# Help-stressed cat after house move



## Elaine79 (Oct 15, 2013)

I have recently moved house with my 2 cats, I kept both cats in for a fortnight but as soon as I let them out my neutered male went missing for 2 nights and we found him at the old house, he has gotten out again and again we found him at the old house. He has also started peeing down plugholes, particularly the kitchen sink which I'm not too happy about and also all over the bathroom carpet. I have a feliway diffuser, 3 litter trays which I keep very clean but nothing seems to make a difference. Does any1 have any advice on how I can stop this behaviour?


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## Marycat (Jul 29, 2013)

I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing.. I have never moved!! My friend has just been through it though and her cats were driving her mad!! It took about a month but they did calm down once they had established a new routine? I expect he is missing his old territory and is finding it hard to adjust. Is there other cats in the area you have moved too? Perhaps he is scared and this is his way of showing it?
Sorry I can't be of more help, hopefully someone who has been through it will be along soon..! In the meantime lots of cuddles and attention can only help although I understand your frustration!! x


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## Elaine79 (Oct 15, 2013)

Thanks for your reply. I haven't noticed any other cats hanging around but I do know the previous tenants had a LOT of animals. The carpets are all new but I think he must still be able to smell them. He has now decided the plugholes and bathroom carpet aren't enough and has pee'd on a pair of my pyjamas I left on the bedroom floor &#128549; nice birthday present for me to wake up to this morning! Lol


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Your new house is full of strange scents, including from previous animals who lived there, and your cat is feeling threatened by all the different smells.

Also new carpets often have a strong chemical smell which cats often do not like, and may urinate on to cover the smell with their own scent. It is usually the adhesives that are used, which contain loads of nasty chemicals.

Here is a link which advises how to get rid of the smell from new carpets:

How to Get Rid of New Carpet Smell

If your new house is near enough to your old house that he can easily go 
back there, I am afraid you need to keep him indoors for a lot longer than 2 weeks. 2 months would be more like it. He needs time to lose his *attachment* to his old territory and to bond with his new home, before you let him out again.

I would get some Feliway diffusers and keep them switched on 24/7 for a month. Also I'd give your cat a course of Zylkene, which is good at calming cats who are stressed over territorial issues. It's a supplement, a milk byproduct. Open the capsule and mix the powder in the food.

Zylkene Capsules - Priced Per Tablet - 75mg - Animed Direct

Also buy a pot of powdered catnip (amazon sells it) and every few days rub catnip all over the cat-trees, scratching posts, on edges of doors and door frames, so he starts to associate the new house with pleasant scents.

Clean up any wee stains thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner such as Urine Off, or a solution of Biotex.

Put down some extra litter trays for the time being, spread around the house, as this may deter him from weeing in other places.

If necessary, ban him for the moment from rooms that have carpets and soft furnishings, so at least if he does wee on the floor it is easy to clean up.


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## Elaine79 (Oct 15, 2013)

Thank you so much, iv ordered some zylkene and we're going to pets at home tomorrow for some catnip powder if they have it. I didn't actually think he would find his way back to the old house as it's about half an hours walk away and we brought him here in the car but I obviously underestimated him lol. He does seem very unsettled tho, so hopefully these zylkene will help. Thank you again for your help and I'll keep you posted.


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## Elaine79 (Oct 15, 2013)

He's been taking the zylkene for 4 days now, no improvement as yet, infact he has gotten worse! Sometimes he uses the litter tray but mostly he doesn't, got up this morning to 3 soaking wet patches on the bathroom carpet! He's only doing it in the bathroom tho even tho the whole house is carpeted and he seems to be very territorial about the bathroom. If any1 goes in there he has to be there with them, he's there when we bath, shower or go to the toilet and he just pees right on the floor in front of us like its natural. I daren't keep him out of there in case he starts doing it somewhere else. I'm at the end of my tether, I just don't know what to do!


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Do you have a tray in the bathroom? If not put one in there and see if he uses it instead of the floor 
If not I would try banning him from the bathroom and see what happens


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## Elaine79 (Oct 15, 2013)

I have 2 in there, sometimes he uses them and sometimes he doesn't. I think he see's the bathroom as one giant litter tray now, so I might try keeping him out of there and see what happens.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Zylkene can take up to a month of giving it daily for it to begin to show any benefit. I would persevere with it.

Your cat appears to have some major territorial issues at present in his new home. He must have had a very strong attachment to your old house and he is finding it hard to deal with the loss.

He is *guarding* the bathroom as his territory and scent-marking it to stop any one else from taking it over. Scent marking is a different instinct to toiletting, which is why he is using the trays to wee in sometimes, but not others. i.e. when he wees on the floor he is likely to be scent-marking.

The other thing is that as he has urinated several times on the bathroom carpet it will now be saturated in the smell of urine and I am sorry to tell you you will be unlikely to get rid of all the smell even with enzymatic cleaner, as the smell soaks into the very fibres of the carpet, not to mention the underlay and even the floorboards underneath.

The only thing that may clean your carpet thoroughly now is an actual carpet cleaner & shampoo. Otherwise all you can do is throw the carpet away. If you do this I would recommend replacing it with hard flooring in the bathroom, which we are told is more hygienic for us anyway

If you shut him out of the bathroom the problem is he may get even more stressed and then begin scent-marking elsewhere in the house.

If you give the Zylkene longer to work, and it is not helping, and there is no change in his behaviour, then I would seek advice from your vet. There are drugs such as amitryptiline (an anti-depressant given to humans) which can help with these kind of issues. Of course you would not want to take the step lightly of giving him powerful drugs such as those, as they can have unpleasant side effects. But if nothing else has worked, it may be a last resort choice.

The Side Effects of Amitriptyline in Cats


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## Elaine79 (Oct 15, 2013)

I decided on Saturday morning I'd had enough of cleaning the carpet and trying (and failing miserably) to get rid of the smell so I ripped it out and replaced it with vinyl flooring. I thought it would be easier to clean but I guess the problem was the carpet as he's been using the litter tray ever since &#128522; he has stopped hanging round the bathroom all the time and is back to his old self.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Well done for resolving the problem Elaine!:thumbup: Very pleased to hear he is back to his old self, bless him


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