You can't "discipline" a cat as you would a child. That's absurd. They don't think like humans do, nor do they reason like we do. To hit or abuse a cat, will create a very frightened animal that will be traumatized for the rest of its life. It will jump at its own shadow, and be constantly petrified in anticipation of the next beating. Why do that to an animal? People need to understand why cats defecate and urinate around the home when there is a perfectly clean litter box nearby. I have a cat, she's now 15 years old and she's been doing this on and off for the past 15 years. We've read up on this, done research, listened to dog/cat experts and none of their advice worked. I've "figured" this out on my own. Cats in the wild (lions, tigers, etc) "mark" territory using their feces and/or urine. When a domestic cat does the same thing inside its home, it's "marking". The question is: why does the cat mark? My best guess is, to help its owner "find it". Translation: I've found whenever me or my husband (or both of us) leave the home for extended periods of time, our cat will "mark" our home using both her feces and urine, usually on my husband's clothing, or a towel. In her little cat brain, she's leaving us a "scent" for us to find our way home. She doesn't like it when we leave the house, she would prefer we stay at home all the time, so we could pet her all the time, which is how she expects us to spend our time - petting her. In her mind, petting her comes above everything else. So when we're gone from home, she doesn't like that one little bit. And if we're gone long enough, she's figured we're "lost" and we need to find our way back home. So she "marks", using her urine, and/or her feces. Our cat has used both to "mark" for us. So would 'beating' her help? Would "discipline" help? As already mentioned, NO. You have to figure out animal psychology to understand just what makes them tick and what doesn't. Our latest way of handling our cat, is to lessen the amount of time petting her. It's hard for us, because we like to pet her, but this is a last resort for us. I'm sorely tempted to pet her, but I don't want her soiling our home. And rather than have her euthanized, we'd rather have her around a warm home with good food and clean water and live out her life. But with minimal petting, because the more we pet and spoil her, the more she soils our home. We'll see where this latest "theory" takes us. More later.

ROFL! And I thought houzz was what had messed up GardenWeb! Actually it REALLY is a worthy topic and obviously men "go" when and where it's most convenient and...well, if we can cut back on the store-bought fertilizer, all the better I say. On the dilution topic and for those of you who have killed things...so maybe it makes you feel macho to be able to kill things like that, but I think I have a solution. You should not "go" in one spot and saturate the soil there but rather spread it around the tree. That will reduce the chance of odor and reduce the chance of shocking the roots and adding too many salts to one spot. johnmerr, are there regulations in the US about peeing in the field of a commercial crop? I know there are regs against #2 for obvious reasons but #1 SHOULD be almost sterile when it's "applied".

This is for anyone who thinks less of someone for putting down a cat or dog. My grandfather was a vet. I grew up around animals -- dogs, cats, farm animals. It is never an easy decision to put a pet out of its misery. We just had our lovely black cat of 15 plus years put down today. We had him treated for a urinary tract infection and he was still peeing and pooping outside the box. He started to hide. He could not jump up on the bed as well as he used to. He was in pain, if for no other reason, arthritis in his back legs and spine. My husband is disabled and was very distraught over his special bed buddy having to be put down, but he made the ultimate decision. My husband and I could no longer clean up after our aged cat. The vet said that our "Junior" was in pain. For the one person who commented something to the effect that when one gets old (a person) I hope he gets put down, I just wish someone would do that for me. We treat our animals, our pets, many times more humanely than we do people. My grandfather would have been the first to say that Junior is hurting, his quality of life is not as good as it has been. Would you want him to continue to suffer? This is what the vet told us today. It is never easy, but as people, as the so-called image of God, we have a responsibility to animals to relieve them of suffering. Junior had bladder problems, and possible liver failure and for a 15-plus year cat, he lived a good life. Can we or should we judge those who are faced with this decision? For anyone who is facing this issue, please assess the quality of life of your pet. Does he enjoy the same things he used to do? Has his litter box or potty habits changed? Does he eat, drink, and play ( at least a little)? When you go to work and come back home, is your beloved pet in the same spot as when you left in the morning? If so, you may want a vet's impartial opinion. I only hope I have someone who will make such a decision for me when the time comes. We are all God's creatures and deserve the best that life can offer and that includes a painless and humane exit to our respective heavens. I only hope I meet all my pets when its my time to check out.

I know this is an old thread but I just went through reading everyone's comments...thank you, I needed to see I am not alone! An hour ago I put down my cat because of incurable inappropriate elimination. When we bought our house 5 years ago and the previous owners left him here..package deal, I guess.. but they always kept him locked up by himself in the sun room and we figured out why pretty quickly. My best guess is that he was captured from the enormous pack of feral cats down the alley by the kids who lived here. They did not neuter him so we did that immediately. He had litter box aversion from the very start so we took the recommended steps... veterinarian visits which turned up urine crystals so we put him on prescription food and took care of that issue, but it made no difference. We ensured his box was clean, we tried different types of litters, litter boxes and locations before we landed on the Catgenie (worth EVERY penny, btw). We even attempted to toilet train him but never got past the pie pan in the rim. We gated him in the bathroom with his box, food water and a bed. We attempted to retrain him in a huge crate that fit his litter box, food and a bed- all to no avail. We supervised him, blocked access to rooms and rewarded him on the rare occasion he'd do the right thing. We decided to let him out with the dog and encourage him to eliminate outdoors, but even after being outside for hours, he'd come in and I would catch him using the den carpet as his litter box. We've used every cleaner under the sun (microban disinfectant from jon don is spectacular) and we replaced the carpet after thoroughly disinfecting and sealing the affected areas. We just went through the drug therapy but it did not work either. I tried to surrender him to no kill shelters but they're overwhelmed with animals due to the economy. We tried making him an outside cat, but he ALWAYS sneaked in and would complain about the cold/heat and would claw the house to come in. I talked to him a lot about his habits because I believe that our pets do understand us. I feel just awful but I exhausted my options ....this is 5 years of trying to solve the problem! Euthanasia with a veterinarian IS a humane choice, but most importantly it was our last option. This isn't a matter of inconvenience or cold heartedness, we've tried every and any thing we've heard or read about...some things we tried more than once! We LOVE this kitty and inconvenienced the bejesus out of ourselves to accommodate, retrain and reasonably coexist. For us, it is a matter of financial strain, health, sanitation and insanity from zero results after years of failed attempts. Cat urine soaked couches, carpets and walls do not even come close to the mild smell of a dirty litter box. No, I will not live in a home that reeks of cat urine. It is unsanitary. Everyday was incredibly stressful walking in the house and being hit with a wall of intolerable odor. I guess in some way I am trying to support myself and come to peace with this by telling you that we tried. Hard. For years. If you're faced with this problem, try like hell to fix it but if you and your vet(s) cannot cure inappropriate elimination, be gentle with yourself through the process. Today is a sad day because my precious boy is gone and I failed him in curing his elimination problem. I'm trying to rationalize an agonizing decision.