Male Cats Spraying... (kittens, weight, kidney, smelling)

[luvmycat]

Okay, so H2 will be 6 months old in a couple of weeks and I am desparately hoping he will stop spraying once he is neutered! He started one night as I was cleaning his litter box...he decided he had to use the box at that very second, and when I (stupid me!) proceeded to finish scooping, he jumped in, lifted his tail, and sprayed (I jumped away, of course, but it was still awful!) Then I noticed a stench one day when I went into the doggies room (where they hang out when Im not home), and sure enough, he had sprayed the floor where their potty pad usually goes. (I do clean that area with Simple Solution, but I guess I didnt leave it soaking long enough before wiping away? Or was he just being territorial because he sees them going potty there on cold/rainy days and feels that he should have the same right? His box is clean, scooped 2x a day & thoroughly washed out weekly.) Anyway, my question is will the spraying stop once I neuter him, and should I wait until he is exactly 6 months, or is it okay to do it a couple of weeks early? I kind of feel like a bad mama for even considering it, I wanted to wait until he was 7 or 8 months to be absolutely sure he is fully developed before taking him to get the deed done (he is 100% indoors & my female is 12 & spayed) but I feel like the longer I wait the more of a chance the spraying will be ingrained and he will continue to do it even after the neutering. Anyone have any experience or advice?

[ShelbyGirl1]

One of my females started spraying at 5 months. I intended to wait the 6 months, but just put up with the spraying...Spayed her and she never has done it again. Hopefully, the same will happen with you. Good luck!

[Austinitegirl]

I do have experience with male kitty spraying and marking - no fun.

My experience was not from a little one yet-to-be-neutered, but from an adult tom we adopted LONG after he was "fully developed." So the first couple of years of his life were living outdoors, spraying and marking at will. We brought him indoors, neutered him, and had only one spraying incident for the first 6 years. Then we moved into a new house, which triggered some territorial anxiety for our "tough guy" former alley cat.

First it was moving boxes that we were slow to unpack, then it was bags of clothes we left out in the hallway to take to Goodwill (needless to say we didn't donate THOSE clothes). I kept hoping these were isolated incidents. We unpacked and removed all boxes and bags thinking those were just things that triggered the anxiety. Then he moved onto my new bedroom curtains. I too noticed a foul smell one day and finally discovered the source.

Your guy is different from my situation in that he's still very young, but spraying is spraying no matter what the age - it's a bad habit that's hard to break once it starts. And spraying tends to come from one of two sources - anxiety and/or territorial marking. I'm thinking with your little one just discovering his hormones and starting to reach sexual maturity - it's the latter, but it's still a behavioral issue nonetheless.

Soooo.... I did a lot of research, consulted my vet and several knowledgeable friends. They were all pretty unanimous that it was anxiety and recommended Feliway - it's like a plug-in air freshner, but with synthetic hormones that only the cats can smell. You can buy it at Petsmart. It's not cheap (I think the starter kit was like $50), but you can buy refills online (amazon I think) for like $15. I would put a Feliway in every room where you've discovered the spraying. The hormones are suppose to soothe anxiety and territorial-type behaviors.

With my guy - the Feliway did work, but I also had to resort to anti-anxiety medication, which worked wonders and I'm now weaning him off of it (now that he's had over a year to get settled into the new place and is much calmer). But with your situation, I think Feliway combined with the frequent litter changes you're already doing might just stop the behavior long enough for you to wait a little longer to get him neutered.

And on THAT note, let me just say that I agree with you about waiting a little longer for the neuter. Will it KILL him to get neutered a little early?? Absolutely not if he's in (otherwise) perfect health and meets your veterinarian's weight requirements. SHOULD you try to wait a little longer - I would say yes.

I had a boy kitten who got very aggressive at about 4.5 months of age. I was only able to wait about 2-3 weeks, then I had to proceed with his neuter in the hopes it would cure the aggression. It cured the aggression overnight, but I (now) regret doing it that early. He's been plagued with pee-pee problems since about 18 months of age - and I don't mean urine problems - I mean boy part pee-pee problems, because he wasn't mature enough to be neutered. There are other schools of thought (and followers of that school of thought) who will tell you that you can yank those suckers out the minute they reach 5 lbs., I respectfully disagree. I think premature neutering can cause other problems down the road.

And with boy cats - you want to give them the best shot at a healthy urinary tract system anyway, right?

If the Feliway doesn't work or is prohibitively expensive for you - I have heard (but not tried this myself) of another behavioral modification technique where you lock the offending cat up in a small bathroom with a litterbox and leave him there - day in and day out until you think he's "re-discovered" the purpose of the litterbox. As I said, I've never "field-tested" that method, so I can't really speak to its efficacy. And it sounded kinda mean...

You can also try Rescue Remedy - an herbal tincture that you can put in his water bowl or directly in his mouth (if you dare). It's another homeopathic behavioral modification tool. It did seem to help all of my kitties when they were experiencing new house anxiety.

Good luck - you sound like a great kitty mama!

[sweetana3]

You can neuter either sex at around 2 pounds of weight. We have done 10,000 and have had no problems. I have 5 boys right now and they were done early. The last two when they hit around 2 pounds. No male spraying. Some have problems putting their bottoms far enough down but no spraying for marking purposes. In some cases, for older cats their hips are a problem.

However, after 35 years of cats, issues arise. They are pretty particular.

Sometimes it takes a higher box. We use a deep rubbermaid type tote so they have that extra edge to catch any spray.

[luvmycat]

Thanks for the information and for responding, everyone! Austinitegirl, I agree and am more concerned about him being healthy and happy than about the spraying, though it is really a terrible stench! I neutered my last male too early because I didnt know any better and he did have hip problems, (and he also died young due to liver failure...one of the most devastating things I have ever gone through), and it wasnt until much later that I realized the early neuter could very well have been the culprit for any health issues. I do have a room I planned on setting up for the kitties anyway so they have a cool place to hang out if workers need to come in, etc. so if need be, I can let him chill out in there with his sis a lot, (but I would much rather it be their choice, so I plan to have lots of perching areas and places to scratch/stretch their claws and of course toys & a catnip plant once its grown.) In the meantine, I am trying to pay him some extra attention and give him extra love to keep him calm & happy so the aggression stays at bay...the Feliway sounds great, but a little too pricey for me right now especially because it might not be a problem anymore post-surgery. The rescue remedy sounds interesting...might give that a try if I keep seeing/smelling evidence (nothing tonight though...knocks on wood...!) Thanks again everyone, I just needed to know I am not being paranoid about waiting even though friends and family keep telling me Im nuts for not rushing him in for the snip immediately!

[Lola4]

There is NO GUARANTEE that a neutered male won't spray after being neutered at ANY age. Wait the 6 months.

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by luvmycat

...the Feliway sounds great, but a little too pricey for me right now especially because it might not be a problem anymore post-surgery.

Totally understandable - it was a little too pricey for me too, but I was sort of desperate to stop the spraying - it is the most foul odor - especially boy cat pee - yuck. Good call to wait and see...

Originally Posted by luvmycat

The rescue remedy sounds interesting...might give that a try if I keep seeing/smelling evidence (nothing tonight though...knocks on wood...!) Thanks again everyone, I just needed to know I am not being paranoid about waiting even though friends and family keep telling me Im nuts for not rushing him in for the snip immediately!

You can get Rescue Remedy at a health food/organic food store or - if you have a grocery store with an all natural/organic section. We have Whole Foods here (we're their home base!) - don't know if you have that where you live, but you can probably find it at your local grocery store. It's actually a human herbal tincture, so you only need 1-2 drops (about twice a day) for the kitties. No bad side effects that I'm aware of (it was recommended by my vet). But I'll warn you that it has a pretty strong odor (especially for cats), so if you go the squirt-it-straight-into-the-mouth route - be prepared for a pretty violent "Eeeewww mom - that was GROSS!!!!" reaction from your kitty. Mine do that whole squinty face, shaking head, running away thing. Which means you may only be able to get it directly into their mouths once before you have to come up with a more creative way to give it. Also - the dropper is glass, so if you have a kitty who bites down in protest, you may wind up with an even bigger problem than the spraying.

I've put it in their water bowls, until my too-smart-for-their-own-good kitties figured it out and collectively boycotted the offending bowl. My best success was putting it in some really smelly wet food.

Good luck.

[luvmycat]

Originally Posted by Austinitegirl

Totally understandable - it was a little too pricey for me too, but I was sort of desperate to stop the spraying - it is the most foul odor - especially boy cat pee - yuck. Good call to wait and see...



You can get Rescue Remedy at a health food/organic food store or - if you have a grocery store with an all natural/organic section. We have Whole Foods here (we're their home base!) - don't know if you have that where you live, but you can probably find it at your local grocery store. It's actually a human herbal tincture, so you only need 1-2 drops (about twice a day) for the kitties. No bad side effects that I'm aware of (it was recommended by my vet). But I'll warn you that it has a pretty strong odor (especially for cats), so if you go the squirt-it-straight-into-the-mouth route - be prepared for a pretty violent "Eeeewww mom - that was GROSS!!!!" reaction from your kitty. Mine do that whole squinty face, shaking head, running away thing. Which means you may only be able to get it directly into their mouths once before you have to come up with a more creative way to give it. Also - the dropper is glass, so if you have a kitty who bites down in protest, you may wind up with an even bigger problem than the spraying.

I've put it in their water bowls, until my too-smart-for-their-own-good kitties figured it out and collectively boycotted the offending bowl. My best success was putting it in some really smelly wet food.

Good luck.

The smelly wet food is what I was thinking too...(the Evangers caviar flavor should do the trick! I hate the smell but they gobble it up like its the most wonderful thing on the planet! Lol!) Mine would definitely not be keen on squirting it into their mouths or putting it in their water, (my female refuses to drink it unless its still cold from the fridge...if I am in the kitchen she lets me know if she wants it changed by standing in front of the fridge and meowing at me, she is so funny!) I saw the rescue remedy at the store I get their food at (its an hour away, but I need to go later this week anyway to stock up on a few things...El Paso has a terrible selection of pet food & products, so I travel to Las Cruces, NM for all their stuff.) So far so good last night and today...no spraying (fingers crossed) This is just such a bizarre experience, we always had male cats when I was growing up, but none ever sprayed (maybe b/c back then everyone was told (and believed!) the earlier the better with spay/neuter. Now I find myself wondering how much longer Humphrey I. and Zoey would have lived if they had been neutered at the appropriate time...Zoey lived to 14 but had urinary and kidney issues for the last 2 years and Humps the 1st was only 12...so sad! Makes me scared for my female, as she is now 12 and was spayed before she ever went into heat. Is is as dangerous for females? Common issues I should look out for? I have heard of cats living well into their 20s (one I know made it to 29!!!) I want my kitties to live the longest & healthiest lives possible! Thanks again for all the info...!

[Austinitegirl]

Originally Posted by luvmycat

Now I find myself wondering how much longer Humphrey I. and Zoey would have lived if they had been neutered at the appropriate time...Zoey lived to 14 but had urinary and kidney issues for the last 2 years and Humps the 1st was only 12...so sad! Makes me scared for my female, as she is now 12 and was spayed before she ever went into heat. Is is as dangerous for females? Common issues I should look out for? I have heard of cats living well into their 20s (one I know made it to 29!!!) I want my kitties to live the longest & healthiest lives possible! Thanks again for all the info...!

I don't think I've ever heard of female cats having serious urinary tract issues that could be tracked back to a premature spay. But then again, in the veterinary world, female cat urinary tract problems tend to be much less serious (and therefore much less notable) than male cat urinary tract problems. But really - who knows? It's not like there's really been much extensive research on the issue (female cats, that is).

I guess my thinking (based on my science background, time spent working at a vet's office, and life-long cat ownership) is that "mother nature" does generally seem to know best, and (really) what's the harm in allowing a kitten to reach full sexual maturity before taking away their hormone-producing organs? It does mean some inconvenience for the owner, such as male kittens who may spray or (in my case) become temporarily aggressive, or enduring 1 (miserable) heat cycle for female kittens. Now, I make that statement with a huge dose of caution because you don't to wind up with un-wanted litters and increase the orphaned puppy/kitties in the world, so I would probably be inclined to spay/neuter early if there was the chance that the animal could get out and/or be exposed to another non-neutered animal.

I don't think we can make a direct link between premature spays/neuters and shortened life spans due to systemic organ failure, but it would be interesting to see a study done on the subject. All the literature tells us that spaying and neutering will overall increase the pet's lifespan (and I agree that that's mostly true), but it would just be interesting to know if there is a downside to getting too anxious about spaying and neutering when they are wee little ones.

I also think we're entering a new era of pet ownership where pets are treated more like furry children than like property. And when the original major push to spay/neuter all animals really started (in the early 80's) the justification was that animals who are not spayed/neutered tend to be susceptible to certain cancers and tend to be more aggressive, leading to death by fighting, disease (from fighting) or roaming across dangerous highways looking to mate.

Now that pets are considered as much a member of the family as brother & sister, and the quality of veterinary care has increased exponentially, most pet cats & dogs are living longer life spans then they did in the 70s and earlier. And now geriatric veterinary medicine is emerging as a whole separate sub category of care (there's a vet at the clinic I go to who specializes in the care of dogs and cats over the age of 8). Sort of like our aging human population, we now have an aging dog and cat population, so it is time to start paying closer attention to the medical treatment we give them, which originally was supposed to extend their lives past the age of 8, now we're trying to figure out how to (comfortably) extend their lives past the age of 16.

Maybe major surgeries like spays and neuters play a part in that - I'm not 100% sure.

The key is (obviously) to find the right vet - one who cares about your animal AND about you, and one who is open to new treatments, new ways of looking at traditional veterinary medicine and who isn't necessarily looking for the quick fix.

Good luck with everything!

[ShelbyGirl1]

Re the spraying....have you thought about putting stud pants on him for now? You can use feminine pads to line the pants...When my canine dogs were in heat, I'd cut them in half...the sticky back keeps them in line and they are alot cheaper than the pet pads they sell for this purpose.
You'd obviously be cleaning out the pants...but to me, the lesser of 2 evils. Better than him spraying your home.