We agreed to look after my PIL's cat while they built their house and lived in a caravan, but going on 9 months now, and they haven't even signed a contract with a builder yet.

For the first month or two, the cat peed all over, and is now mostly banished outside. Our bub has just started crawling and loves to chase it. It doesn't have the sense to get out of her way, and will actually move to sit near her, even though she grabs it and pulls its tail etc. Which wouldn't worry me, except occaisionally, it will bite, so I have to make sure bub doesn't get near the cat.

Then PIL stayed to look after the cat while we went away for the week, and carefully shut the cat out when they left the night before we got back. Unfortunately, they shut in the house a stray cat that has been hanging around since their cat has been here, and which we had to remove when we got home. The study now smells like cat pee.

Then, yesterday, I opened the boot of the car, and the cat had been locked in there since the morning before when I had left the boot open while getting groceries out, and hadn't noticed she had jumped in. Now the boot especially, but also the whole car smells like cat pee and poo. She was lucky I had lost something else and was looking for it, or I wouldn't have opened the boot for a few days and there would have been a dead cat in there.

The sooner I see the back of this cat, the happier I will be!

OMG...I'm having cat problems too. Only there are 6 stray cats that my dumba$$ uncle keeps feeding. My uncle lives next door to me, and he wakes up about 5 am loudly calling the cats so that he can feed them...and I'd have no problem with him feeding the cats on his side of the fence. But for some reason he throws the food over to our side of the fence and all the cats stay on my side right along with all the plastic plates, aluminum pans and cat food cans that he feeds them with. Everyday all day the cats are on my front porch, on top of my car...Ugh, it makes me so mad when I go out in the yard and have to pick up trash. It started out with 2 cats and then they had babies 3 of those babies died but now there are even more cats than before. I got so mad at him the other day that I threw all of his "cat trash" on his back porch so that when he opens the door he would see all that crap. Unfortunately in our town the Animal people won't pick up stray cats.

Sorry to hijack your thread, i just had to get that off my chest.

If you can take the carpet out of the boot and wash it with a mix of vinegar and water, then rinse it with plain water and let it dry, it should get rid of the worst of the smell. You might have to do it a couple of times.

Sometimes when a cat pees all over, it has urinary problems that can be helped by taking it to a vet...but that's mostly girl cats. Tomcats pee all over for other reasons and once they've got the habit, it can't usually be broken.

Also, cleaners with enzymes will get some animal smells out and you can use them where you can't use vinegar and water because they're usually a spray that you let soak in and then blot up.

I don't have cats anymore...found out I was allergic and it's bad of me but I was glad to rehome the little sucker. He was a well-behaved cat except when I was pregnant and then he would go in the bathroom with me, climb into my pants that were around my ankles and take a whiz on them. But from that I had lots of practice getting cat pee out of things...I only had one pair of maternity pants so you can guess how upsetting it was when the cat would do that.

KKC, see if there are any feral cat rescue groups in your area...they will trap the cats and then take them somewhere better for them to live (or at least out of your yard).

Thanks Texas Rose...I am definately going to check around. They are really cute cats and I'd rather them have a nice home then to roaming around.

Ok, I can see there aren't many cat lovers responding to this thread. But that's ok. I'm a bit obsessive about mine.

I just want to say I'm sorry this has turned into such a stressful situation for you. You should never have been placed in this situation for this long. I know how frustrating this can be.

1) When a cat is stressed, it can end up with health problems, one of those being feline lower urinary tract disease. This can cause the cat in question to urinate outside of the litterbox. When a cat with FLUTD urinates in the box normally, but experiences pain, they associate the pain with the box (dumb, yes, but what do you expect from an animal). This cat has been placed in a strange environment, and is most certainly stressed. (My male cat has had symptoms of FLUTD for 4 years now, and may not grow out of it. We're diligent about the signs, and with one exception, have prevented him from getting to the point where he's urinating outside of the box).

2) This is not just the case in female cats. If a male cat is neutered at an early age (6 months or less, sometimes up to a year or less), they may never begin spraying (this is when a cat backs up, wiggles its tail, and a urine-like substance sprays out and up). This is a territorial response in male cats, but if they never do it, they never learn. FLUTD in males cats is very dangerous, because if they become fully blocked by crystals in the urine, death can result in 24 hours.

3) Enzyme sprays will get the urine and fecal smells out of absorbent surfaces. If you've tried that and it still smells, pick up a small black light and you can find the spots that were missed that way. And remember, just because YOU can't smell it, doesn't mean the cat can't. If nothing shows up under the black light, then it's gone and the cat won't smell it.

All in all, this really sounds like the case of a cat that is stressed. If your PIL loves this cat so much, they need to start taking care of her/him again. If this starts looking like a more permanent situation, they might want to consider finding a permanent home.

I agree with everything emrldsky says, and I find what Mike said very disturbing. I really don't feel that comment should have been made.

Ok I had to add one more thing. If nothing else drugs..LOL I mean cat nip. Try placing a scratching pad with cat nip in the areas the cat is peeing. It will be a great distraction.

As a cat lover, I have 4, I also find Mike's comment disturbing. Cats can't help that humans don't take care of them.

I can't help much other than what others have said, but if I had been shut in a strange house and the boot of a car, I would probably pee on myself too.

Lighten up folks

I found Mike's comment disturbing, and inappropriate...... I will admit that I am overly emotional about this thread today. I have a kitten in my home that I recently rescued from the freezing cold. He was no doubt abandoned and starving. After a visit to the Vet, where he was vaccinated, treated, and neutered, I brought him home to recuperate. I am trying desperately to get him and my precious 9yo cats to live in harmony, without success. I will find him a good home if necessary, but still hoping to make this work...
For you cat lovers... please send me any advice you might have...

.... We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals..
Immanuel Kant

OK Folks it was a dam joke ya didn't like it fine. So be it. I'm not going to shoot a cat I don't even own a gun never have. I donate to the local shelters, and am a member in good standing with a few animal rights orgs.

Mike

Hey where did my post about the water go....? Hey mods you might want to actually read what the post says in reference to the Thread before deleting. It's really rude!

For people who are dealing with hordes of feral cats roaming the neighborhood, check out this group. http://bit.ly/604pnh If they can't help trap/neuter then they can probably tell you someone in your area who can.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I really am an animal lover - my stinky car was a case of the last straw yesterday.

My lovely husband went and hired a carpet cleaner, which seems to have helped in the car.

Um.... you need to give the cat back to its owners NOW. If you wanted to deal with a cat, you would have gone out and bought one. You were kind, and got bit for it. Their cat, their problem. BE STRONG!

And I'll add that YES I'm a cat lover