Advice to help with habitual marking cat

[Brice53]

My very first cat my wife and I adopted has had problems marking around the house for the last couple years. I know that sounds like a long time and is really disgusting but I feel like we have tried everything to try and deter him with little to no progress. We love him so much and are committed to giving him a loving home for his whole life. We will never even entertain the thought of not having him in our home so we've become resigned to the fact that we are always going to have to be cleaning and scrubbing areas in the house. We have waterproof covers on our furniture, do nightly cleanings and switch out towels that we cover all the cat beds/trees in the house. I know it's pretty ridiculous but like I said we've kind of given up and just accepted his behavior.

We've taken him to the vet and each time they say he is perfectly healthy and give us a list of things to try. When we tell them we've tried all of their recommendations they pretty much say that there is not much that can be done and he may be part of a small number of male cats that refuse to stop spraying.

We've tried Feliway diffusers, spray, enzyme cleaning spray, different scents on furniture, not letting him look outside, trying different litter, calming food/treats, etc. Is there anything else anyone would suggest we try? We are out of ideas and feel discouraged that we are going to have to deal with this for the rest of our cat's life.

 

[Willowy]

Many people see improvement by putting the cat on Prozac or Xanax or some other anti-anxiety medication. Ask your vet about that option.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Is this cat Badger? I only ask because as I recall you introduced another cat about 2 years ago (Ghost?) and have since had other cats added to your household (either temporarily or permanently, I am not sure). So, unless I am missing some factors, it seems like Badger may have started this marking around that same time and has continued since then? I presume all the cats you have are spayed/neutered?

Do Ghost and Badger get along now? If there are other cats in the house, do all of them get along? It could be a territorial thing and Badger is just never going to 'love' having other cats around. On that note, it probably would be a good idea to ask the vet about anti-anxiety meds to see if that might calm down Badger enough so that he feels less territorial around the other cats. Or, if permissible in your area, CBD oil. How is he otherwise - friendly and sociable?

You might also consider taking a couple of rooms at a time, and getting everything possible in them professionally cleaned for urine removal. This would be especially true if you do give him meds, as you want to reduce the chances of him still being able to smell where he previously marked, just as an added measure. It might even be worth it to do this even if you don't give him any medication.

 

[Brice53]

Hi. Is this cat Badger? I only ask because as I recall you introduced another cat about 2 years ago (Ghost?) and have since had other cats added to your household (either temporarily or permanently, I am not sure). So, unless I am missing some factors, it seems like Badger may have started this marking around that same time and has continued since then? I presume all the cats you have are spayed/neutered?

Do Ghost and Badger get along now? If there are other cats in the house, do all of them get along? It could be a territorial thing and Badger is just never going to 'love' having other cats around. On that note, it probably would be a good idea to ask the vet about anti-anxiety meds to see if that might calm down Badger enough so that he feels less territorial around the other cats. Or, if permissible in your area, CBD oil. How is he otherwise - friendly and sociable?

You might also consider taking a couple of rooms at a time, and getting everything possible in them professionally cleaned for urine removal. This would be especially true if you do give him meds, as you want to reduce the chances of him still being able to smell where he previously marked, just as an added measure. It might even be worth it to do this even if you don't give him any medication.

This is Badger! Ghost and Badger do get along now which I thought would never happen. There is another cat that we keep separate right now and Badger is not allowed in the areas where the other cat is. There is a shared area they both will occupy at different times but his marking behavior didn't noticeable change when Ghost or any other cats were added.

Basically right after we had our first houseguest stay in our guest room since we got Badger he started marking the guest bed and our couches and hasn't stopped since. This was right before we got Ghost.

 

[MichMare]

Just stumbled upon this thread and wondered if you had any luck after you last posted. I am dealing with a similar situation and am feeling much like you, wondering if this is just something I will have to deal with forever.
I hope you’ve discovered something that has helped Badger and that you post an update.
I have likewise tried all of what you mentioned; I may need to look into CBD oil as suggested. Good luck!