Spraying. He just won't knock it off.

cc12

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Seldon is the culprit.
Cleo was protest peeing outside of his box but Dr Elsy and Cat Attract fixed that issue.

I have taken in a stray who is now mine a female named Lucia. She just had a litter on Sunday and will be spayed when the kittens are weaned. Ever since she came he has begun to spray. First it was the door where he used to watch her everyday. I cleaned it, Feliway sprayed it and put a plug in next to the door. I also added a litter box closer by.
Then I saw him spray the door to the room where she is staying. He has taken to spraying everywhere. Just now he sprayed outside of my window. A little got on my sill but this is my bedroom and I don't want that behavior starting in here too.
I can't confine him because all of my spaces are taken for my 2 kittens and then Lucia has a room. My other bathrooms are not feasible.
My house is too large for me to wash walls constantly and my health won't allow it plus 3 staircases. I have put bottles of spray in various locales to clean what I can see.
But really the behavior is the problem. I know it has something to do with Lucia. He was accepting of the kittens. In fact he adores them. He is usually really easy going and the last in the house to be aggressive. But he has gotten out and gotten into 2 cat fights. He has not been the same since then.
He doesn't come for nightly snuggles and seems busy all of the time. He is always walking around, looking into every room and I will catch him sniff around and then spray. He knows he is not supposed to do it because when I catch him he stops and runs away without me saying anything.
We do have outside cats. One in particular who we feed and who hangs around. Since Lucia was in my yard there were Toms on the prowl all of the time and you can smell the Tom Spray outside of my windows. I have that cleaned but it keeps happening anyway.

Sorry so long but wanted to provide as much info as I can.
What can I do?
 

yayi

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It happens to me every time there is a stray who insists on hanging around even though my "boys" have done the motions to keep him out of the property. The one who sprays is the one with issues. Like now it's my Ichi who wants to be top cat, before it was Buddy who was not being accepted by the alpha, and so on. The problem goes away when the strange cat leaves. Other than suggest that you keep away from the cats outside and maybe double the "Feliway" dosage, I can't think of anything else. Hope others here have better advise.
 
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cc12

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Thanks yayi. It actually helps not to feel alone. What you said does make sense about the Alpha thing. Seldon was always low man in the hierarchy but he seemed ok with it. But ever since his cat fights he seems to want to be more dominant. So see you did help!
 

kat89447

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He sounds like he is protecting his turf and his human. The spray works but there are alot of foreign smells around suddenly. It might help if when you change the towels or whatever you are using to let him smell them. I used to take the towels and put them in the laundry room so my other cats could smell and get used to the smell being around, also if they sprayed it was easy clean up. This also works with bringing a new baby home. By inviting him to smell this you are letting him know that it is a good smell and part of the family smell. He might not stop right away, but in time it will be apart of everyday and the spraying should stop.
 
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cc12

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Very good idea. I had not thought of it. Protecting his space I was thinking but protecting me and the others too. Interesting.
He spends time with the kittens in their room to play so he is cool with that. But he has not been in Lucia's room. I may take one of her blankets and put it out to see what he does.

Last night he came and spent time with me. He slept next to me in my bed. I am trying to give him extra love and reassurance.
 

hissy

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Spraying serves three purposes- it is either health related and that needs to be ruled out first- it is territorial sending a message to the other cats and it creates balance for your cats.

Cats come and go here all the time- anytime I bring in a new cat, I am prepared for the onslaught of spraying from three of my own. Their home scent has been interrupted-these three are my strongest alphas and one is a female. They will go about and place their spray in stratigic locations around the house. After talking with many experts, it was explained to me that this urine smell that we human detest- the cats use to bring back the smell of the house they are comfortable in. They don't like disruption, new smells upset the group and the alphas are all about control.

What I would suggest you do is not bring in any more strays for awhile. Once one cat has sprayed, the others will assume this is the new litter pan and follow suit. Don't laugh, but you can actually set out planters of Basil (the herb) in the area where they are spraying (once you find it). Thank jcat for this tip- because it does indeed work!

Another thing you can do is neutralize the area and make it a play area. Sprinkle catnip on the carpet, toss around a few toys and play interactively in that area. To find the areas, you need a black light though otherwise you are chasing shadows.

Dusty Rainbolt recently wrote a great book for multicat owners called Cat Wrangling - I highly recommend it! She tackles this problem in multiple chapters, because if you have more than one stray this is the number one issue in the house.

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Wrangling-.../dp/1599212242
 
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cc12

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Thank you so much, hissy.
I will be buying that book and I won't be taking in anymore strays. I found some spots and sprayed. Seldon saw me cleaning and he went somewhere else and sprayed.
Within eyeshot.
But what you are saying makes perfect sense.
Tonight I have a few helpers and we are going to go over the entire house and find the areas.

I have one question. What does the basil do?
 

skimble

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Cat Wrangling book is awesome. She lists the different types of urine cleaners and why some work better than others. A great read. Good luck.
 

hissy

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The Basil is a deterrent. Once the area is located (sure hope you have a black light) and then neutralized the plants serve to keep the cats away from the area.
 
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