At my wit's end with spraying cat! (male, carpet, throws)

[DurangoJoe]

I have a 2-1/2 year old neutered male tuxedo kitty that has been spraying since he came into our home. He is driving me nuts. We had him neutered as soon as we rescued him (he was only a few months old at the time) and it did not stop the spraying. I have been told by my vet that neutering only stops 90% of male cats from spraying. He keeps hitting the outside dining room walls and he does it virtually every day unless I spread foil to keep him away from the walls. I've used Feliway (he only sprayed every few days then), treated the walls & floor with "Stink Free" after we pulled up & disposed of the carpeting & padding and put hardwood down, and now use a product from "Nature's Miracle" called "No More Spraying". This works about the same as Feliway in that it stops him for a few days and then he's right back to it.

We're a multi-cat household also having a 3-1/2 year old rescue that was feral for his first year of life. He's neutered and doesn't spray at all. We believe that the sprayer is stressed and we don't know if it's because he's in a multi-cat house or if he's stressed from external stimuli. He also seems to display separation anxiety since many times he will spray if we leave the house for a few hours after not spraying for a few days. I do wonder if he is "too" attached to us because he is very puppy like. We do have ferals that show up at our doors & windows and drive our older cat crazy so perhaps that is it.

I'm at wits end with this one. Tests reveal no viral infections in his urine and he still uses the letterbox several times a day, yet he sprays the walls & baseboards in the dining room. I don't want to give up on him. We saved his life having rescued him when he was only a few months old and was starving & extremely sick. He has so much personality and is very puppy like. He fetches when you throw toys for him, he curls up at your feet like a puppy and if you let him in the bedroom at night he will curl up against you and stay all night. I can't stand the thought of sending him away but we cannot put up with the constant spraying in the house. At some point if we can't stop him, he will have to go to a shelter. I don't want to do that but it certainly beats divorce.

Any clues as to how effective medication is for spraying? I've heard that there seems to be good results with Buspirone and that it has stopped spraying in many problem cats. I hate to do anything that will affect his sweet personality but this spraying has got to stop.

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by SoButCounty

I have a 2-1/2 year old neutered male tuxedo kitty that has been spraying since he came into our home.

I've heard that there seems to be good results with Buspirone and that it has stopped spraying in many problem cats. I hate to do anything that will affect his sweet personality but this spraying has got to stop.

The medication is worth a try. It may have little effect on his personality.

[catman]

The other cats are likely causing him to feel the need to assert territorial claims. Since he's ben neutered, there goes my first suggestion. Hopefully he will become more at ease and stop. I wish I could be more helpful.

[Keeper]

How about putting him in a room when you leave home or even just leave him in a room with a litter box and let him out when you can watch him. I have several cats who like to be alone and will stay in one bedroom just to get away from the rest of the kitties.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by Keeper

How about putting him in a room when you leave home or even just leave him in a room with a litter box and let him out when you can watch him. I have several cats who like to be alone and will stay in one bedroom just to get away from the rest of the kitties.

We've done that before and it stresses him out tremendously. He's a basket case when he comes out and just throws himself at your feet and trips you while you're trying to walk, etc. Plus, other than tiny bathrooms which have tile floors, the remaining rooms have carpeting and I hate to take the chance that he will destroy another room's worth of carpeting.

He's going to the vets today. I gathered a urine sample from last nights spraying a and we'll go through the formality of testing to rule out viral infections and then discuss meds with the vet.

I hope meds will stop this. He's a real sweetheart and I'll be heartbroken if he needs to go. As a rescue who was so crucially when we found him, I feel obligated to stick with him but this problem is just killing us.

[texan2yankee]

I briefly had a male, long time neutered, foster cat that sprayed. We had two other foster cats in our home. When he was moved to another foster home and was the only animal in the house the behavior disappeared. Lucky for him, the foster family ended up adopting him!

Your cat may need to be in an only cat household.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by texan2yankee

Your cat may need to be in an only cat household.

This is a very high possibility. He always picks fights with the bigger cat in the household and then loses. I think that he's always anxious as a result.

He just had his first dose of paroxetine (Paxil) so I'm anxious to see what the impact if any is. If that doesn't work, we'll need to find someone to adopt him into a house where he can be the only kitty. He's great with kids and loves people. He's actually very puppy like in that he loves to fetch & play all of the time.

Time will tell.

[DurangoJoe]

OK, so two weeks ago yesterday he had his first dose of Paroxetine. Since then, his personality changed slightly. He has definitely been calmer. Even his "pretend spraying" stopped where he would back up to objects, raise his tail, then shake it, but wouldn't actually spray. It's been very easy to give him the meds every morning by sticking them into a greenie pill pocket for cats. He loves them. Comes running every morning as soon as I open the cupboard. Everything has been great with no spraying for the past two weeks..... until today. I noticed him "pretend spraying" again and within an hour, he had sprayed a wall in our great room.

WTF????? I wonder if perhaps because the splitting of the pills doesn't yield consistent sized pieces, that he hasn't been receiving sufficient dosage the past few days. The smallest they come is 10mg and he's prescribed 2.5mg daily so I need to split the tabs into 4's every 4 days. They never come out all the same size so I just wonder if that's not the issue.

Sure is frustrating because if he starts again, he'll be gone. It'll break my heart to send him to a shelter because he is so incredibly sweet. So much like a puppy with his fetching, etc. But we cannot & will not put up with spraying in the house.... period. We've had him for 2-1/2 years and I just can't stand the thought of giving him up, but what else can I do?

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by SoButCounty

We've had him for 2-1/2 years and I just can't stand the thought of giving him up, but what else can I do?

Brevity snip!

Please look for a no-kill shelter. Or put an ad (free) on Craigslist in your local area. See if you can find him a home without other cats.

[VickiR]

One of my cats seems to be more anxious than the other so I tried the anti anxiety collar on her and it works great! She is much more friendly and not quite as much of a scardy cat! Maybe worth a try?

Vicki