Conference misery::feline_v1

    Has the old carpet and the old rug pad been pulled up? If not, they could
    be drawn to those spots. My Argus's bladder problems resulted in some of
    my cats begining to mark. I opted to put in a hardwood floor instead of
    new carpeting and that solved my problem. By the way, I opted for the
    hardwood floor since it was cheeper than a new rug and a new pad.
    
    Deb

    My Shanti had a similar problem. She liked to urinate in 2 corners
    of our dining room, one corner of our living room, once on our bed,
    and in the middle of our bedroom floor.
    
    Well, I took her to the vet, for fear she was sick -- nope. So the
    vet gave me a list of things to look for. Since nothing had changed
    around the house, he was wondering if the cat could see any strange
    activity out the window. I thought it might be the landscapers outside
    our townhouse during the day, so I isolated that window off. Nope,
    she peed in the living room. Thought she might not be getting enough
    attention -- nope, that wasn't it. But, my last resort was to lock
    her my bathroom during the day with the litter box. Well, the first
    time I did that I realized that she was alergic to the litter! After
    changing the litter, and leaving her during the day in the bathroom
    WITH her new litter for a week, she's been great! And that was 4
    months ago! (I had been putting up with her miscellanous potties
    for over a year!)
    
    I also thought that it might be the cleanliness or lack of cleanliness
    of the litter box. My two don't like clean ones -- it has to be
    AT LEAST soiled twice !

    Hang in there.  I had the same problem with Black Thunder.  Patience
    and perserverance paid off.  I tried all the remedies too EXCEPT
    locking her in the bathroom.  I locked her in MY room with HER kitty
    box.  The Aluminum foil on her favorite spots helped immensely.
    I also cleaned the rugs and sprayed NO and PRAISED her immensely
    when she used the box.
    
    She is now using the box 100% of the time (except if I forget to
    clean the box).
    
    Of course, the fire she caused might have also scared her too.
    
    Sandi (Lightning, DejaVu and The Infamous Black Thunder's mom)
    
    

    Bethany (what a pretty name)                
                                
    Welcome to Feline notes.  Just a thought since you didn't mention
    it - have your cats been spayed?  Have they been wetting in the
    house since you met them, or is it just a recent thing?
    
    Kate  

    I agree that the old carpet and pad might have been reattracting them
    to th same places.  I would treat the floor with Nature's Miracle
    thoroughly nad let it dry before putting down the new carpet.  I am still trying
    to solve a similar problem with Holly.  I know it isn't the litter that
    bothers her, because she uses a litter box about half the time to have 
    stools.  Sigh.
    

    Thank you all for you replies, I agree with the majority of you
    that mentioned it could be the floor in the Living Room.  The thing
    that I don't understand is that we have 2 layers of new plywood
    that we put down, do you think that the urine smell can go through
    them?  I forgot to explain that we totally gutted this room and
    redid (I am glad that it is almost over) it.                   
                                               
    Well, last night we picked up our new carpet.  My husband and I
    washed the floor with Vinager and water and then we put the carpet
    down.  I am going to try to lock the cats up in a room of their
    own with their own litterbox and see if this helps.
           
    My cats are clever and stubborn (Hammy discovered how to open up
    the refrigerator at night. After he takes out what he wants and
    gives a little to the dog he closes the door, [another story in itself]
    we had to put a lock on the door).  I hope that they will change       
    their habits.                                                          
                                                                           
    Thanks again for you help.                                             
                                                                           
    Purringly yours,                                                       
    Bethany                                                                
                                                                           

    My money is on your cat's noses. Unless you've got some kind of a
    "barrier" like 4ml plastic between the old floor and the new plywood
    subfloor you laid down, the possibility is always there. Also, did you
    (or do you plan to) seal the plywood with something like Thompson's
    water sea; before you put down the pad and carpet? That way, if the cat
    has another "accident" that goes through  the pad at least it won't
    permeate the wood.  In fact, it would be a good idea to seal it even
    if cat urine wasn't a problem just because you might have some other
    kind of accident (like a burst pipe) that could flood the room and make
    unsealed plywood buckle, even if it is nailed every six inches. (My uncle
    had this problem when the pipe going to his baseboard heating sprung a
    leak; BTW - his subfloor was marine grade plywood!).

    Deb

    Is it also possible that the water seal will prevent the urine smell 
    from coming up from underneath the plywood, so the cats won't
    clobber the area again?
    

    No, water seal just prevents the wood from absorbing moisture. You need
    a non-permiable barrier like thick (4 to 8 mill plastic) over the
    subfloor that has the urine smell in it to really block it.
    
    Deb (who has been doing a lot of renovations lately)