Spraying- not sure which cat?

[rolling thunder]

I have 3 cats, a 8yo (Thunder), 5yo (Lightning), and 2yo (Nitro).  Neither of the older cats like the 2 yo (that has been with us since a kitten) but they don't fight or anything.  He tries to play with them by jumping on them and biting their necks.  He does it mostly to the 5yo and when he does, 5yo screams and runs.  Recently we have been having spraying on the dog bed, the shelf in the closet, and the lawn tractor tires.  These are all places the 5yo likes to sleep.  We never see who is doing it.  Is it the 5yo marking or is it one of the others, doing it in his favorite spots?  How do we stop it?  I'm inclined to say it is the 5yo marking and being upset by the younger cat but why now?  The other thing is the 8yo is a pretty bossy cat, he has rules for the others (you can tell).  They aren't allowed to be on the bed when he is on it, or must get off when he comes in the bedroom.  The 2yo doesn't follow these rules but 5yo does.  I'm thinking 5yo is being bullied all around!  He is really a loner and was semi feral so doesn't love people, but is ok with us.  (2yo was feral also but is a people lover now- we had both since kittens).  Any help or suggestions are welcome. 

 

[p3 and the king]

I have 3 cats, a 8yo (Thunder), 5yo (Lightning), and 2yo (Nitro).  Neither of the older cats like the 2 yo (that has been with us since a kitten) but they don't fight or anything.  He tries to play with them by jumping on them and biting their necks.  He does it mostly to the 5yo and when he does, 5yo screams and runs.  . 

The jumping on and biting the neck is not playing... It is similating the mating act and therefore asserting his dominance over the other cat.  It could be why they don't like him.  Are they neutered or spayed?  I saw no mention of this.  If not, have it done asap.  If they are fixed, it is an anxiety issue from stress over this behavior.  With the older ones, I would keep the 2 yo separate from them.  It might be both of them telling you they are unhappy with this and so they are marking areas they want so the 2 yo won't use them.  Maybe get some feliway diffusers but that can get expensive I would just see about getting each of them the calming collar.  It works the same way but you may not need to wait a month so see results.  Also it is cheaper to just get three of them than to get a diffuser for every room of your house.  They last about 1 month- 6 weeks.  Do not take them off until you have a replacement collar, though.  These don't work for every cat but they are made for situations like this one. 

Once they have been separated for some time, you can start a postive reinforcement reintroduction and see if that helps.  If you have to neuter them, I would keep them separate about a month after, that way, any residual hormones will be out of the body. If you want to know what a positive reinforcement reintroduction is, there is plenty of info on that here on this site or you can look up Jackson Galaxy's "My Cat From Hell" and he can talk you through it.  Good luck! 

 

[p3 and the king]

Also, use enzyme cleaners such as Nature's Miracle to clean the sprayed spots and don't forget the walls.  It's what I use.  There are others that are stronger but I like this one just fine.  With regular cleaners, they can still smell it and will continue to mark there.  With enzyme cleaners, it breaks the proteins down and gets rid of them so they can't still smell it.  It can also help.

 

[rolling thunder]

Yes they are all neutered.  But I had no idea that the jumping and biting necks was not playing behavior.  He really only does it to Lightning.  I will look into the calming collar, I have never heard of it before.  Keeping them apart is the hard part, because we have a really small house.  In the evenings when we are home, the two older ones like the garage and the enclosed porch and Nitro doesn't so we could keep them separated that way.  Is there a method to redirect his behavior when he jumps and bites the older cats to make him stop doing it?  My guess then, is that it is probably the 5yo Lightning that is spraying his territory. 

Also, I was reading through some of the other posts on spraying and some said if there is a stray cat in the area it could cause this problem.  We live near farms so there are a lot of strays around.  Recently one of the cats from my sister in laws farm has been hanging around outside our house.  I guess that could be a problem too. 

Thanks for all of the advice!