Fighting In The Neighborhood , Spraying Everywhere - What To Do?

[Erinlinkcappy]

We have an 11 year old cat called Cappy. He’s very loving and full of personality but ever since we adopted him at 7 he’s been a bit problematic.

He spray pees all the time even inside. He pees on the bath mat every day. He beats up our poor other cat who is very sweet all the time (but this has gotten better over time and I can tell he loves him in his own way).

We recently moved from a country home to a smaller house in the city. We have only let him out once and it’s driving him crazy. There is a bully neighbourhood cat and they immediately got into an hour long aggressive fight where we couldn’t reach them on the one occasion he has been outside. This cat is out all the time and comes to our house everyday.

Cappy hates being inside and has started peeing everywhere at a high frequency and being aggressive.

Feliway helps a bit. We also have a “catio” of sorts so he can sit outside and we play with him a lot. Looking to get a large enclosure but experience tells me this only helps a bit. I’m looking for advice:

- what else can I do to calm him? Does calming collars or medication work? I don’t want to change his personality.

- Will he or the neighborhood cat ever get used to each other? Our cat is large and aggressive and will almost surely hurt the other cat eventually.

 

[FeebysOwner]

You could try using cat repellents outside - of course not too close to Cappy's catio - to try to deter the neighborhood cat from entering into your yard.

A larger enclosure for Cappy might do more good than you think, as the larger the area is for him to be in, the more it mimics the outdoors - and, you could add a cat tree or perches for him to climb on within the enclosure.

Have you tried to find out if anyone owns this cat? If no one does, you might want to consider contacting a no-kill shelter or rescue center about trapping him. If someone does own him, you could at least talk to them about the conflict between the two cats and see if they would be willing to work out a solution with you to help stop their cat from coming into your yard. It is worth a try...

Any of the above might help to calm Cappy a bit. But, if the peeing/spraying has gone on this many years, it will likely continue - if for no reason than the fact it is now a habit. If anyplace he has peed hasn't been cleaned thoroughly enough to completely remove the smell (he can smell a lot better than you), it just encourages him to go in those same places again and again. Fizzion and SCOE10x are two enzymatic cleaners that work on just about any hard surface - and are safe to use on wood.

I have never used a calming collar but haven't heard too much about them being very effective. There are other calming products on the market that you could experiment with to see if one of them would help calm Cappy better than Feliway. Just do an internet search on 'cat calming products'. Not all products work on all cats.

See if there is anything in these TCS articles that might help.

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

How To Remove Cat Urine Odor From Your Home

How To Get Cat Pee Smell Out Of Clothes And Linens

 

[Talien]

We have an 11 year old cat called Cappy. He’s very loving and full of personality but ever since we adopted him at 7 he’s been a bit problematic.

He spray pees all the time even inside. He pees on the bath mat every day. He beats up our poor other cat who is very sweet all the time (but this has gotten better over time and I can tell he loves him in his own way).

We recently moved from a country home to a smaller house in the city. We have only let him out once and it’s driving him crazy. There is a bully neighbourhood cat and they immediately got into an hour long aggressive fight where we couldn’t reach them on the one occasion he has been outside. This cat is out all the time and comes to our house everyday.

Cappy hates being inside and has started peeing everywhere at a high frequency and being aggressive.

Feliway helps a bit. We also have a “catio” of sorts so he can sit outside and we play with him a lot. Looking to get a large enclosure but experience tells me this only helps a bit. I’m looking for advice:

- what else can I do to calm him? Does calming collars or medication work? I don’t want to change his personality.

- Will he or the neighborhood cat ever get used to each other? Our cat is large and aggressive and will almost surely hurt the other cat eventually.

Has he been neutered? If not, that is a large part of the problem and should be taken care of ASAP. Intact males are far more likely to display behavior like that.

And were there other Cats that came around your other house? It sounds like he is highly territorial, and seeing other Cats, even through a window, can be enough to trigger aggression and cause him to take it out on your other Cat when he can't get at the ones outside. It's also even more reason to not let him out as it's very likely he will get into fights.

 

[Erinlinkcappy]

He is neutered and has been so since before we got him.
Even the vet said that not letting him outside seemed to cause incredible anxiety in him. We now now let him out only an hour a day and he gets into a fight almost every time! It’s maddening.

 

[Talien]

He is neutered and has been so since before we got him.
Even the vet said that not letting him outside seemed to cause incredible anxiety in him. We now now let him out only an hour a day and he gets into a fight almost every time! It’s maddening.

If the neighborhood Cat is a stray you could try trapping him and taking him to a shelter, that way he's not around to cause problems.

 

[Luc]

One of my cats is a male and he loves to go out. Since the beginning a larger cat used to beat him. Once I had to take my cat to the vet because his paw was badly bitten and the vet was a great help to avoid an infection.

A few days later he was out again. If he gets hurt I will take him to the vet again and then he would go out again lol.

With time my cat learned to avoid the bigger and aggressive cat at the same time the aggressive cat got used to my cat and unless there is an ambush everything is fine.

If the aggressive cat chases my cat there is nothing to worry because my cat is faster or he would go under a car where it is harder to reach and the aggressive cat won't bother because it is too challenging.

In other words there will be some problem at the beginning and eventually even though the problem will persist it will be less frequent.

If it is not your cat to hurt the other cat there will be a new cat who will. Everywhere you go when several cats are outside there are some issues.

Make sure you feed your cat before he goes out, he should be less tense at least he won't venture too far looking for food and with time the fights will be less frequent.

The bigger cat can beat up my cat anytime but no matter what my cat is not going to go anywhere so even for the bigger cat keep on beating up and fighting my cat every time became unpleasant to the point that now he casually ignores him. Yes if they get too close they will still fight but unlike years ago the aggressive cat is no longer making an effort to fight since he got used to my cat.

 

[Luc]

By the way if you let your cat out make sure he is chipped, neutered and has an elastic collar with a tag and feed him before he is let out. Take away the little bell from its collar if one is attached. With the bell he will let animals and people know where he is at all times. Very bad. If a cat has the little bell when outside it only exposes him to dangers. You are taking away the cat natural skill to go icognito and stealthy. Generally speaking letting a cat out at night is better than letting him out during the day since at night he has better vision and there are less people less animals and less noise. Where we are located there are no coyotes and a few cars. Doing such things before letting out your cat helps a great deal even though it is always a risk when you let your cat out. The best compromise is to walk him on a leash, but it takes time and patience treats and a clicker.

I could not confine my cats to an apartment until they pass away. Even though there are dangers there are also many positive things. My cats chase birds, eat grass, dig holes, hide, climbs on tress get sunbath.

We have no toys and zero entertainment at home for the cats since outside they get all they need. Cats are the most happy when in addition to feeling safe they sleep, eat, groom and hunt.

It is a compromise since at times they go out for hours or even the whole night and I worry but it is totally worth it when I see first hand how balanced and happy they are. Just my 2 cents since this is not for everyone.