My mother's cats have fleas and pooping/peeing elsewhere

13 years ago

Hello,

My 93-year old mother has two, almost three year-old cats. They developed a severe case of fleas. The mobile vet gave them one treatment so far. Meantime, one cat, who is her "centerpiece, has begun to poop on her kitchen table and chair. The other cat is peeing on her bed when my mother is out of the room and then goes back to her usual spot on top of her bedroom dresser to sleep. The cat also peed on my mother's portable phone, which no longer works.

She talks about giving them up. She herself is in pretty good health, lives alone and has a dirty house. We are working on that issue.

Any suggestions as to her cat's litter box issues? She has two boxes, one with regular litter, the other with pine.

They were fine until the fleas.

PLEASE help!

Thank you.

I live in FL, she is MA. My sister is away for most of the summer.

Comments (5)

kittens
13 years ago
Given she's been having problems keeping up with the house work, do you know for sure if she has been cleaning the litter boxes at least once a day? Setting aside any medical issues, dirty litter boxes could certainly attribute to inappropriate elimination. That's just one of a few things that might be going on. Has she been able to keep up with the boxes?
annzgw
13 years ago
Ditto what kittens said about the litter boxes. Your mom could try adding a third litter box but that won't help if they're not cleaned every day.
Has the mobile vet checked the cats for urinary tract infections?

Regarding the fleas, if she has fleas in the house treating the cats will not solve the issue. If these are house cats, you must eliminate the source in order to keep the fleas off the cats.
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cynthia_gw
13 years ago
Mass is a progressive state with state healthcare. Somewhere in that plan should be availability of a home health aid who can come to her home 2 x a week to help her with her personal care and also to clean the house. Do check into this. Although your mom is doing well to be home at 93, I suspect the kitties need to see a vet and may not be getting the care they need with your mom. Yes, litterboxes. Does your sister live nearby to help at other times? Or can a neighbor help with the cats while she's away?
calliope
13 years ago
A massive flea infestation can indeed cause a cat to seek shelter and relief up high and away from floors. The house may have fleas in the carpeting and they just simply do not want to get down and get bit. Even if you totally eradicate the fleas in the house (and this will need to be done), it'll take the cats awhile to know it's safe to 'come down'.
nancita
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you everyone for your input. According to the vet and my sister, the litter was clean. Maybe she needs to add a bit more?
We are working to get her assisstance, but she is very proud and only has the family help her, however, she doesn't ask for help.
Maybe the cats were so stressed and sick they couldn't make it to the box?
I know one of my angel (I have two cats) began pooping on the floor and screaming at me. IT didn't take anytime before I realized she didn't like the fact I was trying to change her cat food slowly. After I went back to the original, she was fine.
We will have the cats checked for UTIs.