Help for my mom's cat

I lived in another city for a year and during the last six months that I lived there I started feeding two stray young cats. So, when it came time to move, I couldn't just leave them there. When we got them to my parent's house, one of them took off and the other we took to the SPCA (no-kill shelter). Well, a week after we took him the other showed up and my parents decided to just keep him. He (Bandit) is the absolute sweetest cat. Unfortunately, things have taken a terrible turn for him and my parents over the last year.

Bandit started spraying/urinating all over the house over the last year. My mom has taken him to the vet, who found nothing, and they had her start using Feliway. Well, this seemed to work initially but now things have started back up and seem to be getting worse. He is actually now getting up on the counter tops and urinating and seems to be aiming at appliances (coffee maker, compact trashcan, etc.). My mom is just so fed up and doesn't know what to do. She is contimplating taking him to the SPCA but her heart isn't in it. She seems to think having him put down would be more humane than taking him back there, even if they are a no-kill shelter.

I have given her the lists of ideas on the urination/spraying forum to run it over and make sure she's done all of them, but it seems this isn't something she is going to be able to resolve. It will be heart breaking to take him to the SPCA, but with the investment my parent's have made in their new hardwood/carpet/tile floors, I understand why they don't want to live with him this way. By the way, he is an indoor/outdoor cat. The only reason they don't leave him out all the time is that he gets into fights with other cats. He does love to go out though so they don't necessarily want to refine him indoors all the time, especially when he pees everywhere.

So, I wanted to come here and find out if any of you have any suggestions on what to do with nothing else seems to work. Thanks in advance!

You don't mention it so I have to ask, is he neutered?

Originally Posted by Graciecat

You don't mention it so I have to ask, is he neutered?

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Ha! I tried to cover everything and missed the obvious one. Yes, he is neutered.

One of the first things you should check when a male cat stops using the LB and starts spraying and urinating inappropriately is whether he has a urinary tract infection. Take him to the vet right away. It can be very serious.

Since he's neutered then I agree that he should be seen by a Vet to make sure he doesn't have a UTI.

I hope your Mom finds out soon what's going on with him.

Yes, vet check asap - and from experience with my male adopted cat, I cannot recommend Cat Attract Litter too highly - it's been working like a charm. And, yes, I also cleaned madly with enzyme cleaners as well.

Good luck to your parents and Bandit.

As I mentioned in my first post they have already taken him to the vet when this first started and he had nothing wrong. They did put him on a urinary health type diet, one of the Science Diet's I can't remember which. They told her that the best bet was the Feliway but it isn't working. This is why she is stuck on what to do now.

How long ago was the first vet visit?

I also recommend using Cat Attract litter! It's a wonderful product and is sold at PetSmart (and PetCo probably has it too).

It does sound territorial, but just to cover all bases you want to make sure your parents are keeping the litter box clean (has to be done 1x / day), that there are two boxes (the general rule for one cat is two boxes, some cats are picky about using the same box to pee in that they poop in, even when they hadn't been that way in the past), the boxes should be large enough, uncovered (covered ones are the cat equivalent of port-a-potties), and the litter should be unscented.

Your parents MUST use an enzyme cleaner, otherwise the cat will continue using the same spots.

Since the Feliway diffusers worked for a bit, I wonder if it's time to replace the actual diffuser unit? They have to be replaced 1x a year, but maybe that's just a fire hazard thing. You might want to try something like flower essences, check out this website:

http://www.catfaeries.com/essences.html
http://www.catfaeries.com/what_buy.html

I've had good luck with Rescue Remedy, which isn't on that website but it's a flower essence also. I wasn't using it for the same situation your parents are going through though.