spraying, rehoming questions

A couple of months ago, we agreed to take in a 2.5yo male cat who had
been abandoned. While this cat seems to like it here, we are finding
that his presence has quite upset the household balance (we have 2 other
adult cats). The worst of it is the spraying.

The knucklehead who abandoned this cat did not have him neutered and
allowed him to roam, so his territorial marking instinct is fully formed.
We understand that the cat is not doing it to annoy us but it is getting to
us. And to head off the obvious questions - yes, he has been checked out
by the vet and is healthy; yes, we are using Feliway diffusers; yes, we are
using enzymatic cleaners when he does spray. I even bought a black light
so I could better hunt down his spray spots.

We are not attached to this cat and are considering finding him another
home. I think he would do best in a home without any other cats. We
would be honest about why we are giving him up but realize that a history
of spraying is not a big attraction. To top it off, he has tested FIV+
(confirmed), so we would not be able to take him to the local shelter.

For those that have lived through similar situations -
1. Do they ever stop spraying?
2. How difficult is it to find a new home for a "problem" cat?

Thanks

You'd have to be honest that he has sprayed in your home, & being FIV+(people are narrow minded) he'll be hard to place.

I've only dealt with spraying that was caused by UTIs & you've already ruled that out. Does your vet have any suggestions on what to try next?

One "obvious" question you didn't asnwer... have you had him neutered?!

Even if you have had him neutered, bear in mind that it will take a month or so for the hormones to cycle out of his system. Has it been that long since he was neutered (assuming you had it done)?

Laurie

Doh! Left that information out of my original post...

Yes! Of course he has been neutered! That's a *strict* rule in this house.

He was neutered mid-October and we picked him up the end of October, so there's been two months for the hormones to flush from his system. I'm not sure how long that process actually takes. I have noticed that he reacts to certain things, so I try to avoid or mitigate those situations but then I find spray spots that do not fall in those categories - like my dresser mirror. It's quite frustrating. I've never had a cat that would do this until now. He's really quite sweet but....

The recommendation from the vet was to resequester him and start over with introducing him to the house but I don't think that's the answer. He's asserting his dominance in the cat hierarchy by spraying, which is logical and understandable. I'm wondering if there's a way to get him to understand that his spraying is unwanted/unnecessary.

Well, it sounds like the spraying seems to be headed for behavioral, and he might be doing this for as long as there are other cats around to fight over territory with. He might have to be an only cat

It'd be hard to place him at first, but if you can keep him sequestered from the other cats to minimize his episodes of territoriality, you might be able to find the right adopter: someone who only wants one cat, and who understands that FIV is not a death sentence and that so long as he is properly cared for, this cat could be healthy for a long time.

Sometimes an entire cat may take longer then 1-2 months to "get it out of his system" when recently neutered - especially if he's bred and been a tom for awhile.

But I agree, you'd have to search awhile and be honest with the people on potential problems. Hopefully most of the behaviors will have stopped by the time you find him a new home.