Cats & Spraying

[Quentin Nokov]

So, we never had a problem with the male cats spraying inside until my mother brought home an adult male cat [Spock] and ten months later another adult male cat [Meeko].

Spock sprays outside a lot, which we don't care about because he's outside, but ever since he showed up my cat Murdoch has been marking his territory inside.

Murdoch is kind of a mafia-kitty. He's 'top-cat' and intimidates the males who were adopted as adults. He doesn't have problems with the cats he grew-up with or the ones he saw as kittens. However, he cuffs Spock and Meeko. They don't get into real terrible cat fights--not like they used to--but there is some shuffacuffanin' still.

All the cats are fixed so there's no smell. Rarely do we actually smell cat. I keep an eye on Murdoch and if I catch him about ready to spray I grab him and put him in the tub [he doesn't like litter boxes, and he'll go pee right down the drain] but he'll still spray. Like a few minutes ago, he found where Spock had been sleeping in the bathroom and he sprayed on the towels.

Meeko just recently has started-up the habit too.

We try to keep them outside, but we have coyotes where we live and I lost three of my cats to them. Being that I do love my cats, I try to keep them safe inside, especially since it seems the coyotes come closer to our house during spring and fall.

I'll be keeping Murdoch inside a lot for the next few months and I'm just tired of him getting 'pissed' off. I can normally catch and clean it, but not always and I don't want the house to have cat pee on the walls and baseboards even if I can't smell it.

Help!

[lbender]

I assume you've checked them all out with the vet - urinalyses, etc. - and there is no medical issue.

If that's the case, one thing to try is a product called Feliway. It's a cheek gland extract and comes in a plug-in aerosol. Cats won't urinate around with this stuff in the air. I don't know how extensive the coverage is nor how long it lasts, but it's something you should check out.

[veinglory]

When you have a bunch of cats they often have sub-groups and sub territories. It can help to ensure each territory has its own litter boxes and food/water. The more the subgroups are forced to mix, the more the urge to spray will build up.

It can also help to make more levels for cats to be on, shelves and cat trees etc. That way they are not all mixing face to face and have more options to go over and around each other.

[KateSmash]

Originally Posted by lbender

I don't know how extensive the coverage is nor how long it lasts, but it's something you should check out.

The package says it'll cover about a 1400 sq.ft area and it takes a few weeks to really get in the environment and have a noticeable effect. The plug-in itself lasts about a month, so it's a good idea to stock up on refills if you find a good price.

And not all cats respond to it. My big guy loves it and will sniff it all day. He was pretty mellow before, but is more so now. The little one? She really couldn't care less. But it has helped keep the peace more often than not.

ETA: Feliway also comes in a non-aerosol spray bottle that you can use to spritz where they're spraying. Neither of my cats spray so I can't vouch for it firsthand, but it could keep them from spraying the same old spots.

Also, trees and shelves. Even cats that are the best of friends like to have ways to get away from each other.

[Stlight]

It's about territory not being pissed off, not peeing (if everything checked out at the vet.)

Veinglory has the best suggestions I've heard. Wished I'd known about them before.

In the meantime white vinegar is good on hard surfaces things. I found baking soda helped in rugs (after the spot has dried scrub a bunch of baking soda into the spot. Let it sit for 48 - 72 hours then vacuum up.) Works most of the time though the memory may linger on hot humid days.

[Old Hack]

Spraying like this is often a reaction to stress. If your cat started after another one was introduced to the home, that's a big clue that this is a stress issue. Once they start it's very difficult to stop them spraying, I'm afraid.

Feliway is good, as has already been suggested. Make sure you clean up very well after them, all the time, otherwise they'll keep returning to marked corners and topping up the smell, which will begin to reek after a while.

You can invest in lots of litter boxes: if your boy doesn't like them it could be that you don't have enough (he might well be reluctant to use them if the other more dominant male has already been in there), or that the ones you have are too small or restrictive. I buy 120 litre plastic boxes and cut a hole in the side of them, and use those: they're very big, but the cats don't feel confined in them, and the transluscent sides give them privacy but they can still see out well enough to feel safe. The tallness of them means that boy cats who pee standing up won't pee out of the box, too, which is important.

[Friendly Frog]

Spraying indoors is a tough problem to get rid off once it started. When our tom cat started doing it, we thought it was territorial behaviour since the second, younger male was growing up and started vying for top cat position. But considering the older one died within two years of accute renal failure (we really caught it way too late, but then the vet didn't see it earlier either), we're not so sure about our initial theory anymore. So yeah, a medical check can be helpful.

Sadly, the second younger male started doing it too, which suggests he learned it from the first. The thing is, this cat has neurological problems, so we're not sure if the two issues are related.

We have tried about every suggestion in the book to make him stop. He indeed usually does it when stressed: when he's told off for doing something he isn't supposed to do, when the new younger male challenges his position, when we bring something new in the house...

Feliway had no effect on either of our three cats. Each cat has a litter box and food spot and the house a maze of cat-nap spaces. The cats could go on for days without seeing each other, but they keep looking one another up for a scrap.

Nothing works to deter him. He even started doing it secretly, because he actually knows by now he isn't supposed to.

Keep-off (cat repellent) works for a while, but needs to be almost daily re-applied and you can't use it on spots where the cats are allowed to be or sleep and the other cats' favourite sleeping spots are often targetted.

For hard surfaces, cleaning the affected spot with water and something parfumed (citrus or lemon work really well in our experience) is usually the best way to keep it from happening again. Although it doesn't help matters that my dad thinks that putting paper towels on top of the mess and leave it there to soak in the paper, is sufficient.

Luckily the youngest male (about the only 'normal' cat of the bunch) hasn't picked up the bad habit yet. He may just be smart enough not to.

[Canotila]

The best thing to clean it off with is a good enzymatic cleaner. It actually digests the cat urine. Otherwise, you can clean with vinegar or bleach and it will smell fine to your human nose, but your cat can still tell it was marked before and that makes it seem like a good place to mark again. I'd do that in addition to everyone elses suggestions.

[Quentin Nokov]

Thanks for the suggestions. He goes to the vet once a year. His next f/u is in February and everything was fine the last time he went. I'm thinking it may be partially stress related. He usually gets pissy when I lock him up for the night because he'd rather roam. I try to give him enough time outdoors, but every night he's banging at the kitty door, mewing, and pacing. I've gotten kitty toys and tried to spend time occupying him. I even buy him rolls of toilet paper--he loooooves shredding it and that seems to make him happy. Especially if I add a little catnip spray on it. But eventually he loses interest and starts at it again or if I'm lucky he'll take a nap.

I did just realize that he tends to spray around the feeding station (although he has his own feeding station in my room) around my desk and anything that's mine, really. My backpack got it.

I'll try cleaning around his common areas of spraying really well with bleach & citrus and I'll give the Feliway a try. Thanks for the input!

It's so frustrating because my dad's not much of a cat person. He was raised they stay outside. However my mom is nearing the crazy cat lady stage. She just doesn't know when to quite. Thankfully there is now a law in our area. We're not allowed to have more than 7--guess what, though? We have 7. 3 are female.

My dad let's the cats come in at night to keep them safe from the coyotes, but knowing it's his house and that he doesn't like cats in it to begin with it and then they spray just really bothers me.

I'll check out Feliway at Amazon and the PetSmart just across the street from me and compare prices.

[Old Hack]

Don't use bleach or something citrussy: he'll object to the strong, strange new smell, and will spray again. Just use biological clothes-washing stuff, then rinse it off really well; or see if your pet shop has something for cleaning up pet-smells, as those solutions work really well.

I was told by a cat behaviourist that you should have at least one cat tray per cat, and one or two extra. Scoop them at least twice a day, so that they're never left dirty, as that'll put your cat off too. And good luck.

[Brutal Mustang]

I don't know what to tell you. I had this trouble too. Had to cover all the beds with plastic. The only thing that fixed it was when my old Himalayan crossed the rainbow bridge, and my sister moved to Central America with her barn cat. Now, my young Himalayan has a house to herself. She was spraying pretty bad. Now she isn't spraying at all. I guess the good thing is, once started, it will stop ... if you remove all but one cat from the house!