Neutered Male Cat Spraying

[jenluckenbach]

First of all....WELCOME.

Let me start by saying, "been there/done that!". And no, MY problem is not 100% gone. But it is greatly reduced.

First step is to find out WHICH cat! Not an easy thing to do.

Second step is to THINK..when did it start and what could have triggered it?
some ideas-
-new litter?
-move a litter box?
-new cat introduced?
-rearrange furniture?
-dominance issues between cats?
-stray cats outside your home?
-change of food?
-Did you go away on vacation?
oh my, the list could go on and on.

Third step, clean the area thoroghly with an enzyme cleaner to remove the scent. (and do not feel strange covering your chair. My living room set is covered with plastic and then draped with "easy to wash" sheets. )

Now for the questions.
-Did you use the feliway plug in or srpay bottle? Even though I personally do not believe feliway is 100% effective, others have had success. But it needs to be the spray bottle (for this problem) and it needs to be done consistantly!
-Was a urinalysis part of the cats' vet check up? For spraying, urinary tract problems are the most common physical cause. But not the ONLY cause.
-Could your husband (since it is his chair) offended a cat in any way, lately? A stern scolding? Giving less attention than usual? Or more attention to another cat?

Well, the list can go on.................

What I personally did.
-first, separate the offending cat. This is to a large cage or small room. the idea is to "retrain" the cat to use the litter box.
-second, is medication. I have 2 "pee-ers" on amitriptylin twice a day. It is like a kitty prozac. reduces their stress and their need to spray mark. (I also have a 3rd cat on this medication once a day because he is also high strung)

But like I said, it is not 100% stopped. I foster cats for a rescue group. And even though they live seperately from my cats, whenever there is contact I tend to get spraying again. So I continue to keep the furniture covered and just clean a lot.

I too have thought of ALL the ways to get myself out of the situation. And I cried over the thought of losing any of them. I made a committment and I just have too TRY to live with it (no matter how frustrated and mad I get at times). You will find others who are the same as me here on this board.

Hang in their.............those babies NEED you.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I have 4 cats. A while ago I noticed that one of them peed on the floor. Then I found pee on the sofa and on my new t-shirt! It wasn't easy to track down who the culprit was!! One day, while 3 cats, Maya Inka & Zazou, were playing in the garden, I found a new pee-puddle on the floor. This time I knew it had to be our little Snoopy! I tried to pick as much pee as possible with a syringe, put it in a glass and brought it to our vet.
She found out that Snoopy had a bladder infection and some chrystals too.
After 2 rounds of anti-biotics, it is much better!! Once in a while Snoopy still pees on the floor, but it is always when she is in heat. I hope that this problem will be solved too after tomorrow (she is getting spayed!)

Good luck finding out the spraying cat! And, welcome to Pet Talk!!

[Laura's Babies]

I think if you keep at it and follow the advice given, you will get to the bottom of this and while you may not slove the rpoblem completely, you could make it managable and something you could live with...

I hope you will hang around and post pictures, tell us stories or at the least, give us updates on this.

[kb2yjx]

Please do not give up!!! Spraying is such a hard problem to deal with!! The above posts have given you some food for thought. I cannot offer another suggestion, but keep hope!!! And please keep us posted...and welcome to PT!

[Catsnclay]

Welcome to PT - you will find a lot of people here that will be more than willing to help you out. Also quit a few of us have a cat that pee's - me included.

Yoshi is my baby and my pee-boy. He was born feral, but resuced even before he could walk, so we are not sure if this is part of the cause or not.

Yoshi started peeing when he was about 1 1/2 to 2 years old and he still does it today, he is now 6. I constantly have a Feliway plug going (I don't use the spray) and Yoshi is medicated with Fluoxetine (there are a few different meds for this problem). He gets blood work once a year to make sure this medication does not harm his kidneys & liver (always a down-side to medicating ) But he seems to do well. I still see an occasional spray but nothing like it was before.

Please, please don't put your kitty down for this. I know it is anoying and a pain, but you have to play dective and help find the cause of this. They don't spray because they want to, they do it for a reason, and you have to figure out that reason.

Jen gave a good start on what to do, if you need more help, ask. We have all been through this and are more than willing to help!

Please give us updates, and pictures!