What to do about my cats

[DopefishRock]

We own three house cats: Sasha, Melinda, and Samuel. Sasha is 4, Melinda is 5, and Samuel is 8. Samuel is basically my cat, had him since he was 2 months old.

For the past few months, the cats have had fleas and it's spread to several rooms in the house. We have tried several things: flea baths, flea collars, Diatemecious Earth as recommended by a friend, Frontline, and sprayed/flea bombed and vacuumed the house on several occasions. None of those are working. The baths had made all of our cats irritable because they have never had them before. The more we bathed them, the worse they acted.

Sasha sits in one of three same spots and meows at people but hardly leaves. However when it's feeding time, she always eats. She's not too bad, but it's the other two that are the problem.

Melinda still ate, but sat on higher places, and started to urinate and poop on furniture and carpets/floors. My parents tried re-introducing her to the liter-box, which worked at first, but then it didn't and she urinated on the furniture multiple times. So my father got angry and now she's an outdoor cat. Melinda use to be a stray cat so she's use to being outside, but she loves attention and sits on the stairs in the afternoons. She seems alright for the most part and it's been about two weeks, but I worry about her running off or getting hit. Good thing she stays away from the road. However, her front claws were removed two years ago because she scratched up the wallpapers, so hopefully she can make it. We give her food and water

Samuel is who I am most worried about. He has the fleas worse than the others, who have some but not as bad. He sits in one of litter-boxes for extended amounts of time and often hides under blankets, towels, cat beds oddly enough, you get the idea. He has lost quite a bit of weight, but seeing as how he use to be really overweight this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but he's lost quite a bit of fur as well. Samuel urinated on the couch this afternoon, which made my father angry. Both my parents agree that if he keeps doing it, they are either going to put him outside with Melinda or have him put down because of his condition, and they are thinking of the latter. Putting him down is NOT an option in my book because I wanna do what I can do help him, and if I don't then I will feel like it's my fault.

So I'm taking Samuel into my room and keeping him there with a liter box, food, and water. I want to try to do what I can for him. The fleas are becoming less active now that summer is over, but I still need to find a way to deal with that problem, not just for him but for the house and other cats too. But how do I re-train him to use the liter box? What can/should I do for him?  

[Vanilla eXee]

Consult a vet about your cats, and steam clean anything in your home that can be steam cleaned. Get rid of ANY unnecessary clutter, and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Just clean everything, even if it's something that wouldn't normally need to be cleaned. Vacuums are good in this situation.  

[Akiska]

Cats that all of a sudden start going out of a litter box should be seen by a vet. Your male cat sitting in the litter box for extended periods, and peeing on the furniture after not doing it is a sign of urinary infections or blockages.

The hair loss could also be from the fleas and the cat scratching.  

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

yes, and you should most certainly NOT have a declawed cat outside, she cannot defend herself, or even escape if she needed to, did you change litters or any thing like that? some cats dont like specific litters, especially declawed cats, because the litter hurts them sometimes, try searching what kind of litter is best for declawed cats.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

It sounds to me like you need a medication that gets adults and eggs. I can't remember if frontline does that. I know there is another option. Maybe capstar or programm. Anyway, they need to be on it for a good period of time. During which you need to be vaccuming every day and anything the cats sleep on should get washed in burning hot water with a small small amount of bleach. You could also add a tiny amount of garlic to their food, or buy a food or treat with garlic in it to be certain not to overdose.

And yes, a vet is a must for a cat showing signs of a UTI and can prescribe a good flea medication. I THINK the kittens at my clinic are on advantage. Or maybe waiting to be old enough to start it.  

[pompoennetje]

Do NOT put your cat outside if she is de-clawed. That's like going into the army without a gun.

I find de-clawing cruel. If you take a cat, you should take responsibility. De-clawing is like cutting of your finger tops. Besides, de-clawed and not going into the litterbox can be a common problem. Her paws might hurt on the litter.  

[DopefishRock]

After spending the night in my room, Samuel apparently has been using the liter box. So no clue why he went on the couch, but I will take him to a vet this week. He's right now half-hiding near the corner behind an empty laundry basket. He's drank, but he barely touched the food I left.

Just found out a friend of mine had a similar problem with a cat not using the liter box. He put his cat in a dog cage with a liter box, food and water, and a cat bed. After a while, it seemed to work. Going to see if I can borrow the cage today.

Vanilla eXee

Consult a vet about your cats, and steam clean anything in your home that can be steam cleaned. Get rid of ANY unnecessary clutter, and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Just clean everything, even if it's something that wouldn't normally need to be cleaned. Vacuums are good in this situation.

Everything has already been cleaned up and am vacuuming whenever I can. Don't have a steam cleaner though.

Akiska

Cats that all of a sudden start going out of a litter box should be seen by a vet. Your male cat sitting in the litter box for extended periods, and peeing on the furniture after not doing it is a sign of urinary infections or blockages.

The hair loss could also be from the fleas and the cat scratching.

Gonna take him to the vet this week.

Cowgirl-with-heart

yes, and you should most certainly NOT have a declawed cat outside, she cannot defend herself, or even escape if she needed to, did you change litters or any thing like that? some cats dont like specific litters, especially declawed cats, because the litter hurts them sometimes, try searching what kind of litter is best for declawed cats.

It was not my decision to put her outside, it was my fathers, and I have pretty much had no say in the matter. I don't think we have changed cat litters recently, but I can look into a softer one. Also, if the cage works for Samuel, I can try it with Melinda if my father will let me. He is an extremely strict person.

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

It sounds to me like you need a medication that gets adults and eggs. I can't remember if frontline does that. I know there is another option. Maybe capstar or programm. Anyway, they need to be on it for a good period of time. During which you need to be vaccuming every day and anything the cats sleep on should get washed in burning hot water with a small small amount of bleach. You could also add a tiny amount of garlic to their food, or buy a food or treat with garlic in it to be certain not to overdose.

And yes, a vet is a must for a cat showing signs of a UTI and can prescribe a good flea medication. I THINK the kittens at my clinic are on advantage. Or maybe waiting to be old enough to start it.

Never heard of either Capstar or Programm, I'll look it up.

Dianda Panda

Do NOT put your cat outside if she is de-clawed. That's like going into the army without a gun.

I find de-clawing cruel. If you take a cat, you should take responsibility. De-clawing is like cutting of your finger tops. Besides, de-clawed and not going into the litterbox can be a common problem. Her paws might hurt on the litter.

Again, de-clawing Melinda and putting her outside was NOT my decision. She does still have her back claws; not using that as an excuse, just saying.