Hi I just joined today. My name is Tammy aka EviesMom. Evie is a rescue kitten who is somewhere btwn 5-8 wks old. I got her from an animal shelter in a nearby town who were in my town campaigning.
Our situation is a bit unique. Our home is in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, where cats as indoor pets are virtually unheard of, so supplies locally are difficult to find and not cheap, and ordering online and waiting for (unreliable) delivery not much better.
The main issue is: Evie is terribly clingy and has major litter box issues. She now has 3 boxes, and in all the years I’ve owned cats and raised rescue kittens, I’ve never had to have more than 1 box per cat! Sometimes she will pee in one, or poop, and sometimes she refuses to use any of the three and will just go on cold tile floors or, worst of all, my straw pallet mattress which cannot be cleaned.
What’s worse is the shelter people I got her from swore she never had accidents and used shredded newspaper (which she refused to touch at my home). I dont think I’d have taken her if I’d known how bad this was!
I have raised several abandoned kitties from even younger than her age and have NEVER seen this kind of behavior. She has a healthy appetite, drinks water or highly watered down milk, plays in the evening, can leap, and is not afraid to jump up on windowsills alone. So I’m pretty sure it is not a physical issue.
In addition to the litter issues, she is extremely clingy and vocal abt her neediness. She prefers to be on me CONSTANTLY, and sometimes if I so much as try to shift positions she howls terribly like it’s the end of the world. I MUST leave the house for a few hrs daily, and when I get back she literally claws me climbing my leg. She also does this at feeding time if she doesn;t get the exact food she wants at that time (which changes regularly).
Do I ignore the vocalizations? Do I ignore her and keep putting her down when she climbs up my leg? And how can I keep her from peeing all over everything?! I cant afford to have it all washed every few days!!!
I have tried everything except a cage, which I plan t try to find tomorrow in a nearby town. So if anyone has suggestions…please please help!
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