good cat forum?

[SnowyShiloh]

Does anyone know of a great online cat forum? Ideally where the members do not attack new members. My father has a cat named Zoe and she has been spraying around the house a little lately. Much to my disbelief, he and his wife are wanting to get rid of her! They've had her for 7 years and she is fixed. Apparently she is only spraying in 1 little spot too. I suggested he take her to the vet first and he said he called the vet. Vet apparently said to take her to a cat rescue, what kind of advice is that? So I am trying to find an online kitty forum to help my dad with the cat's issue.

We did discuss the possibility of flying her all the way here to Alaska (they live in Louisiana) if my landlord gave us permission to get a cat. We could keep the birds in our bedroom, cages weighted down and with locks on all the doors (cat is declawed). But Zoe is a very tough girl (always chases off other cats and apparently tried to fight 2 raccoons recently) and loves to hunt and my dad thinks she would try to kill our rabbits. I would hate to fly the poor thing all the way up here just to have to find her a new home once she got here.

 

[mishalaa]

The Cat Site is a good forum, friendly. The folks over there will know more than I do, but there are a couple reasons why she could have suddenly started spraying - her age being one but if she's going in the same spot then I would think incontinence isn't likely, or she's smelling something that she feels a need to mark and a thorough cleaning of the spot may solve it. I would ask around though as I'm not a cat expert. That's awful advice from the vet. =(

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thanks for the forum suggestion! I found it and e-mailed a link to my dad Last night I dreamed we adopted a black and white cat that I named Cornelia... She bit people but ignored bunnies!

 

[Sweetie]

Is there anything new in your dad's house? Like a new smell that the cat has no clue what it is and has to spray, because she thinks that the new smell, whatever it is, is invading her territory and she is telling this new smell that this is my territory. Or her spraying in one spot could be that she has a urinary tract infection, given her age. I would have your dad take her to the vet and get it checked out. Especially if she has never done this before.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I second the thought of a vet check. When I was in college my cat lived at home. When I came home for Christmas I found out she had been peeing on any laundry left out. By the time I was able to get her to the vet the next day she was in renal failure from an infection that was let go too long. My mom thought she just missed me and was being "bad".

Cats can also smell like rabbits. Spots need to be cleaned to their standards. I would clean the best you can and then put a litter box over the spot. If that stops the issue and the cat is using the box then start to slowly inch it back to where you want it. Perhaps something frightened her when she was in the box so she picked another spot?

You can also get a hormone system to soothe them if it is out of anxiety. It's like a glade plug in but from the pet store. I would make sure that it is anxiety first though.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I told Dad to take her to the vet and he called the vet and his terrible suggestion was to rehome her. He loves that vet and won't be convinced (by me at least) that she should see the vet. In any case, after Mishalaa suggested the cat forum on June 19th I e-mailed him the link and he said Zoe hasn't sprayed since.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Sounds like time for a new vet to me! I thought I had misunderstood your first message when you said that. I'm glad things are better though.