Cat and dog questions

15 years ago

I actually have two unrelated questions. The first one is for a friend.

She has a three dogs, all outdoor dogs, and has a problem with one of them. He's an unaltered 4 YO male Lab. He pees all over everything outside. She says that she can't open her back door cuz the smell is terrible. She's having him fixed after the holidays (please don't ask why she's waiting so long cuz I really don't know) and says that if that doesn't fix the problem she's getting rid of him.

Not ever having this problem with our dogs, I suggested she take a large sprayer and fill it with either bleach and water or ammonia and water and thoroughly drench her back patio and anything else he constantly pees on (like the dog houses, the side of the house, the patio, etc.). Let it sit then thoroughly rinse down. I know this won't solve the problem of the peeing dog but is there something else she can do to kill the smell?

The second question has to do with a semi-feral cat that we've pretty much adopted. He's about 10 months old now. Over the past months he's gotten very comfortable with my husband and I and we started bringing him inside for a couple hours a day. He got along with our dog but our other cat just can't seem to warm up to him. About a month ago we started keeping him in the house in our laundry room with a very comfortable bed, water, food, and toys. He discovered our large cat carrier and somehow got the door open and started sleeping in there all the time. We actually thought that was a good thing as we knew we would be taking him to the vet eventually in the carrier and felt he would feel more comfortable in it when the time came. Yeah....right!

Last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we took him to be neutered and to start his shots. Altho he didn't care to be closed in the carrier and absolutely hated the car ride, he went thru the surgery just fine. That's where the good part ended.

When my husband brought him home that afternoon he went absolutely insane. He was running full force into the walls and the floor to ceiling windows and sliders. He wanted out and he wanted out NOW! We managed to get our other cat and dog outside for their safety. Meanwhile he continued doing this and it scared both my husband and I alot. We couldn't find him until we heard all sorts of crashing going on in the kitchen. He had jumped up on the large ledge above the sink (we have a corner sink) and was ramming against the window. I grabbed him because there's (or was) alot of glass that he was knocking and kicking all over the place. I got bit three times, for which I'm not being treated for a very serious infection.

From there he went down the hall into our bedroom where he stayed under the bed until a little after midnight (hubby, dog, and other cat slept in one of the guest rooms that night). Then he came out, ate about a tablespoon of wet food, jumped on the bed with me and stayed there all night. We didn't let him out of our bedroom until the afternoon of the next day.

I called the vet right after he first went into the bedroom and told her what had happened. She said that sometimes cats have an adverse reaction to the anesthesia and it makes them hullucinate and evidently this is what was happening.

Blackie, this cat, hasn't been the same since. He's really skitterish, won't go near the cat carrier so have made up another bed for him in the laundry room, won't play with the toys (he LOVED them before and wouldn't go to bed without them), and doesn't really like being around us as much as he did before. He's almost constantly crying to go out in the evenings which is something that he didn't do before.

We've gone back about five steps with getting him comfortable in the house again. Other than that I honestly don't know what to do. I don't blame him at all and certainly wish the vet had told us this before we had him neutered. At least we could have been somewhat prepared in case it did happen (which it did). There is absolutely no way we're going to get him back to the vet for the rest of his shots in a couple weeks as he won't go near the carrier, much less let us put him in it. Nor do either of us think that he'll allow the vet to get near him for a shot.

Anything thoughts on what we can do, other than retry to get him to relax and trust us again? I haven't yet called the vet to see if she has any ideas as I've been trying to stay out of the hospital with this cat bite infection (my doc said he was admitting me today if it wasn't any better, which it finally is).

I apologize that this is so long.

Jenna

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Comments (6)

mazer415
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
As far as the dog issues go - there are a number of ways this woman can reduce the smell in her bathyard. I would love for her to put herself in place of those dogs for an hour or so, if she can not stand it, the dogs must certainly be tired of it especially since their noses are much more sensitive. Back to fixing the problem. Getting the dog fixed is going to be a huge step in the right direction. Uncut dogs are saturated with hormones they are driven by then and that is why he has marked everything. That should stop soon after his surgery.
I doubt she will do this as it sounds like she is an absentee owner, letting her backyard take care of her dogs bathroom needs and exercise needs etc. Flat out, point blank bottom line, she needs to start leash walking her dogs. three times a day minimun 15 minutes a walk and on the weekends or when she has free time, longer walks or a trip to the dog park should be in order....
annzgw
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Bleach and ammonia won't get rid of the smell. She needs to buy products made with special enzymes for treating dog urine. Any pet store carries them or she can order them online. She can also call local kennels and ask what they recommend.

I'm sorry to hear about the cat. The vet should have warned you but they rarely do. The poor thing should have been kept in a dimly lit, small room with no windows....or left in the crate.
It won't be the end of the world if he has to wait on getting his shots so I wouldn't worry about that now. I would move him to another room if he's not comfortable in the laundry room, and I'd get him all new, different toys. I think in time he will come around but it'll take patience on your part. I also wouldn't force any attention on him and would wait for him to make the first move.

You mentioned letting the other cat out......will both cats eventually be indoor-outdoor cats? Do you have an enclosed yard that he would be safe if you let him out? If his mental state doesn't improve, and he prefers being outside, I'd consider building him an outdoor enclosure.
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Elly_NJ
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
1. Neuter the dog and be better owners by playing with, walking and intreacting with the dog.

2. Give the cat time and love

Good for you for taking the cat! Be patient.
munkos
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tell your friend to have her dog checked for urinary problems too - if the smell is awful, that could be part of it. It's a lot more rare in male dogs, but not impossible. Fixing him either way is a good thing and that might be all it is. Hard to say when he's unaltered because of their tendency to mark everything.

But I do know when our dog had her UTI it was PUNGENT. When she had her first accident in the house we were out of the house, and when we got home our WHOLE house reeked and it was something else, I tell ya. It did not smell right, and everytime I went out with her to make sure she was still peeing, I almost gagged.

I would tell her that when she gets him fixed to also ask for a urinalysis, just to be safe. It'd be sad to see this dog given away if it doesn't quit after he gets neutered, over something relatively minor.

As for that, one of our male cats when I was young, went nutso after he got neutered too. You cat is freaked out now, and just needs peace and quiet, and time to feel safe again. He will come around with some patience.
jenna1
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thank you all for your responses. I've copied and forwarded them all to her. I'm hoping that she'll share them with her husband and that they'll both get their act together. I especially stressed what you advised about getting his urine tested and the neutering.

My husband and I were talking about this last night and remember trying to talk them out of getting more dogs because they never really trained them. But she's always been the type of person who when she wants something she gets it, regardless of the cost. When they tore up their furniture nothing seemed to be said to them which always left us scratching our heads. After replacing furniture three times she finally tossed them all out in the back yard and I doubt they've been in their house since. Her husband used to jog with them but that stopped a while ago when he got some type of exercise machine.

We've always had large female dogs and have never ever had a problem with their behavior (or pee). This may be an odd statement, but it seems that whenever we've gotten a puppy we always had an older dog who seemed to immediately take over the training and we were just there to reinforce it. :) My husband is a big man at 6"5" and hates any type of social gathering and it shows. But he can walk into a room or house with a scowl on his face and every kid and animal in a half mile radius go right up to him. Animals always seem to mind him, even at first meeting. They have him figured out the second they see him. We could always take any of our dogs anywhere and they're the most well-behaved dogs around. I'm always grateful for our dogs when we're around our friend's dogs. We moved away from their area a few years ago so I haven't been around to personally witness the problems they've had since, nor do I want to.

We think that our cat is doing a little better. It's been a week now and we were starting to think that it wasn't going to happen. Last night he stayed on my lap for quite a long time, played with one of his toys and went to sleep in my arms (which I had missed this past week) and today he even played "noses" with our dog. Our dog is a monster sized dog (picture a mix of chow and the largest German Shepard you ever saw then add a foot) so that did my heart good.

Our older cat is both indoor/outdoor (he was a throw away cat when we took him in), altho prefers to be in the house most of the time. The kitten, coming from a feral mother, is more of an outside cat but we were working on him being in the house more and more when the problem started a week ago. When we took in the older cat it was like he always lived here but we knew with the kitten it would be different. So not actually ever trained a cat before we knew we were/are in uncharted territory so took a patient, slow but sure approach.

We live between two empty fields and the older cat prefers to do his 'duty' out there. In the past year I think he's only used his litter box maybe 5 times. After we started bringing the kitten in at night we got a second litter box and the kitten has always used them (thankfully).

We were planning on getting a second cat carrier this coming Spring as we know that we will need it when we take them to the kennel when we go on vacation. Now we think that we're going to get it sooner and see if he'll take to a new carrier and hopefully the next visit to the vet won't bee so traumatic for him.

Anyway, thank you all for your time and help.

Jenna
runsnwalken
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Its good you take such good care of your animals- The woman who has the unfixed dog- shouldn't have one, even a lab could bite if not fixed and besides the overpopulation issues/moral issues with the dogs well being, its best she not have a dog to begin with.

We had a cat Nina who always had issues after being fixed- same thing you have I suspect. Not really a whole lot you can do but give him time and love-he may never be a normal cat.

Cat and dog questions

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mazer415

annzgw

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Cat and dog questions

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