[Zebette]

As many of you will know we have 5 cats, 4 of which were indoor cats until we built our cat enclosure and the other I admit was free to roam by day and all were inside at night of course. Realising the errors of our ways we built the cat enclosure and whilst Ollie (the roamer) didn't love it the other cats did and he started to get used to being restricted. As many of you would also know we then had neighbour issues and as such can no longer use the run so we now have 5 inside cats. 4 of them have gotten fairly used to this as they only had had about 4 weeks outside..but Ollie is extremely upset. He has gone from having the run of the garden and parts of the street to being stuck inside.
His behaviour has changed dramatically over the past couple of months as a result and he started being growly with us, lashing out at the kids feet if they tried to walk past and even attacking me in the same way. He was aggressive to the other 4 but worst of all he started pee-ing on beds, washing and anything left on the floor.
Of course the first thing we did was a vet trip to rule out anything medical (particularly as he had a blocked bladder back in May) the vet confirmed our thoughts that this is purely behavioural.
We bought a Feliway diffuser but it really has had no effect on him whatsoever, we also confined him to the laundry in order to re-train him..he refuses to use the tray and will pee wherever he pleased up the door, on top of the washing machine, next to the litter tray etc. He does however continue to use the tray to poo in so that's something at least.
Since we decided to not refill the Feliway diffuser his behaviour has settled to a degree, he is becoming a bit smoochier again, letting the kids and us pet him, giving us kisses once in a while but he just will not stop pee-ing throughout the laundry and the house if he is allowed free range. I feel like I am letting him down and sometimes I am so tempted to just open the front door and let him roam so he will be happy again (we live in a quiet culdesac by the way so not as bad as it sounds) but not the answer to the problem really.

So anyway yesterday I purchased some Bach Rescue Remedy as I have heard of it used often with cats on this forum so can anyone tell me how much do I need to give him and how? Does it go in his water, and is it okay for the other cats to drink it too? Am i supposed to put it on him somewhere? Will it work for this kind of behaviour?
He really is a lovely boy and re-homing is absolutely not an option...making this work somehow is the only option we are willing to look into.
he is about 7 years old now, and yes he is desexed if that makes any difference, he is also on a special cat food diet due to his previous bladder issues but our vet (who is a huge cat lover) says he is fine medically now and this is behavioural.

Any other suggestions? He is so unhappy and I am unhappy with having to keep him shut in the laundry so much.

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[my4cats]

Im confused. How can your neighbour dictate whether you use the run or not? I remember the problems, was it the metal up the top? What about netting instead? Surely the council (and your neighbour) has not ruling over that??!! That is such a shame because I remember thinking that that whole area was fantastic. to your neighbour.

I would try to get the enclosure working.

Other than that. I put a few drops of RR in water or behind the ears. It wont do any harm to your other cats.

I feel so sorry for him.

[CatsRU]

I agree with Sharon - try to get your enclosure going again.

Five drops of RR in drinking water will do the trick and you can also rub it behind the ears as well.

Good luck.

[Zebette]

Thanks I will try 5 drops in the drinking bowl and some behind the ears for good measure too.

Getting the enclosure working again is not going to happen, the Council refuses to let us use it at this point in time despite it being a totally legal building..apparently the neighbours child is allergic to cats and the enclosure is close to his bedroom window so we aren't allowed to use it. Would have been nice to know this before building a $2000 cat run though.
We actually have also a 2m strip from the back fence all the way down to the front road on our shared boundary with them that is now a "cat prohibited zone"...no idea what we are supposed to do about other local cats being that area. It's all absurd and the source of immense stress here. Think i shall have some RR too!

[Niccles]

What a load of crap!

I would push this issue. If you've done it all correctly, and spent soo much money, I wouldn't just take it. Just because your neighbours kid is allergic, doesn't mean you can't let your own cats be protected in an enclosure! They wouldn't be able to do anything if all the cats were outside cats, would they? So why should they be able to say no to this.

I know most local councils are a load of crap, but this is ridiculous.

[Zebette]

Nope we are out of options because the Council deem it as a health issue. They actually love our cat run and told us that they wish more people would build them, they were happy that our 5 cats were well looked after, that our house is clean and doesn't smell like cat pee etc..it is purely a health issue with the neighbour's kid in case he has an asthma attack. We tried to come up with other options to help reduce the chance of cat fur going over the fence like enclosing it with shadecloth, limiting how many cats were in there at one time, limiting the hours they could be in it (afterall their kid is at school for 6-7 hours a day anyway right?) but the Council don't care.
Relocating the run is not an option as it is custom built along that side of the house, putting it anywhere else will cost lots more money and will only be half the size at best plus we have nowhere to put it where the cats can have free access from the house, so we are stuck and just need to find a way to get Ollie to adjust.

[Kristen]

I don't think the council can do anything about it! What are they going to do if you continue to use the run?

There was actually a study done recently which showed that cat and dog hair isn't a huge problem with people with asthma. I suffer from asthma and have never had a problem with dog or cat hair. If I can find the study, I will let you know because it might help your case

[Trifon]

OMG, this is totally crazy. Surely you are entitled to have your cats on your own property without someone else dictating anything to you.

I'm presuming that your neighbour has medical evidence (from an allergy specialist) to support his claim that his child will have an asthma attack if the cats are in your enclosure on your side of the fence? I would get a copy of the report and see a solicitor myself. They may help find some compromise (although you may have to threat your local Council with litigation to initiate a compromise).

When I was growing up, one of my friends (a neighbour) had really severe asthma yet all cats used to wander around the streets and their property. It was never an issue. It just meant she couldn't have pets herself.

[Trifon]

There was actually a study done recently which showed that cat and dog hair isn't a huge problem with people with asthma. I suffer from asthma and have never had a problem with dog or cat hair. If I can find the study, I will let you know because it might help your case

This is the sort of info that would help in a litigation case against the Council. I really do think it is worth trying, especially as not being allowed to let your cats use the run is now causing your family health issues (one cat weeing all over the house) and stress (trying to solve the problem).

[Zebette]

No we don't have rights apparently..they can do this under the Local Govt Act because they deem the cats a health issue. Part of the issue started with the fact we have 5 cats, and apparently are in a Council area with just a 2 cat limit so we should actually be grateful they haven't taken all our cats..however...it also seems to be the case that even if we had one or even the allowed two cat limit that we would not be able to use the cat run anyway due to the kids issues (which no we are not allowed to have evidence of so it could be all made up for all we know)
Let it also be known that we are the only cat owning family in the street that has had these restrictions placed on us and yet there are neighbours opposite whose cats (more than two) roam the streets and gardens (their fighting with my Ollie is what prompted us to get the enclosure so we would be free of abcess related vet bills) but they have not been penalised or contacted in anyway. This is just a grudge against us it seems.
They actually own a dog, a labradoodle but apparently that's okay for them to have a dog..but we don't have the right to have our cats on our own property.

We have had at least two cats for the last 10 years since we moved here, 2 years ago we got our third cat (an inside girl due to her colourings) and late last year we kept 2 foster kittens but it was only when the enclosure went up that the neighbours complained yet the older two cats had been outside and down the side of the house etc for 10 years and this was the first we had heard of it.
It is the most insane situation ever, no one we have spoken to can believe that this has happened yet there is no route to take to actually complain. Suing people costs money that we just don't have and technically the Council can remove all our animals if we fail to comply so right now I am just concentrating on trying to get Ollie settled inside.

[carmel]

Zebette

I don'thave any answers four you about the cat run, but if there was a brick wall in between it and the next door maybe that could solve the problem, but that being said your next door neighbours are not palying fair, particularly if cats have been free roaming over their property whilst the kid has been growing up.

Anyway, back to Ollie, it sounds like you may need to take him to the vets for medication as he is doing "redirected agression" to you - thats the attacking bit and the weeing is certainly letting you know that he is not happy. I had my Jasper on Buspar, its an anti depressant and it worked well. He was on it for 6 months and I managed to resolve the pooing problems that I had. I did hold some just in case he started again, but it seemed to help settle him, he was a bit more mellow, it took a couple of weeks to get the dosage right and then it was okay. Maybe talk to your vet as I know that it is sort of the last resort in medication, but sometimes you need it to break the mannerisms/patterns that he has developed.

[Zebette]

Well yesterday I put 5 drops of RR in the drinking water and a couple of drops behind Ollie's ears and this morning there appear to be no puddles in the laundry, I don't know if it is coincidence or not but I'll take it as a step forward for now.
I am going to thoroughly clean the laundry today to try to rid it of the smell and see how we go. I hope this is our answer though. Can you give RR long term though!?

[CoralD]

It is the most insane situation ever, no one we have spoken to can believe that this has happened yet there is no route to take to actually complain. Suing people costs money that we just don't have and technically the Council can remove all our animals if we fail to comply so right now I am just concentrating on trying to get Ollie settled inside.

Okay....
I don't usually recommend this but it works....every time.

You contact the media.....either Today Tonight at Channel 7 or ACA at Channel 9. You tell the story and you stress that it will mean getting rid of your cats and how your family will suffer. You point out the council's inflexibility and that your neighbours have provided no proof.

THEN you ring the council and nicely ask for the name of their media Liaison Officer, telling him/her that you need to get their name because the TV and press will be wanting to speak to the council direct. Don't make the neighbours the baddies.... that won't interest the media. make the council the villains of the piece. Don't bag the neighbours un-necessarily ( you still have to live there) but DO present any backup material that the cats are not contributing to the asthma and that a cat enclosure is far better than cats roaming free.

I know you may have butterflies about doing this...but believe me, if you make it clear this is an injustice - the networks will run with it especially since it is crazy to suggest that the cats roaming free is less of a threat than the enclosure.

I work in television....it's the kind of stoy current affairs programmes love, and my guess is, with proper coverage, the council will back down. I've had to use this threat three times.... and it's never gone as far as going to air.

Two other people I helped DID have their stories go to air...and BOTH won against their local councils

Good Luck....

Coral

[Peekablue]

That's true - those shows love a story like this. They won't care that you technically shouldn't have more than two cats, either - they never do.

I really hope I don't live under the same council as you...

[Kristen]

Most councils are encouraging pet owners to have enclosures put up! I would definitely be going to the media because the council is dead wrong here.