Our cats are now spraying! (kitten, male, feline, carpet)

[thotful1]

Our newest cat ( 8 months here) a male has started spraying, following the lead of our older male cat. The new cat is an ex-shelter, ex-feral cat that was then abused. Quite the sad story, but it has humanized and socialized very well. It's now very friendly, and wandered into our house when my son brought him in, happily wandering up to all of our cats (a very old female, a younger very possessive female, and the older male).

Then, a transient young un-neutered male showed up about 3 months ago, and we fed it out of compassion for three days. Then we took it to the shelter. But right then, it all became too much for our oldest male, and he now regularly saunters around the house and yard "proclaiming" his territory. This has been going on for over 2 months. yow. The smell!

This has also started the newer ex-feral male to spraying, and the old female now regularly checks out the sites and seems distressed afterwards.

Oh my gosh! This has gotten out of hand. And the smell. On top of it all, the older male just the other night, while we were watching TV, wandered up and immediately sprayed into one of our new Bose surround sound speakers. It sort of went fuzzy sounding, ha ha. Then it was OK and I popped off the grille and washed it off. No apparent damage to that speaker. Not really too funny though.

Someone said we should immediately spray the offending cat in the face with straight water that you keep in the fridge (to make it unpleasantly cold) whenever they do this, and then put them outside, even if it's cold or unpleasant. To teach them this is not acceptable.

Someone else suggested mothballs wherever they are regularly spraying.

Any other suggestions? Help!

[Marylandkitten]

Are any of your cats fixed? Altered? Neutered?

I watched a very enthralling documentary on youtube just the other night. of how third world countries "fix" male cats. They anethestize the kitty-balls, slice them open, and mash them into the metal table the cat is laying on, to squeeze out the, you know, male baby-makin-bits. All in under a 2 minute process. Not to deter you from having this done or anything I'm sure there are ways they do things differently in the US, lol.

Male cats shouldn't be spraying once neutered! It also decreases the aggresivness, territorial distress, and sheds some light on a multitude of personality or behavioral problems.

Spraying them in the face with icewater then depositing them outside everytime they dispaly "unnacceptable behavior" in your eyes, seems terribly cruel, in mine. This enstills the logic that abandoning cats outside by means of punishment, means that every cat left outdoors did something wrong. Do you know how many cats we have to work with on a daily basis just to fight off that kind of abusive past? Memories can be very destructive, and devastating, as can be the humans that frivilously build them.

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by thotful1

and then put them outside, even if it's cold or unpleasant. To teach them this is not acceptable.

Ok, on this basis can you tell me how the cat is supposed to - using FELINE logic and not human logic - equate being chucked out in the cold/rain/blazing sun with "oh, I guess I shouldn't have just weed on that, huh?"

Pure and utter nonsense. Not only is it cruel, most importantly, it makes no sense to the cat and a feline mind cannot process the sequence of events in the order this action/reaction demands so as to make any of it meaningful. The only thing you'll end up with is a very confused and very unhappy cat. That's the best case scenario. Worst case is that he beings redirecting aggression and it goes from being a simple territorial issue to all out war and no good will come of it.

ALL your male cats should be neutered ASAP. A neutered cat can still spray, but there's no "tom cat" smell. We have an occasionally spraying neutered male - but he sprays for a very particular and very concrete reason and it has to do with territory. However, most neutered males don't spray.

And yes, female cats can become very unhappy is there's a spraying male about.

[ShelbyGirl1]

AND a female can spray as well....In fact, this one very well may start to mark her/or over territory . Agreed, the whole idea of putting them out to "punish" them is human reasoning, not feline.
To your first step is to ensure all are spuetered....and then a vet check for the offending male if he is already been cut.
(and yes, both male and female, that have been spayed and neutered can spray....but it is not all that common)

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by shelbygirl1

all are spuetered....

lol :d

[katzenfreund]

Yes, yes, yes... if your cats are not neutered, get this done asap. IF they are neutered, I suggest trying some "Feliway" spray. You can purchase online or in "Pet" stores, such as Petsmart or Petco. Insecure cats mark their territory by spraying. Spraying them with water or punishing them will only make it worse, IMHO. Your goal would be to make them happier and secure so they won't feel the need to spray. I don't know if space allows for this, but could you keep the spraying males in separate areas for a while. You also need to get a cat urine cleaner and thoroughly clean the soiled areas and try the Feliway spray. I haven't tried it for spraying, but I have used it after we moved and it did help a lot, the cats seemed much calmer than after previous moves. It isn't very expensive and well worth the try. Some people have had some good results with it in regards to spraying.
Let us know how it goes....

[MissNM]

We had the same problem and all our cats were fixed. Both males and females sprayed.

It was due to 2 new cats in the house. Although they lived in different parts of the house and had no physical contact with our cats - our cats hated them being there. Our cats were the only ones that sprayed. One female sprayed the side of the computer monitor - we never got the smell out. Eventually, the behavior ceased and the two new cats moved out.

Make sure they are all fixed, give everyone the proper attention, and give them time to sort out the hierarchy.

We ended up replacing carpet, and some of the flooring, with tile. We also had to seal the walls with KILLZ and repaint.

FYI - we never had problems after that. We've introduced new cats without any issues at all.

[luvmycat]

I feel your pain...I have a young male who started spraying about a month ago, and the smell is awful! I plan to get him neutered, but he had a fractured leg when I rescued him and I want to make sure his growth plates are closed before I mess with the balance of his hormones. My other male was a sprayer too, but once I had him neutered it stopped. My older female was/is NOT at all happy about the spraying, and poops in odd places to voice her disgust...she did the same thing awhile back when a friend's rambunctious (not to mention huge) male cat had to stay with us temporarily. Spraying water will not help at all, nor will putting them outside. You just have to neuter them ASAP, and make sure you clean the sprayed areas really well with an enzymatic cleaner to get the smell out...if they still smell it, they'll mark that spot again and again...good luck!

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by Marylandkitten

Male cats shouldn't be spraying once neutered! It also decreases the aggresivness, territorial distress, and sheds some light on a multitude of personality or behavioral problems.

BoiKat was neutered and still sprays. I see no difference in his personality or actions.

[Va-Cat]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGirl1

all are spuetered....

Thought this was a typo until my brain kicked in Very cute and appropriate term. I'm gonna have to remember it for future use