Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My male cat is fixed and spraying all over his litter box. What can I do?
By yolanda
Hello,
Please take him to his Veterinarian, there could be a urinary track problem going on.
Talk to your vet first to rule out any underlying medical issues. If all checks out fine, then you need to ask yourself some questions. Do you have any other cats? If so, cats can be territorial. Rule of thumb: Always have one more cat pan than you have number of cats. Also you may need to have the cat pans spread out away from each other. Kitties like their space. Next question. Any changes in the household? Cats can be easily upset and react accordingly. Some changes can be easily adapted by your cat. Some can't. New people, new furniture, different scents, people relationship problems?
If it is a new pet, some pets, just like people don't really like the other one's personality. You may have to have your vet help you with this one. You say the cat is spraying all over his litter box. Not quite sure what you mean. If he is spraying over the top of the edge, try different litter pans to help contain the problem. If he is spraying outside the litter box and not inside the litter box. Could be multiple things. Is it being kept as clean as he likes it? Some are real picky and won't tolerate much waste in the pan. I scoop my pans 2X a day (4 males and 1 female) and I don't have any problems.
Does he not like the litter that you are using? Some are large pellets and some cats don't care for the feel on their feet. Experiment with different types of litter. I use a cracked pine. Cats seem to like it, pleasant smell, easy to clean and it keeps the odor down. It comes in scoopable and non-scoopable forms. If you are using a litter pan liner, he may not like that. Personally, liners never worked well for me. Good luck, just don't give up. Trying to find out what the problem is can take persistence. Until you can speak "cat" you will have to play Sherlock Holmes to find out what he is trying to tell you.
My 11 year old male indoor cat, has recently started to spray all over my house. I've been single for 5 years and now have a new live in boyfriend.
It is the only thing I can think of why he would feel threatened. How can I get him to stop?This article goes into length addressing reasons why a cat might be peeing inside. It covers issues from illness to unsuitable litter boxes to territorial reasons: www.allfelinehospital.com/
It is pretty typical for a cat to feel threatened or territorial by a new person in their space. Is there any chance that your cat has not been neutered? If not, you pretty much HAVE to have him neutered. Because he is probbly displaying typical male behaviour.
One thing that really helps threatened cats is to 'catify the space', which essentially means creating shelves and nooks above eye level for them to perch. In this way they no longer have territorial feelings and, if hey have adequate litter, they will most likely stop spraying. jacksongalaxy.com/
I have an 18 month old desexed male inside cat and a 10 month old desexed female who also is not allowed outside. 3 months ago she has started spraying and weeing in all different parts of the house. I can be standing in the kitchen and she will just come in and wee in front of me. I have 2 litter trays which both cats use. Someone suggested that she may not like the odour of the male's urine in the tray, hence won't use it, but the trays are cleaned daily.
I know she is about to spray because she runs around like a maniac and then jumps up on the couch and sprays over the wall. I have bought the spray "Urine Off" and regularly spray where she has sprayed, but this is no deterrent, as it just doesn't work. I have taken her to the vet many times to eliminate a bladder infection, etc., but she is perfectly healthy. Unfortunately my next step is to give her "Valium" or a similar drug which I don't want to do. Any suggestions would be really appreciated as I just don't know what to do next.
By Sandra
She is marking her territory. You might want to consider using synthetic pheromones.
I have heard that the plant star of Bethlehem will reduce stress in a female cat that is spraying. Is there any truth in that? I have tried the Comfort Zone thing in the store, but it is very expensive. And doesn't last very long.
By MG
I have 4 cats. They got along famously until I bought a kitten 4 months ago. All of them are used to her now accept one who is really annoyed, as she is constantly chasing him, so he spits and loudly hisses. He has been fixed, as are all the others and my new kitten was fixed two weeks ago.
By Joan from Toronto, Ontario
It's generally accepted that neutered cats are less likely to spray in your house. This page looks at reasons why a neutered cat may start spraying and ways you can stop this behavior. While not an easy task, you should be able to reverse this behavior.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I own two domestic cats and last year picked up an injured feral kitten.
I was just wondering if anyone knew of a home remedy to prevent my male cat from spraying. I can't get him neutered until the end of April and the smell is killing me.
We just received a very nice, gently used couch from a family who has a dog. Our cat has decided that he needs to mark his territory with urine. How do we deter the cat from going there again?
How can I stop my cat from spraying around the house? He's a 4 year old tabby and he's never done this before.
My neutered male cat has begun spraying when he doesn't get what he wants. At first I thought it was a mistake then after observing this behavior over several months, it became clear it's deliberate.
