I got a cat from the shelter 2014
We already had 2 cats. I am friends with the local shelters on facebook, and read this cat's story, which was sad. My husband and I both felt bad for her, so we got her. We kept her in a small room for a couple of weeks, until the cats on both sides of the door were used to each other. I had a litter pan in the room and she used it. I think she used it after she had the run of the house. My husband got sick and we moved back to our old house, because it was 1 floor. All of the cats were ok with the move. When we rolled up rugs in some of the rooms in the house we moved from, there were pee stains-brand new rug for one room. Long story short, the new cat was only housebroke if she was shut in a room with a litter box. I had a lot of other things on my mind, so making this cat use a littler box wasn't high on the list.
Before and after my husband's death, I tried various ideas. I ended up having 7 litter boxes for 3 cats. The litter boxes are in different rooms upstairs, the landing and the basement. She pees and poops on the living room rug, 5 ft. away from the closest box. I have found other places too. She also does her business about 5 ft. from the box in the basement. She is barred from the bedrooms because she pooped on my bed, and peed in a box of things I had stored in the closet. My other 2 cats use the litter boxes. She ruined a rug I had under the dining table. I like rugs, but until she's dead, I can't use them. If she gets in the bathroom, she pees on the little rug I have in there. I tried putting empty boxes out, ignored. Pee pads, ignored. I bought some cheap rugs and put them on the living room carpet, ignored. I also have empty boxes, and a tarp covering the rug to limit the places she pees and poops on. I spot clean the carpet in the living room weekly, spray the pee spots with bleach every morning. I know you aren't supposed to use bleach or vinegar, but I can't stand the smell if I come in from shopping. At least what I am doing is minimizing the miasma. I was diagnosed with mild asthma a couple of years ago, and I have allergies now that I'm older. When she dies, the carpet in the living room and the big rug in the basement are coming up.
She gets along with my boy cat, but she and my other girl cat don't like each other. They don't fight, but if they come within 2 feet of each other, they hiss and growl. It seems to be ok for the shelter cat to chase the boy, but if he turns around to chase her, no, it can't be like that. After 4 years, the shelter cat barely tolerates me. I can hardly pet her, and picking her up is a neat trick. I try to remember to be kind and gentle with her, but it has been over 4 years, and today, I am tired of the one-sided relationship. She has no obvious disease or ailments. I know she is a nervous animal. The first year we had her, she licked her belly raw more than once, but she hasn't done that for a long time. She sits on the top of the couch about a foot from my head, but if I try to pet her, she hisses and moves. She comes out around my company and obviously likes my adult daughters, head bumps and leg rubbing, but if they try to pet her, she hisses and takes a swing at them. We play with her with string and she loves to wrestle flip flops and kneeling pads. My husband would watch her take his flip flop and wrestle it all over the living room, a highlight of a sleepless night. We have several foam things that are full of tooth marks.
All of the cats are 100% indoors. I clean all the litter boxes every 2 days. All but 2 of the litter boxes are new since we moved back to this house.
I woke up to poop on the living room rug 2 days in a row, right after I spot cleaned the whole area 2 days ago. I would like to take her back to the shelter, or put her out the door, or put her to sleep. She was supposed to be a cat who had lived with one person for 10 years. I often think she was a feral someone managed to trap and get to the shelter and lied about. I don't know that I'll ever get another senior cat from a shelter. I thought we were doing a good thing. Maybe for the cat it is good, but not for me. If anyone has any advice, I'll give it a try.
= new reply since forum marked as read
and tried things people discussed.
I was hoping someone else has a cat who was impossible.
Thank you for your comments. 
I have 4 cats that I 'inherited' from strays and feral cats. I would suggest seeing if this cat can go outside. You don't have to keep her there. She might just want to do her business out in the yard and then come back in. I have 3 little ones that are the same way. Their mom was feral so we rescued them and trapped the mom and got everyone fixed. As long as I treat the little ones like they're dogs in regards to going potty, we're all good. They like to play outside anyway and know when to come back in to eat. I know it's a lot more dangerous for the cat to be outside, but it's the good life for most of them. Most of the cats that I have ever had go in and out. I have had more than one cat disappear from my yard over the years. It is heartbreaking, but I can only hope that they found other families to live with. If not, I know they had it great with us while they were here. Letting ours go out to play has stopped the random peeing throughout the house. My only other suggestion would be to find another home for your rescue cat where she can be an only pet. It seems to me that you have done everything else that can be done. Good luck to you!
Up to this generation, all of the cats we had were indoor-outdoor. We used to live in the country and people dumped cats at the roadside rest up the road. We had a lot of cats come live at our house. We moved to town and brought the last generation of cats with us. We had to fence the yard because a neighbor had a cat killing dog he let run loose. We probably lost one cat to it, and another got hit by a car, but the other 3 died of old age in the house. I don't miss the anxiety of wondering if the kitties are going to come in. We have coyotes in the area, too, and some of my neighbors think their outside cats were killed as prey.
Thanks for the ideas
so I put it where she eats and put her food dish in it. Maybe she'll develop a positive outlook. Thanks for all the advice.
My civilized cats use 3 boxes regularly, and there are 4 in the basement they use occasionally. My cat cat is huge. I have an extra-large box for him, but he likes the smaller boxes and I've seen him do the balancing act. I'm going to try putting carpet in a new box and put it in the area she is ruining.
Thank you for your comments.
