Tuesday 7 March 2017

The Smooch Report ~ How to Help Solve Inappropriate Kitty Toileting and Spraying Issues - Part II



Many greetings supurr furriends

and welcome to 



Part II of The Smooch Report - The Widdle Diaries

To have a quick recap on Part I click here.  Sorry, we're a little late with this post, we were hoping to share it last week, but we just ran out of time.

Today we're going to talk about one of the main things which we implemented straight aftur the Kitty Shrinks visit to assist Smoochie's inappropriate widdling.

This was the frosting on the french doors and patio doors so that Smoochie's view was somewhat restricted at ground level, making it harder fur him to see and detect when Tiger was ambling around the garden, as he seems to be the main widdle-trigger.

The P.A. checked out loads of products but decided on this one:


from Amazon UK


 So aftur measuring the window and cutting the film, installation only took minutes.  Remember to measure twice, cut once! MOL

Before



During


The film is applied to a freshly cleaned window, then a soapy solution [washing up liquid & water] is wiped offur the glass and the window film adheres to it.  The bubbles were removed by using a cloth, but we wanted to show mew how it looks when mew're applying it.

Aftur



Patio doors

Before & Aftur


It took roughly an hour and a half to do all the windows from start to finish.

It may not seem like it obscures the view too much, but it really made a huge difference, which mew can see below.

So let's look at his progress:

January's Widdle Diary


Only 5 incidents in January and the drive was done this month, and he coped really with all the noise, so it's a huge improvement.


February's Widdle Diary 


5 incidents in February too, howeffur last month was a really stressful month at home because the builders started the new froggy home so there were lots of new noises: mini digger, wacker plate, Stihl saws, cement mixer and the general banging and clattering that builders do.

Noise seems to be one of his triggers, so while the patio has been installed the P.A. kept a close eye on him and as the weeks have progressed he seems less and less bothered by the external sounds, which is good because he has another test coming up when the lawn is re-turfed later in the month.

He had 8 incidents in December, aftur the glass frosting was applied on the 30th of November and prior to the glass frosting he was averaging a minimum of 4 incidents per week, one week it was an incident a day, and the P.A. was demented at that point.

So what can be deduced from applying the glass frosting is in the furst month:

 December 8 incidents

January 5 incidents

February 5 incidents

When November was his peak month at approximately 20 ish incidents if the P.A. counts up all the stuff she had to wash and place under the carport out of the way, like rugs, doormats, flowers, cushions, etc...

Mew can see the glass frosting has made a huge difference, December was less than half of November and a quarter in January & February.   And we can't help but wunder if there had been no disturbance in the garden with all the wurk being carried out if it would have been much less.  We believe it would.

In summary, Smoochie is progressing in the right direction and the incidents are becoming less and less compared with previous months, so it is improving steadily and with careful tweaks, we're confident that we can get him back to normal in a few more months, as the P.A. doesn't want to go down the route of medicating him - like Valium fur cats.


If mew have a kitty that is having Widdling Issues, our furst piece of advice would be to try and determine the main trigger, aftur mew have obviously been the vet and had all medical reasons ruled out, and if like Smoochie it is another cat outside that's causing the distress, try the window frosting option to reduce your kitty's stress levels.  It's amazing that something so simple can have such a healing effect on a stressed kitty.

If mew have any questions, ask away, if we can help we will.

Sadly it's time fur us to pop off, but we'll see mew tomorrow when Amber will be here with this weeks top book pick!

Until then

We wish mew a supurr happy Tuesday

Sweetest purrs

Basil & The B Team





Gifs and Glitter Graphics www.glittergraphics.com
Other graphics used under paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com

25 comments:

  1. Max sprays. Te catch him at it so we know. I think his main trigger is Angel. They have never gotten along. She growls at him and he arches up and swats at her then chases her. He has done this since he came here. He was surrendered by his previous owners because of life style changes. We suspect he was spraying there, too. He has his favorite places, two in the bedroom, one in the guest bath, end of the love seat - only one by a window-, and in the sewing room. Always the same place in those rooms. I have cleaned them with several products to remove urine smell, I not whey are not a deterrent. I have put water dishes in two places to see if that helps. It is not every day but I think I need to keep a diary to see when and where. He was checked out by out vet when he first came here and no problems were found. Any suggestions?

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    1. Hi Angel, Kirby & Max, I know I haven't gotten around to talking about cleaning yet - that's in next months post, but the best thing you can clean with is biological washing power. Mix a solution 1 part powder/10 parts water in a squirt bottle and spray on the areas leaving for 10 minutes or so to work, then rinse and repeat until you're sure it's gone. I use a hair dryer to speed up the process, and this also helps for detecting any lingering smells, so you can wash again if necessary. I would place a plastic place mat with water and a small bowl of kibble in several of the places, adding food should make a difference to him spraying. It did with Smooch when his was piddling on the landing and curtains. Now all I leave is the plastic mat and he has never pee'd there since. Email me at deardrbasil@gmail.com and we'll talk more! The P.A. XOX

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  2. It sounds like there has been a lot of progress for Smoochie!

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  3. We're so happy dat Smoochie be doin' better. Those piddle purroblems are just pawful. But with lots of luv and unnerstandin' they can be dealt with. Sendin' big hugs and purrayers fur all.

    Luv ya'

    Dezi and Raena

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    Replies
    1. Hiya Dezi & Raena, mew ar so right, lot's of luv and understanding are needed fur situations like this! XOX

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  4. I am glad things are improving with Smoochie. My Sammy needs a kitty shrink, he pooped and peed on the bed yesterday.His trigger is Brody so I don't know what to do-aside from lots of laundry. :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey guys, oh no, I can sympathize fully about that. Do you use biological washing powder/detergent? As non-bio powder will not remove the odour fully... in next months post I'll be talking about the cleaning up of piddle - YAY! I take it you've tried feliway to calm things down? I just heard of a new product last week to help stress and anxiety in cats, so I'll be sharing that too. The P.A. XOX

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  5. The cat before us had issues like this. The mom did everything she could to stop him...many of the things you suggest. We're glad these are working for Smoochie.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Island Cats, it's so difficult to work out the problems/triggers and motivation behind it. I've been dealing with Smooch piddling for nearly 3 years now and while it's not perfect, it IS improving, which in itself is such a relief! The P.A. XOX

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  6. We're so happy that Smooch is doing so much better. Paws up to your PA for working so hard to figure out how to help Smoochie!

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    Replies
    1. Hey guys, it's a wurk in progress, but we feel if we can get Smooch 90% better with the occasional accident it's all ok - he might neffur fully recover but as long as there's improvement there's hope! XOX

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  7. Awww Smooooooochie! <3 *lots and lots and lots and lots of hugs* xxx

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    Replies
    1. Hi Aunty J, Smooch loved all the hugs, thank mew furry much! XOX

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  8. The windows look great! Glad that Smoochie seems to be doing better, too.

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  9. I love these posts! Most people wouldn't take the time to work out causes and solutions (I would too ... but we know many cats are surrendered for this very problem) - but we're glad Smoochie's on the right track!

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    Replies
    1. Hiya Momma Kat & Bear, guys we're doing our bestest fur him! MOL XOX

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  10. What if the trigger is one of the cats own fursibs? We have this spraying problem with Mauricio and Astrid. Drives Mom to distraction, especially when she can smell it and can't find it. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy

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    1. Hi Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy, Smooch is one of those kitties that gets along with all his fursibs, he's just too smoochy to be bothered by them. So Astrid & Mauricio are at it too, hmmmmm.... is it in the same place or are they all random? The P.A. XOX

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  11. You've been keepin' track of the incidents? On the calendar and everythin'? MOUSES!

    Nothin' to see here, Peepers. Nothin' to see. You just go on back to your knittin', Peepers. MOUSES!

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    1. Hey Seville, yep, the kitty shrink advised it, so the P.A. is furry diligent in her duties as chief cat carer. Shhhhh, we won't tell your peep anything! MOL XOX

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  12. We don't have a trouble like that here...though Pipo will spray in the back of the litter box...and it was leaking out at the seam where the lid and the base were meeting up...but petcretary spent some $$ and got some very deep litter boxes and now there are no leaks, though he still does that pee on the back wall thing. EEUW! Once in a while...he stands front paws in there, then he lets it rip outside the box...sheesh, did he think he was *in*?? So there is a plastic mat under the box arrangement and it has a curve up on it to contain piddles and she uses that enzymatic cleaner to get rid of stinks. So far with the new boxes he goes inside each time.
    Minko is a good boy:) His trouble is in the eating department!

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