Finally convinced my husband to let me put up a basic wood frame with pet screen door in the hallway so the cats can be sent toward the rabbit/small pet room and kept from the rest of the house. That way they can slowly be adjusted back to the condo and if peeing happens we can back them off to the last size area they had. So far they've spent 4 hrs, about 1hr a day, not peeing on anything. Kazuki did get in trouble several times today and gave his pitiful I'm unhappy yowl every time he was told no and set back in the bathroom but tough. He can learn to behave. We didn't lock him back up since it was minor stuff but just said no and set him back in the bathroom as a warning that he will lose freedom if he doesn't listen.

I don't think anyone has ever told that cat no or denied him anything before which may have been what started the peeing and why it's so widespread. There are so many ways he does not rule the house. I think the couple months in the bathroom and warnings while out are finally making the gears turn that he isn't going to ever rule and it won't be tolerated defecating in space shared by others instead of what space is given to him for that purpose.

Apparently if you don't scoop your litterboxes several times daily without fail and scrub them with chemicals every few days the cat forums decide that's your entire problem and won't help you.

I'm sorry, but cat people are just plain weird. JMPO, of course. (This coming from the crazy cat lady of the mountains! )

Seriously, though, manic catbox cleaning can actually cause litterbox issues. The first indoor cat I ever had was when I was a teen living at home. My parents were very fastidious, and could smell the pooies when the cat even thought of using the box. If I wasn't home they scooped the box practically before she was even done using it. Ultimately she wouldn't use it if there was anything in it at all. Not very practical. I've seen it suggested that each cat should have two litter boxes minimum, and if you have multiple cats, an extra on top of that! No doubt because they have unwittingly trained their cats to not use a soiled box. (I have two indoor cats so that would be 5 boxes. Ain't gonna happen. They get ONE!)

I'm glad to hear you have made some progress with the kitties though. Hopefully they will keep up the good behavior. I know you have had a frustrating few months, and even remodeled the house to alleviate the problem.

Dont forget you also need one for every floor So for us with 1 cat we should have at least 3 boxes

Crossing my fingers for no more bad behaviour! I know how bad cat pee can smell.

There is NO way I could have more than the one litter box we have...srsly...I mean, we only have two toilets for 5 people in this house! If anyone gets a new "litter box" it is gonna be me! LOL

I forgot about the one per floor rule! Basement, main floor, loft... 2 cats... does that mean I need seven?

Two toilets? TWO??? Consider yourself lucky Sis! We have ONE with 5 people! (The other wing of the house never got built due to the economic collapse!)

We need more bathrooms! 2 per person makes 10, plus an extra per floor... 13! I guess if the other wing of the house ever gets built, it will just be commercial-type bathrooms, one for us gals and the other for the guys. We could make a litter box wing as well!

Except part of your taxes is figured by how many bathrooms you have which is why my mom doesn't claim 2 partially finished ones that have all supplies but not water lines.

They get 2 litterboxes.. maybe 3 if I can come up with a livingroom location and way to not track much litter. So that plus only scooping once a day with the occasional forgetfulness has the cat forum ready to come steal my cats in the night for their horrible abuse.

__________ Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:04 pm __________

Oopsy... Hinging the door directly to the wall had it's problems so I decided to throw a 2x2 I had around in between. Well my drill bit just kind of kept going right on out of my drill. On the plus side the board is thoroughly attached to the wall. Downside is it's not coming off in one piece and we're down a drill bit because there is no way to grab on to that without removing some wood.