Cat Problems - How To Stop My 5yr Old Neutered Male From Spraying

by Elle
(UK)

Hi hope you can help me with these cat problems. I have 3 cats - a 7yr old male and a brother and sister who are both 5yrs old.

I had all 3 cats neutered when the two youngest were kittens (5 months old approx.)

I have recently had problems with my male 5yr old - he keeps spraying in the house, he will even do it when people are in the room with him. He has access to the garden and can come and go as he pleases, and there is also a litter tray in kitchen he can use.

Things have gotten so bad now that I have had to restrict his time allowed in main living areas as I can't trust him not to spray.

Im a single mum on a very low income. All my vet could suggest was a very expensive pheromone which I would struggle to afford and maintain.

If I can't find a cheaper alternative I'm going to be forced into looking at rehoming him as I cannot keep up with where he is spraying all the time :(

Please can you try and advise, I'd be grateful for any help you could suggest.

Many thanks 1 stressed out cat owner Elle!


Reply from Liz (Editor): I sympathize with you on this, these sorts of cat problems are incredibly frustrating and stress inducing. He was neutered young and this has only recently started, so I don't think this is a throw-back to his pre-neutered life.

With the above in mind, there are 3 reasons why a neutered cat may suddenly start to spray indoors:

1. They're ill. This is a fairly unusual way for a cat to show he's ill, but a few do. However it sounds like you've had him checked by the vet, so we can probably rule this reason out.


2. There's another (usually male) cat hanging round - and often also spraying - outside the house. This will sometimes cause the cat who's living in the house to start spraying, as he's territory marking. Your cat is highly unlikely to be spraying because of the cats he already lives with - he's well used to them. But if there's a new cat outside, that could be the cause.

The best way to deal with this is to humanely get rid of the other cat from your garden. The page below gives you some ideas on how to do this:

How To Stop a Cat Spraying in Your Garden


3. He's stressed about something. Has something changed at home that coincided with the start of the spraying behavior? Could this be upsetting him? If so, is there anything you can do to remedy the situation, or reduce its impact?

I agree with you that the pheromone (I'm guessing it's Feliway) is expensive. I've heard that Rescue Remedy (made from Bach flowers) can be used as a much cheaper cat de-stresser. I believe you just put a couple of drops into the cat's water bowl. I've never tried it so don't know if it will work, but it may be worth a try. I've just had a quick look on Amazon, it's pretty cheap there, and a bottle should last for ages.

I hope you get these cat problems solved, best of luck. If you do try Rescue Remedy and it works, please let me know - it would be good to be able to give people an alternative to Feliway. Or if anyone else who reads this has tried it, please let us know what you think of it.