3/7/2014

Good morning,   35  windy, rainy, icky

Boxes

Thank you so much for your kindness and
 generosity with all the gifts from our wish lists!
http://blindcatrescue.com/wishlist.htm

Amazon often does not tell us who you are and 
they never give us contact info!  
Please know that we are very grateful to you for your gifts!

Thank you Wendi Dodson for the carrier!
Thank you Grym R Allison for the camera and food!
Thank you Dirk Richmond for the toys and litter!

Poppy with an undercover mouse ;)

Thank you Linnea Bernadino for the floor cleaner, foods and measuring spoons!
Thank you Lorna SteMarie for the floor cleaner and litter!
Thank you Wendi Dodson for the food, trashbags and scratcher toys!

Thank you Tracy O'Shea for the freshstep!
Thank you Michele for the food!


NEW CONTEST

This contest is for YOU!
The winner of the weekly top fan contest will win
a BCR Top Fan shirt!   First shirt will be awarded on 3/14
Liking and commenting is counted.  We pray you will
also hit share  :)   Thank you so much for all you all
do for the cats!!  We hope you will win #1 weekly fan!!

You can see all the top fans at:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=121386005165&v=app_422159534475539

Spray or not spray,  that is the question!
by Jill Anne Sparapany

                              

Is your cat spraying? Do you know the difference between urinating outside the litter box and spraying behavior? Typical spraying activity is very distinctive and hard to miss. The cat will hold their rear legs very straight so their hindquarters are slightly higher than the rest of its body. The tail will be straight up or forward at a 45˚ angle. When releasing the urine spray, the tail will quiver and the cat makes treading movements with its feet. Spraying on vertical locations, such as walls, doors or trees, is the most common area for spraying actions.

First, a complete physical exam and labs need to be done by your vet. Rule out any medical causes. If your cat is not neutered, this needs to be done ASAP!

Spraying comes naturally when domestic cats feel competition. It is not done maliciously for us or other cats. Spraying is the natural way the cat announces it wants to mate and gives other cats its “4-1-1”. Cat urine contains information about its age, identity, and mating status. If there are several cats in competition, the cat will spray more. This is a natural behavior and disciplining or reprimanding the cat will not stop spraying! The environmental and physiological factors need to be changed to change the behavior.

If your cat is not fixed, they should get spayed or neutered immediately! This is the most important step to stop the spraying. In 87% of the cases, getting male cats neutered will stop almost all spraying within two weeks after the procedure. Some cats may not cease spraying for six months.

Several things need to be done to prevent spraying. First, you need to reduce any arousing stimuli from outdoor stray or neighborhood cats. They may not be neutered and their continued presence raises the level of competition. Blocking the view of outdoor cats will not completely stop the spraying as your cat can still smell their personal announcement, “I’m here!” You may consider investing in animal repelling devices around your home.

Look inside your home for competition. Spraying is more likely in multi-cat homes and the cats may feel the need to compete for more personal space. Adding more vertical spaces as kitty condos, wall perches and hiding cubbies allow cats to claim their own space.

You can also reduce competitive access to every cat’s necessities – litter box, food and water. If possible, provide a litter box for each cat. Many recommend one litter box per cat plus one in each home. Also provide separate food and water bowls or areas for each cat.

If there is any hostile interactions between your cats, you need to provide a calm  and comforting environment for all the cats. Observe which cats interact well and which do not. Spend equal time with every cat! Some recommend giving a daily grooming from “Mom” to each cat to relax them. Their Mom-Cat groomed them and their littermates and your daily grooming will simulate the positive familial comfort of their early years.

Other ways to reduce hostility can be done with behavior modification, spacing techniques or medication. Ask your vet for assistance.

One of the most important things you must do is to remove the residual cat odor. First, you need to find all of kitty’s spraying spots. You can’t see the cat urine stains in normal light. You can purchase a black light from better pet stores. Cat urine glows fluorescent yellow, even when dry. Mark the areas with masking tape.

Urine stains under UV-black light.

When you are looking for the spray spots, back up with your UV-black light. Kitty may have sprayed larger area than you think! The LED UV-black lights do better at showing the urine spots. Cats are creative “spray painters” and will use bookshelves, furniture, cloth decorations, inside vents, objects that appear to have "holes," such as inside portable heaters, clothing that your cat may be able to access, other small areas your cat could squeeze into and anywhere else you can think of - if you can see it, it could be your source.

On carpet, wherever you find urine stains, you should also check the underlay using the black light. Urine seeps through carpet, so a puddle the size of a saucer on top of the carpet is likely to be of serving plate proportions on the underlay. The urine must be removed from the underlay as well as the carpet.

Second, the entire area must be thoroughly cleaned – you may think it’s free of the cat’s calling card, but the cat’s sense of smell is much more acute than ours and they may still be attracted to what you cannot smell.

Sprayed vertical locations will have residual odors, creating a ‘marking post.’ This must be cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner specifically designed to remove cat urine odor. If the urine has soaked into carpet and the padding, the padding must be saturated with the enzyme cleaner too. Thorough rinsing of all surfaces will also prevent discoloration from urine stains.

Be sure to use an enzymatic urine cleaning product - these contain special bacteria that seek out and consume all traces of urine embedded within any water-safe material. Enzymatic products do not mask the urine order, but instead the enzymes and bacteria digest the odor causing items.

It's important to understand that these enzymatic solutions can require several days to work (and in some cases, several applications for those extra stubborn stains). Those several applications may occur over several weeks (this is a permanent, but not necessarily quick fix). 

Also, be sure not to "pre-treat" the area with vinegar or bleach because those chemicals can interfere with the work of the enzymes and bacteria.

Do NOT use any household cleaners that contain ammonia. That will say “Pee Here!”

Do NOT use any cleaning products that are harmful to cats or your other pets. If it doesn’t say on the label, call the manufacturer.

Be sure you have a product that is an odor neutralizer, not just odor masker. These are the enzymatic products.

Whichever product you use, follow the instructions to the letter! Some products need to be diluted; others are used full strength. Some are blotted up after application; others are left for 24 hours before drying. Following exact instructions will yield maximum effectiveness of the product.

If you need to clean cat urine from hardwood floors or concrete, read the label on your cleaning product. If not stated, call the manufacturer for recommendations.

**  Test any cat urine cleaning products on an inconspicuous area of the carpet or furniture!

Some products will be applied with a cloth on upholstered furniture – read the label!

Other recommendations are to change the purpose of the marking posts into rubbing posts. After the urine odor is removed from the marking post, it needs to be removed or changed in significance to the cat. Try to replace with cat furniture so the cat will use the space for rubbing their face – use catnip appeal. Try to use cat furniture that has already been used appropriately.

Consider pharmacological treatment. If none of the above treatments have an effect, you may want to consider getting a pharmacological treatment. This should be considered seriously as there may be side effects to medication. Talk to a trusted veterinarian about drugs that have proved helpful such as benzodiazepines, tricyclics and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors.

**  The BCR blogs on cat spraying, outside the litter box urination, litter boxes and litter, and cleaning cat urine are compiled from several websites. These are suggestions to assist in managing cat problems in the home! Not all suggestions will work in every situation or with every cat.

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