Help For Spraying Cat.

[Reckia]

I think I've done all I can, but want to know if there are any other suggestions. An outdoor orange cat walked in on Christmas Eve when hubby was putting out trash. We separated him from our other 5 until vet visit. He was already fixed. For 3 months, we have slowly been getting all of our cats used to each other. We bought 3 pet gates and put them in the doorway to "his" room so all the cats could safely see each other. We limited his time out to only during the day. He ended up being with all of our cats after about a month. Our other orange cat (14 yrs old) hates him and it is triggering his IBS.


The problem is his spraying. It was getting worse! We used Feliway, then switched to lavendar, then no scents, and we didn't yell at him or punish him. We could tell he was probably disciplined in some way before he came to us because of his behavior after spraying. We covered everything in plastic to make cleaning easier, but he has gone from spraying a few times to over 20+ times in a day. He wanted to be outside, but he also would stay on my lap for hours in the evening. I know that a cat should be an indoor cat for a better life, but we couldn't put up with the spraying any longer. He seems to be happier and doesn't want to come in at all.


So we have put him outside again. I believe that he is unadoptable because of the spraying, but we can be his forever home, just with him outside. There is a place under our home where he sleeps that is sheltered. We will feed him (picking up the food as soon as he is done) and take him to vet visits and give him love, but he will have to stay outside.

 

[Adelei]

He may have been fixed when he was older. I've heard that if they're fixed after they've already started spraying, they're much more likely to continue the behavior even after they're fixed. That could even be why he was put out from his original home. Or, he could have been spraying just because you had so many cats in your home and, especially if one didn't like him, he was trying to make it more of his home.

I don't have any suggestions for spraying, unfortunately, at least not ones you haven't tried already. I know they make sprays other than Feliway, but if Feliway didn't work then the others probably wouldn't either.

If he's going to be an outdoor cat, maybe you can make it safer for him. Do you have a garage, basement or screened-in porch you could bring him into at night? Or at least during bad weather (especially during the winter)? If not, maybe when it gets particularly cold, you can bring him into that extra room you kept him in when he first came to you. When I was a kid, my parents wouldn't let my cat be inside, but they let her sleep in our garage. She'd get out whenever my dad went to work in the morning and I'd call her in usually around 8pm. That meant that for at least 10-12 hours a day, she was safe from cars, dogs, snakes, other cats, coyotes, the weather, etc. His sheltered spot under the house might protect him from rain, but if he can still go in and out at will, then he can still get run over by a car or have something else happen.

However, if you can't bring him in at all, then at least providing him with food and water and medical care will help. I think you're probably right about his being unadoptable. There's a chance he might do OK in a household with no other cats, but I wouldn't put money on it. So he'd likely just wind up back outside anyway.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is there any chance you could buy or build a catio for him? He would be confined to a specific area, but still be outside. The catio could be furnished with beds/boxes/blankets to keep him warm when needed.

 

[lalagimp]

We did everything. Scat Mats, Scccat cans, blacking out the windows from outside cats, motion detecting sprinklers for outside cats, calming collars, feliway, bach's rescue remedy pet, more litter boxes, vet visit, enzymatic cleaners, and probably a few things I'm forgetting. Stewart was a late neuter. He was about 10 months old, and then developed a humping issue with my stuffed animals. Then when he stopped humping everything, he'd started spraying to fortify the house.

We have had him on Prozac for almost three years, and it makes it really really difficult for him to spray. If the windows are open too long, it'll trigger him to start trying to spray, but we can usually talk him out of it as he's trying, and then we go around the house and close the windows back up. We never resigned him to be an outdoor cat. He's now 7.

 

[Reckia]

Thank you for the replies! I will look into a catio for him!

We have a very safe place under that leads to under our tub where he stays at night. This keeps him safer from the critters around here. We have and will take him to the vet whenever he needs it and every year for an annual checkup/shots time. We have water on the porch (where he spends most his time) and take food out to him, which we pick up as soon as he is done, and give him attention. We have already decided to have a place in our small guest bathroom for him during bad weather.

He seems to be MUCH happier outside and all of our other cats are happier. I don't like the idea of having an outdoor cat - have always been against it, but for the sake of our other cat who hates him and his spraying, I guess we have an outdoor cat! After our 14 yr old (who has IBS) passes, we might try again with Prozac.