Mid-October, Hilton started peeing in our sunroom. Since our sunroom can be closed off from the rest of the house (preventing the stench from migrating), we just dealt with it, cleaning up cat pee 3 - 4 times/day.
We took him to the vet to rule out any physical problems, and she said he was probably just marking his territory, since we had seen strays wandering through our backyard. Thinking maybe he would use another litter box if it were nearby, we put an extra box in the sunroom, in the corner where he'd been peeing. He did start using the box, but that didn't reduce his amount of "thinking outside the box."
The vet then suggested we try a pheremone spray, which is supposed to tell cats "I don't pee here!" It's effective in 90% of cases, but after a month it had made no difference in Hilton.
We went back to the vet, who gave us hormone treatment pills for Hilton. The hormones are supposed to relax the cat, so he won't feel anxious or scared or territorially aggressive. The pills are immediately effective in 80% of cases, but after 10 days had made no difference in Hilton.
The vet then said we should give Hilton complete, unlimited access to our backyard. Since he loved being outside, the vet thought that he would expand his territory to include the yard and pee out there, instead of inside. Well, he spent time outside and then just came back in the house to pee on our walls and carpet.
After three months of losing this battle, we decided we'd just have to live with it, since the sunroom isn't a vital room. Then, Hilton started peeing in the living room. He didn't pee near a window or door, which would have made sense. After all, from a window or door he might be able to see the evil strays, compelling him to pee toward them. There was no logical reason for him to pee in a place that wasn't next to a window or door. Yet, he did, repeatedly, in the far, dark corner of the living room, as far from a window or door as he could possibly get.
At that point, from what the vet told us, we came to the realization that Hilton wasn't just being territorial; he was scared. After three months of living here, it seemed that he was getting more scared every day. This wasn't a physical problem, it was mental.
Our vet's last resort was to make him exclusively an outdoor cat, but knowing what a scaredy-cat he was, there was no way we could banish him from the house. For him, that would be hell. (He's always been a fearful cat, timid around anyone or anything that he wasn't completely familiar with. And even though he loved being outside, he spent all his time outdoors tight up against the side of the house, slinking along on high alert, jumping at the slightest noise. He was scared, but he loved eating the grass so much, he still wanted to go out.)
During all of this, we noticed that Hilton pretty much stopped bathing. He had always been such a fastidious bather, but in the last few months the extent of his bathing would be to wash his face after eating. Occasionally he would begin bathing the rest of his body, but after a few moments, he'd give up. His beautiful fur was becoming matted, and we had to regularly cut out matted hairballs. In the last few weeks, however, he was even neglecting to wash his face.
Over the past several months, we've asked all of our co-workers, friends, and acquaintances if they had any suggestions. We asked if they or anyone they knew would take him. Unfortunately, no one had any ideas that we hadn’t already tried, and no one would offer him a new home. We even talked to the no-kill animal shelters in the area, but none of them would take him, saying he was too old.
Since he was getting old, the peeing problem wasn't fixable (it was getting worse), he’d stopped bathing, we couldn't find another home for him, and - most significantly - he was living in fear, we felt the only thing we could do was have him put to sleep. At least then he wouldn't be scared all the time.
So, on January 20th we took him to the shelter, and they put him down. It was the hardest thing we've ever had to do. We miss that cat so much - he was an ever-present ball of fuzz in our lives for 10 years. He slept on top of me (Angela) every night for the last 8 years. Everywhere we look in the house we keep expecting to see him: curled up in the living room chairs, sprawled out on the floor (who knew a cat could take up so much room!), whining for treats every time we walk into the kitchen, snuggling up to us while we watch a movie on the couch, the volume of his purring competing with the soundtrack.
Life is different without him, and we will always miss him.
