Question:
Friends of ours have a male cat who is just ver a year old. They recently purchased two husky puppies who are not yet house broken. Now the cat has started going to the bathroom outside his litter box i.e. the living room, the puppies blanket, their bedroom, etc. Is this normal behaviour because he can smell the feces and urine from the puppies or is it a health issue? Thanks for any answers you al can give me!

Answer:
My sister-in-law has 5 cats, and when she brought in 3 young females, her 2 older males got upset and started doing the same thing. I suspect your friend's cat is po'd that there are 2 new furry creatures in the same house as he is, and now he's not the only one getting the attention, so he's making a messes all over to get back the attention. They'll have to do a slow introduction of the puppies to the cat, and hopefully they'll get along together. There are quite a few people here who have both cats and dogs that can probably give you some great pointers.

I wish them luck with their little !

Answer:
My guess is the cat is upset with the changes in his territory and the introductions may not have been made well or done properly. If I were your friend, I would go back to square one and bring in the puppies - giving them their own space and slowly integrating them into the routine of the home. Cats are easily stressed and it can be more than behavioral - stress in cats can bring on physiological probs that weaken their kitty's immune system. So, for the sake of the cat - and the puppies later on - I would start this all over again.

Of course, I am guessing since I do not really have enuf info to know if they did bring in the puppies the right way. If they did follow all the usual suggestions that work and the cat is still stressed and doing this, they need to look at other issues. Where do the puppies sleep? Are their food bowls near the cat's? Are the puppies bothering the cat?

The kitty needs to get lots of extra TLC and attention right now - not simply because of the inappropriate urination - but because of the newness of someone else in the home. It could be a person, another cat and in this case, it is two tiny puppies who I bet are getting mega attention. If kitty is used to being an only cat, this might be VERY stressful - especially depending on how it has affecting the cat's routine.

I would need more info to give you other recommendations. Here iare some web sites that explain the proper way to intrduce a new puppy or dog to a home with a cat or cats.

http://www.leerburg.com/dog-cat.htm
http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_Cat.html
http://www.dog.com/information/intropup.asp
http://www.willasark.com/Dogaddition.cfm

The biggest mistake ppl often make is just bring the dog home and assume all will be well - sometimes, one might get lucky and that happens but it is best to use the tried and true techniques.

Answer:
Thanks for the info. No introductions were done, just one day the puppies were there. I think my boyfriend and I are going to take the cat for them because him and the peuppies just aren't getting along...

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From past experience, it could just be the way the cat tells the owner that he is not pleased with the arrival of the pups.
My cat used in go to the bathroom outside the litter box whenever I went away or was busier than usual and he was getting less attention.

Smart kitty. Hopefully they can learn to get along

Answer:
I think it's a great idea for you to 'rescue' this cat. Your friends will have their hands full with two puppies (more than they know) and the cat will probably end up falling through the cracks and peeing in their bed to get a scrap of attention.
Good plan!

Answer:
I agree with everyone else,poor cat is probably upset and unhappy and showing it..
It would be great if you could save him from a lively 2 puppys-environment,or I have a feeling the kitty would end up in a shelter for showing his displeasure.
The owners probably shocked this poor cat,by not making the introduction slowely,I know my cats would be climbing the walls

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I think it's a good idea to rescue the poor cat and thank you for doing so. Two husky puppies at once are going to be a big handful for them and not fair to the cat for the improper introductions.

Answer:
We introduced our new puppy, an Alaskan Klee Kai (which is kind of like a miniature husky) to our two female cats very very gradually. Basically, they were never allowed to interact without us around. The puppy had his room which he had to stay in because we blocked it off with puppy gates, and the cats had their area with their food, water, litter box and scratching post which the puppy was not allowed to go near. At the most we took the puppy and let the cats smell him until they got scared or anxious, and then we took him away. He is in his crate all day while we aren't there and at night beside our bed. The cats were free to sleep with us at night and we made sure to try to give them as much attention as possible. It's been more than 2 months now, and we're only just at the point where the cats will come into the puppies area because they've learned he can't get them if they jump up high. They don't confront him (unless it's on the other side of the puppy gate) and run away if he chases them. He can even get close to them (they've touched noses calmly once), but we still don't trust them alone together. It's really important for us to make sure our cats and puppy establish the best relationship possible, even if it takes a year or more, because giving them up is not an option for us!

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Cram,you definetly have the right idea,it has to be a very slow process

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