I love him, but...

[textualdeviance]

OK, WTF, Otter?

Suddenly, out of the blue, he's decided he wants to pee in our bed. But only on my side, and only when I'm in it.

He's otherwise using the litter boxes perfectly well--he's not going anywhere else. He's showing no signs of illness, so I don't think it's a bladder infection (though I am calling the vet Monday.)

Nothing in his environment has changed. I've been trying to give him plenty of attention and play with him, so I don't think he's just lonely. His interactions with the old ladies aren't any different than they were before. The only other behavioral thing that's coincided with this is that he's been playing a lot more roughly than usual in the last 10 days or so. Which, considering how roughly he was playing before, is pretty darn painful for our poor hands and feet (mostly mine.) He's also been tearing through the house when he's active.

He didn't show any signs of doing this at all up until now. I'm baffled. Any cat whisperers out there who can help?

Comments

[falcongirl.livejournal.com]

It's behavioural but I can't figure out why he'd be showing that trait. The only thing I can figure is that this is how he really was and why the previous owners got rid of him and he was previously being "good" so you would keep him.

I would scruff him, shake him while saying stern 'NO' and carry him by the scruff to a kennel and chuck him in, leaving him there for a couple hours every time he did it. Basically treating him like a mama cat would treat a naughty kitten.

-T

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

I don't know that he had previous owners. The shelter said he was found as a stray (and he was rather unhealthy when they found him.)

I'm sure that living on the streets probably led to a lot more predatory/territorial behavior than a cat who had always known where his next meal was coming from, but I'm really kind of weirded out that this seems to be new.

I'm not sure whether this is posessive behavior (I love you and I own you!) or whether it's petulant teenager dominance behavior (You're not the boss of me!) Or maybe he and the ladies are working out some dominance stuff, and I'm getting caught in the crossfire.

We've been doing the mama cat scruffing thing, and also tried a round of the opposite thing--just walking away when he starts to play rough. Neither seems to be helping.

I'm thinking one of two things may have to happen: The vet gives him some sort of kitty Xanax or we keep him in a crate overnight (We can't keep the bedroom door closed because one of the ladies will paw at it all night.)

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

Has he been fixed yet? If not, could this be a really specific territory-marking behavior?

Kitten shits on my side of the bed, and ONLY on my side of the bed, really intermittently. We think it's when we're bad about cleaning the litter box, then she gets our attention by doing it (and it works every time).

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

He was fixed the day before we brought him home. I suppose it's possible he still has some lingering free-floating hormones that he still has to work out.

I also wonder if it's related to my hormones or something, since I'm mid-cycle right now. Maybe he thinks I'm in heat and wants to own me or something. Gah.

The weird thing is that Punky used to pee on things, too, but in his case, it was purely anxiety related and territorial, and he calmed down a lot when we put the Feliway things all over the house. That doesn't seem to be affecting Otter at all.

Sigh...

I'm hoping the vet can help us somehow, because if he doesn't calm down in the next couple of months, we may have to try to find him a new home. I've never given up an animal for behavioral reasons before, and I'm willing to try anything to avoid that, but I may have no choice if he doesn't knock this stuff off.