When your sink is becoming a stink

Animal Details  

Name: Angus And George

Breed: Domestic Short Hair / Domestic Medium Hair 

Age: 3 years 

Gender  Male Desexed

History

Angus and George moved from Sydney 3 months before our session. George and Angus are brothers from other mothers but came into their home simultaneously. 

Angus and George get along well and have always been indoor-only cats. They do not fight and share the home equitably. 

Their owners previously lived in a small two-bedroom Apartment in Sydney. They moved into a large three-bedroom, two-story home. 

After the first fortnight, Angus started an odd behaviour of urinating in the family's kitchen sink. His owners were not impressed, so they tried keeping the sink full of dishes. Angus then used the Laundry sink right next to his litter tray. 

His owners then started leaving 5 cm of water into the sinks. Angus then started urinating upstairs in the hallway between rooms on the 2nd floor. Just two meters away from his Litter box. 

Assessment 

Angus's owners had tried doing many measures to prevent Angus from urinating in the sinks. They had bought multiple litter trays, one downstairs and two upstairs. They had bought Urine Off Cat spray to reduce the uric acid smell sticking to the area they did not want him to urinate in and put foil on the floor as cats do not like walking on that space. All of these things are significant steps to preventing problem urination. 

Cats urinating or defecating in different home areas can be a common issue at The Pet Teacher. It is a sign of stress in cats and can be pretty frustrating for pet owners. 

This condition is called Inappropriate elimination and can be caused by many factors. 

After viewing the home, hearing his history and considering the way the cats moved and interacted in the house, I identified that there were multiple contributors to Angus's elimination issue, including: 

The previous owners had dogs in the home, and the upstairs carpet had only been cleaned with Cat Urine off, not dog Urine Off. They work differently and have different actions on pheromones in the carpet. So the underlying smell to Angus's level also caused him stress, and it's comforting to cover the scent of other animals with his own. 

The move to a home with a larger open space was a tad overwhelming. Also, it caused Angus stress as he was not used to being so exposed to open space and the main sinks that Angus used overlooked the outdoor areas. Again the lingering smell of dogs in this space not detectable to a human nose would also have been in these areas. So when a window was open, the scent would have come into his space. 

The main contributor to the issues was that when Angus used litter trays, he would tend to scratch at the walls around him. He would only place one leg into the tray, then balance and obsessively try to cover his deposits. This is a sign that the cat is a) unhappy with the size of the litter tray and b) not happy with the litter tray material. 

Outcome 

Angus's Owners used Urine off Dog in the carpeted areas of the home and around the garden beds of the house to help neutralise the underlying dog scent in the area. 

They modified his litter trays and used under-bed storage tubs from Bunnings. They placed different substrate materials into the trays. They discovered that Angus ceased scratching at walls and balancing and would use the centre of the tray. He also preferred a finer substrate material that was softer and behaved more like dirt. 

Angus's family were also instructed to alter his diet and try a nutraceutical product called Zylkene, which contains a natural enzyme in all mammal milk that calms animals. 

At last contact, Angus has not had any accidents since the changes were implemented over three months ago. 

Cost to Client from the Pet Teacher - $150 

Cost for new litter trays, no more stinky sinks, and a happy cat = Priceless.