered behind a couch for the first couple of days and he peed on my carpet. Me not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, shampooed and re-shampooed the rug in that spot. Well, there was a heat duct close by and we continued to smell the odor. So Hubby went to the basement, took off the heat duct and got a puddle of shampooer cat pee splashed on his feet. Took the heat duct off, will replace it soon...
Here is the newest problem, I don't know if they can still smell the odor, or if they knew it was there before and now think it's an okay place to go, but one of them is peeing down all of the other heat ducts that are accessible to them.
I keep smelling this cat urine odor, and I take the vent off of the top and stick a paper towel down the duct and find a puddle. I have the flexible duct that attaches to the aluminum one at the vent. I am afraid that all of the flexible ducts will need to be replaced, not sure if they are "waterproof" on the inside. I need to know what to do here. I thought about getting the plastic air deflectors that they sell at Home Depot, and ataching them on the vents to prevent them from doing it over and over, however, I'm then afraid that they will then choose a place on the carpet.
I don't want to get rid of the male, he is such a sweetheart, and my 2 year old son and him play together so nicely, but without help or suggestions, it is looking as if that is what I'm going to have to do.
I don't even want to THINK about how bad it will smell once I turn on the heat for the winter!!! Thanks in advance! Erica

Here's my thought, First, you need to get him fixed. If you want to go ahead with the deflectors, set a litter box by the vent with the deflector on it. This is not to permanently have 800 litterboxes, but it will give the culprit an alternative to the carpet.

How many litter boxes do you have? rule is 1 per cat plus an extra, so you should have at least 3 boxes, preferably 4. If the other cats were cornering him, they could very well be blocking him from "their" litter box as well.

With inappropriate peeing you ALWAYS want to check for urinary problems first, especially with a male cat. Male cats get blockages and at that point have 24 hours to live without surgery.

Next, make sure you get yourself and enzymatic cleaner, I use natures miracle for cat urine. It breaks down the enzymes of the urine completely erasing the smell. Other cleaners may make it so you can't smell it, but the cats still can, which is why you need something enzymatic. It's not expensive, a decent size bottle runs me $6-$7.

I agree with the feliway as well, it helps destress the house in general (for the cats) and is never a bad idea.

[special]

Great advice, ckelly! Of course this thread is over four years old and was revived by a spammer, but your reply may help someone else.

[CKelly976]

Originally Posted by special

Great advice, ckelly! Of course this thread is over four years old and was revived by a spammer, but your reply may help someone else.

I claim innoncence on anything I post in the morning after work I don't ever know better..

[Akadma]

Haha, I was reading this thread earlier today as well and thought it was current. Didn't even look at the date posted. Funny.

[nanamouse]

I caught the date this morning when I didn't recognize any of the posters.
I think I spoke to that spammer last time I activated a credit card, the grammar was the same, lol.
We're having a lot of territorial peeing here since Liz moved in with her kids and cats so I'm always happy to read from the archives. Misery loving company and all.