'hood cat sprays on windows

I've read a few threads i found from searching but still need to ask -- how can i get rid of a neighborhood male cat?

we have 3 cats, indoor/outdoor, but mine stay in all night and this 'hood cat apparently is out all the time. i've only seen the other cat twice but he's a big boy. we have one big dude, one huge fat blob female (sister to the big guy), and a former stray female who is perfect size. The other cat comes around when they are around (when they are outside, they stay pretty close to the house, *definitely* in my 1.5 acres.

anyways we have 3 big windows on our back porch that are floor-to-ceiling height, and this other cat keep spraying on them from the outside. it smells nasty and i'm sure is driving our cats nuts. i'm sick of cleaning it. these are the same windows our cats use to tell us they want to come inside, so i dont want to just cover them and move on.

Tonight we'll take the blacklight outside and see if there is any remaining spray on our house/windows/deck.

but is there anything else i can do to keep this cat away from my house (without just covering the windows and ensuring the smell is gone)?

jp....it isn't like this cat is trying to do it to purposefully piss you off....this cat is probably not neutered and his hormones are telling him to claim his territory outdoors by spraying. Does that deserve him being shot?? I don't think so. A better way to treat the issue is to have him neutered. Chances are that neutering will reduce or even eliminate his desire to spray as much.

Katie

You know, this reminds me of the story of Osama, renamed Samoa... You should check the site that was put up in his name - www.savesamoa.org

Yes, neutering is the first thing to be done. We do that here to at least 2-3 male cats a year. In our case, only one was a sprayer, and that ended right after we had him neutered (it doesn't always, but it definitely won't stop as long as he's whole). The others just wander into our neighborhood (non-neutered males are notorious for wandering) and pick up fights with our cats. We don't hold it against them, we just trap then and get them neutered and voila.

If there aren't any ID tags on him and you see him outside, you can assume he's a stray. You can get traps from the humane society (for a deposit, generally), put something smelly inside, and voila--cat in a box. Cover the trap, take it to the vet, get him neutered. (You'll have to make the appointment ahead of time, of course.) Do you need info on cheap spay/neuter places for your area?