Surgery on cryptorchid to stop spraying/anxiety?

meep?

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
2
Purraise
0
Two months ago, we took home a 1.5 year old rescue cat. He immediately began spraying and urinating outside of the box. After reading lots of great advice on this forum, we purchased Cat Attract litter and got him treated for a UTI, which completely eliminated the puddles. We also used Feliway which greatly reduced the spraying to about once every other day.

However, he has begun spraying 3-5 times daily again, despite using enzymatic cleaners and continuing with Feliway. It is impossible to limit his view of outside (low windows and an open floor plan) and his favorite place to spray is the heating/return air vents in the floor which are impossible to cover (it's cold out!) and therefore difficult to remove all traces of urine.

He always been very vocal, sounding very distressed and anxious, and paws at doors and windows frantically. He also mounts blankets several times a day, 20 minutes at a time, and is uninterested in toys and catnip. He is ruining our house and our sanity.

I remember when we took the cat from the shelter, the lady was reviewing his medical history and murmured something to herself about "crypto." So my conclusion is that the behavioral issues are because he is a cryptorchid and is only partially neutered.

Here is my question: if we go to the expense of invasive surgery to get him completely neutered, is his behavior likely to improve, or is he now in the habit of these things regardless of whether the hormones are there to influence him?
 

zissou'smom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
6,482
Purraise
8
I'm not sure why the vet who neutered him didn't remove them both in the first place, even if one did fail to descend. That would be really strange?

Anyway, are you sure his peeing problem isn't caused by another UTI? If he was fine between when he came home and now, he doesn't sound like a habitual sprayer to me.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

meep?

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
2
Purraise
0
He immediately began spraying and peeing when we took him home. The puddles of pee stopped appearing after treatment for a UTI (and using Cat Attract litter) and have not returned. The spraying never really stopped, it just tapered off for awhile and is now back with a vengeance.

I am sure it is spraying because he does the whole tail jiggle thing during one of his anxiety fits and then walks away. It is a small squirt with a trajectory, not a puddle. Maybe it is my imagination, but it has a muskier scent than the large urine clumps in his box.
 

missymotus

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
9,234
Purraise
254
I would get him rechecked for a UTI first, while at the vets you could ask him/her about kitty only being partially neutered.
 

bkydrose

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
24
Purraise
14
Location
Toronto, Canada
One of my cats was cryptorchid. The Humane Society had thought he was already neutered before they got him. My vet didn't know for sure until he had an urinary infection and started peeing and spraying everyway. He also started to make love constantly to a stuffed cat that I got for him. The pee of an intact cat is very smelly once he reaches puberty. He had to be cured of the urinary infection first and then I had the surgery done. At the surgery the vet found that he had two undescended testicles. The spraying stopped soon after the surgery and he lost interest in the stuffed cat.

Vets say that spraying doesn't always stop after a cat is neutered, but there's a very good chance that it will. Also a cat with undescended testicles has a greatly increased risk of cancer. The cost of the surgery was about the same as spaying surgery for a female.
 
Top