got a question if anyone is

me too i have a flea infestation

hahaha itching doesn't help? :p

Gambit, if one of your pets is sick, please take it to a vet. Don't try to diagnose problems on the internet. When animals are ill, their natural instinct is to hide the symptoms of their illness -- acting sick would make them targets for predators. By the time you notice that an animal isn't acting normally, often the disease has progressed to a point that further delay could be extremely harmful.

If you don't have a sick pet but you just have a question of a general nature, I'll try to help. I'm not a veterinarian, but I've worked as a veterinary technician and I have extensive critter experience.

Gambit, if one of your pets is sick, please take it to a vet. Don't try to diagnose problems on the internet. When animals are ill, their natural instinct is to hide the symptoms of their illness -- acting sick would make them targets for predators. By the time you notice that an animal isn't acting normally, often the disease has progressed to a point that further delay could be extremely harmful.

If you don't have a sick pet but you just have a question of a general nature, I'll try to help. I'm not a veterinarian, but I've worked as a veterinary technician and I have extensive critter experience.
It's not that she seems sick....I have a cat that's about 13 or 14, don't remember exactly, who's been pooping on the floor behind the couch for a few months....I tried all kinds of different things to get her to stop, but it's not working. Also if she goes in the box to pee, she squirts it out the front and all over the carpet. I don't konw if there's some kind of illness this might be related to, or if she's just odd. None of these problems ocurred until she got very sick about a year ago and almost died.

For a problem like that, I would recommend tying a string tightly around her neck and placing her in a heavy duty garbage bag underneath some newspaper. She won't ever do that again. :)

note: apologies in advance for the explicit excretory functions described in the following post.
The pooping behind the couch is behavioral; at age 13 or 14 you could be dealing with some kitty-old-age-dementia issues. If you can, try blocking off the space behind the couch so she can't get back there, and make sure her litterbox is nearby and clean. Often, older animals (just like old people!) don't feel the sensation of having to "go" until it's nearly too late -- sometimes they just can't make it all the way to the appropriate place (litterbox, doggy door, whatever) before things start coming out.

The urinating "out the front" I don't quite understand -- do you mean that when she squats to pee, the urine is shooting out the wrong direction, towards her front legs? Or do you just mean that she's not quite getting her rear end quite over the edge of the box before she "goes"?

What illness did she have a year ago? It would help to know what was wrong with her then and what was done to treat her if that's when these pooping/peeing issues began. My first impression is that perhaps she has a bladder stone; do you see any blood in her urine?

For a problem like that, I would recommend tying a string tightly around her neck and placing her in a heavy duty garbage bag underneath some newspaper. She won't ever do that again. :)
Doc, I thought you were a cat lover. You're just one sick puppy. :p

My cats were pooping all over because i made a couple minor changes all at once..

I changed thier litter box, it's location, the brand of litter, and disallowed them from going out on to the lanai.


To fox the issue, I had to get one of those plastic storage containers from Wal-Mart that are about 4' long and use that as thier litter box. The thing is so freakin huge that they no longer have accident.s

It's not that she seems sick....I have a cat that's about 13 or 14, don't remember exactly, who's been pooping on the floor behind the couch for a few months....I tried all kinds of different things to get her to stop, but it's not working. Also if she goes in the box to pee, she squirts it out the front and all over the carpet. I don't konw if there's some kind of illness this might be related to, or if she's just odd. None of these problems ocurred until she got very sick about a year ago and almost died.

Aratinga how do i get rid of fleas, i've bombed twice, been applying advantage and are giving them capstar like 2 times a week!

Guy, you gotta do all your animals or the come back. Did you take YOUR flea meds? :D :D :D :D

Tie a string tightly around your neck, crawl into a garbage bag under some newspaper.....

PM weininaustin. She knows alot about cats. Not a Vet, but used to foster. Alot.

Aratinga how do i get rid of fleas, i've bombed twice, been applying advantage and are giving them capstar like 2 times a week!
Move to Arizona.

Florida is one of the most flea-infested places on the planet. Both the products you're using on the cats (Capstar and Advantage) result in fairly immediate kill of adult fleas that are on the cats at the time. Capstar can be given as often as once a day, whenever you see a flea; one application of Advantage should last up to a month. However, you're not giving anything that results in control of flea larvae or eggs.

The fleas you see on the pet are only a tiny fraction of the fleas, larvae, and eggs in your house. The eggs and larvae are down in your carpeting. Have your carpets professionally steam-cleaned and then apply a borate-based powder like Fleastoppers (http://www.pestproducts.com/fleapowder.htm). This stuff stays in your carpet and kills larvae for up to a year. Vacuuming doesn't remove all of it.

Consider putting your cats on Program (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2958&N=2002+113517). It's a once-a-month oral medication that circulates in the cat's blood; when a female flea bites the cat, it ingests the substance and this causes the flea's eggs to be unable to develop into larvae.

Once you take care of both larvae/eggs AND adult fleas, you'll start to see results. Good luck!

thanks aratinga!

I was thinking of making them little darth vader kitty suits

I have 5 vets here, 2 are pathologists.. Tell me what you need and I'll ask em.

Aratinga how do i get rid of fleas, i've bombed twice, been applying advantage and are giving them capstar like 2 times a week!

break out the box of borax and powder your entire house.. let it set a week and the vacuum it up. Keep doing the fleabath/pills. that shoul wipe them all out.

let it sit for a week, wont that hurt the cats?? Or am I supposed to board them someplace?

RXFORFUN is a vet

note: apologies in advance for the explicit excretory functions described in the following post.
The pooping behind the couch is behavioral; at age 13 or 14 you could be dealing with some kitty-old-age-dementia issues. If you can, try blocking off the space behind the couch so she can't get back there, and make sure her litterbox is nearby and clean. Often, older animals (just like old people!) don't feel the sensation of having to "go" until it's nearly too late -- sometimes they just can't make it all the way to the appropriate place (litterbox, doggy door, whatever) before things start coming out.
She just goes over there and lets it out. My couch is kinda in the middle of the floor and she likes to go behind it, impossible to block off, she'll just go over. I tried putting a litter box behind the couch so she would go in it...didn't work.

The urinating "out the front" I don't quite understand -- do you mean that when she squats to pee, the urine is shooting out the wrong direction, towards her front legs? Or do you just mean that she's not quite getting her rear end quite over the edge of the box before she "goes"?
she gets in the litter box (still facing the back wall with her butt in the "doorway" and lets it fly. Sometimes it is in the box, frequently it either dribbles down the front or clears the rim entirely and makes it to the carpet.


What illness did she have a year ago? It would help to know what was wrong with her then and what was done to treat her if that's when these pooping/peeing issues began. My first impression is that perhaps she has a bladder stone; do you see any blood in her urine?
no blood in the urine, it's yellow and potent. I'm not sure what exactly she had, and neither was the vet, cats can't describe symptoms or anything, but antibiotics cleared that up. She was really scrawny for months (6 or 7lbs) before she started to gain the weight back. She's still probably only about 9, and sleeps 20+ hours a day from what I can tell. It wasn't exactly after it when the issues arose, probably a month or so afterward. I moved into an apt. and didn't bring her at first, so i think it took her a while to get used to the place.


Thanks for your help