Please reassure me...will neutering help?

poohandwendy

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(this is not a 'should I neuter' my cat thread...this cat is scheduled to be neutered)

Ok, long story short, yet another stray has found his way to my home. I am like a stray cat magnet. He is a very small unaltered adult male who is obviously sexually active. Very affectionate and a real sweetheart. He was hanging aorund for a few months before I could get him to trust me though. And boy did he get into fights with the neighborhood cats!!!

So, I allow him in and keep him away from my other cats by keeping him locked in a separate room. My MIL was going to take him after she moved, so I have put off getting him to the vet because I was expecting her to do this when she took him and that way she would incur the costs.

Well, of course now, she is not interested. My husband and I are attached to him...the problem is that he has sprayed in the room a few times.

NONE of my other cats ever sprayed as they were altered young.

We want to give him a forever home, if the other cats adjust to him and after he is checked thoroughly by the vet and neutered (of course)....

But, will he keep spraying after he is neutered? Is his behavior pretty much set in stone? I do not want an outdoor cat, too many worries and dangers in my area. But, I am really concerned about him spraying my house up and the other cats following suit.

I guess I am just looking for your experiences. I have never had a male cat that wasn't altered at a young age, before this stuff started. So what can I expect?

Thanks in advance!
 

sandtigress

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I know that some cats, once they have started spraying, will continue even after neutering, but I don't know what the percentage is. I'm sure its different for every cat. So best of luck in this, I hope things work out okay! Bless you for being willing to give this boy a home!
 
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poohandwendy

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LOL, I guess I am just going to have to wait and see. I am sure we will work it out someway or another. I think I am going to try Feliway and see if that helps.

Thanks for your input!
 

crittermom

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I have also heard some will keep spraying afterwards.But, I'm not sure.
Good luck and I'm glad this cat now has a home!!!
 

chausiefan

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I just recently had a cat that sprayed was a older unaltered tom anyways after getting nutered his urin scent changed and the oder was not strong anymore and he did totally stop spraying.


even if they dont stop spraying RIGHT Away the strong nasty disgusting smell wont be there & over time the cat will spray less and less (WORST CASE SCENARIO) so regardless things are GOING to improve! By how much? We dont know yet
 

kittenkiya

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I adopted an older tom cat from the Humane Society. They will not allow the animals to go home until they are spayed and/or neutered. Old Pete was an outside tom cat.

Once I got him home after the neutering, he NEVER sprayed. Ever.
 

jen

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I think it all depends on the cat individually. There is no definate thing to say here. I have a cat whom I had neutered a couple months ago and he is 5, I found him as a stray. He sprayed once before I neutered him (I neutered him right away almost after bringing him in). Now he doesn't at all. However I have a female who was spayed as a kitten and she sprays.
 

fuzzymolly

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While not my cat, I do know of a male cat that was neutered and continued to spray well into his adult years. There may have been the scent of another cat in their house, but they'd lived there for several years before Mickey came along and they had no animals before him.
 
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poohandwendy

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Thanks for all of your thoughts on this.

We are determined to make every effort to make this his forever home. I do know, as another poster pointed out, that his urine will lose most of the strong odor which is good. I am hopeful that he will overcome this. No matter what, he will have a good home.

We have to wait until Nov 29th for the neuter because I can get an excellent price at the Humane Society, if I went to my regular vet...it would be almost triple!!! Like I said, I am going to try the Feliway in the room he is in, just in case stress is making him more likely to spray. It can't hurt, right?

He is an awesome cat, very gentle and affectionate. Very curious about the other cats he can smell under the door. Small though. You can tell he is an adult, but wow...he is much smaller than my other cats. Probably never had a very good diet. You can tell this cat was not cared for...sad.
 

chausiefan

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yikes until nove 29th thats a long time to live with a tom cat i dont think i could do it
 

epona

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Originally Posted by chausiefan

yikes until nove 29th thats a long time to live with a tom cat i dont think i could do it
My boy is 6 months next week and his urine absolutely REEKS! It has gotten very noticeably worse over the last month. I came home last night and he had peed in his litter box and I nearly fainted the smell was so strong - it lingered for ages in the air too, despite the odour-control litter.

I cannot wait to get him neutered, I don't think my nose can take this much longer. 6 months is the earliest you can get it done round here, I'm hoping to get him booked in for next week, ie. as early as I can possibly get it done.
 
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poohandwendy

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Originally Posted by chausiefan

yikes until nove 29th thats a long time to live with a tom cat i dont think i could do it
LOL. I know. But, he really has been pretty content. Every now and again, he meows to go out (especially at night)...but he gets over it fairly quickly. I was really, really hoping to get an earlier appt but that was the first available (lol, I made the appt before Halloween!)

And yes, his urine is quite disgusting. I stay on top of it, but even still...very stinky!
 

missinthesouth

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Just another positive story for you.

We adopted Carl a month ago (or so) and he had been neutered 6 months before that. Up until then he had spent his adult life (he is 3) as a tom cat stray. He has never sprayed since we got him, and the woman at the rescue told me he stopped spraying very shortly after being neutered.
 
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