Would a fox crying upset the cat?

16 years ago

We adopted Mitsy from the SPCA back at the end of August. She was spayed early September and we had a great first few weeks. We went away for 24 hours in October, when we came home Mitsy started urinating every once and a while in places other then her litter box, we added 2 additional litter boxes one on each floor of our house now. By the end of October she continued to have issues and one Saturday she urinated 4 times in places other then her litter box, Sunday she urinated on our bed, Monday I called the Vet, took her in. The Vet was thinking she had a UT, the test was inconclusive, but Vet gave us a round of Antibiotics. We also bought Mitsy a Pheromones Calming Collar she wore it for about for about 2 weeks and has been doing great so I took it off of her.

We started having issues again the other night, Mitsy was up over night crying, then she came into our bedroom climbed up on our bed and urinated. Then she urinated on my husband's work clothing. She was in my daughter's room just pacing, and breathing heavy. I placed the calming collar back on her and then next night we made the decision to keep her in the basement over night, because we all needed to sleep.

Over night we heard a fox crying outside, would this sound be upsetting our cat and causing her to urinate to mark her territory? What can we do to make sure she knows she is safe and to keep her from urinating in our bedroom?

Any suggestions, please would be appreciated, because if this urinating in the house continues, she will need to become an outside cat.

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Comments (4)

laurief_gw
16 years ago
It sounds to me like poor little Mitsy has stress-induced cystitis. She gets upset, and her urinary tract inflames and causes her pain, resulting in inappropriate urination. Unfortunately, your coping strategies are only making things worse. Isolating her in the basement is stressing her. Hearing a predator (foxes can and do kill cats) is stressing her. Hearing a predator WHILE BEING ISOLATED from the comfort and protection of her family is probably REALLY stressing her. All of this stress is probably exacerbating her cystitis.

Making her an outdoor cat may solve YOUR problem, in that the fox may get her and eliminate her from your lives altogether, but that won't do a lot to help little Mitsy.

If you really want to help Mitsy, do everything you can to eliminate stress, not add to it. Spend time with her, comfort her, play with her, love her. Keep using the calming collar, and buy some Comfort Zone infusers to plug in around your house. Try a few drops of Rescue Remedy in her water bowl daily.

At night, keep her in your room close to you. Until the cystitis subsides again, overnight her in a large pet crate or carrier with food, water, and a litterbox next to your bed. That way she will know you are close and she is protected.

You adopted her, and she is now your responsibility to keep happy and healthy.

Laurie
annzgw
16 years ago
In addition to what Laurie mentioned, I would have a followup checkup with the vet. Her improvement coincided with use of the antibiotics and she may have a recurring UT problem.
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mazer415
16 years ago
I suggest a visit to the vet as well. She may be experiencing complications the calming collar is masking.
ilmbg
16 years ago
We had a cat that had an unusually thick bladder wall with diverticuli (very tiny holes in the wall filled with pus). The cat would respond temporarily to antibiotics, only to get another UTI frequently/routinely. She would start to urinate on things when a UTI was starting.
Yes- a cat/dog can act differently when a predator is present.