New Foster - Pretending to Spray?

I am fostering a cat for my local HS. A male, 8-9 months of age, just went in for his neuter/testing/vaccs yesterday and I picked him up directly from the vet this morning.

He's a gorgeous skinny light orange/white boy. Long and lanky.

I have 4 cats of my own, so I allowed him one trip around the house to sniff things out, and now he is "resting" in our spare bathroom, so he can eat, drink, sleep, and use his litterbox in peace without my crew tormenting him.

He has a behavior that became pretty obvious right off the bat.

He is backing up to things, raising his butt, and waggling his tail. Of course, the LAST thing I want in the house is a spraying cat. The first time he did it, I ran for paper towels and some cleaner, but was surprised to find the area dry. Every time he did this, whatever he had backed up to was bone dry.

I did google "pretending to spray" and it seems this isn't all that unheard of. But I wonder if anyone here has any first hand experience with "pretend sprayers" and does it eventually turn into real spraying, or is it just a release of excitement/energy/nervousness like I'm reading online and really has nothing to do with true, territory marking "Spray"?

My little girl Maggie does this. At first I too was afraid because females have been known to spray on occasion. Well she is now 4 years old and has never "Sprayed" anything in the house. I have read that this is some sort of excited greeting. That makes sense for Maggie because she usually walks over to me & shows me her rump & does those motions. Then if I am talking to her, or she is waiting for her food, she will also do this.

Same thing for my neutered 5 year old male, Cage, he does the same excited greeting thing, where he wiggles his tail and acts like he will spray me or whatever is nearby, but has never actually sprayed anything that I am aware of while he does this... aside from the wall right next to his litter box (which sucks but is acceptable to me because it's the litter box and he does it ONLY when is standing IN the litter box).

Originally Posted by PintaMeez

Same thing for my neutered 5 year old male, Cage, he does the same excited greeting thing, where he wiggles his tail and acts like he will spray me or whatever is nearby, but has never actually sprayed anything that I am aware of while he does this... aside from the wall right next to his litter box (which sucks but is acceptable to me because it's the litter box and he does it ONLY when is standing IN the litter box).

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That is intresting because Maggie does not squat in the litter box either. She stands & sprays it straight back. I have covered boxes, but it continues to leak out. I just keep a puppy training pad on the floor.

We had another thread on this issue a while back - maybe this will help:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=201864

Thanks so much for setting my mind at ease. I don't know him very well but he seems like a wonderful little kitty, I'd hate for him to have a hard time finding a forever home because of spraying. (not to mention I do NOT want him spraying in my own house either)

Thanks for the link, motoko, I tried to search on this before creating my own thread, but I came up empty.

My pleasure! Good luck in finding a forever home for the little guy.

Rocko does this also and it freaked me out at first. He is a happy boy when he does this I have since learned. So far it hasn't turned out to be the "real thing", its been a year 1/2.

Now ReeRee and Fiona are catching on to it.

It freaked me out too! I'm a lover of animals of all sorts, and am able to deal with lots of the 'problems' they may come with, but spraying....ugh....that is just something I fear, and won't tolerate.....no matter how terrible it sounds to say it.

He's an absolute sponge though.... He falls all over himself when he sees me coming, and isn't happy unless he's feet in my lap, arms around my shoulders, and head bopping me repeatedly in the face, purring very loudly.

Finding him a good home isn't up to me, it's all up to the HS. I just get to have fun with him til that happens.

He is so handsome! Those are some long legs he has, I bet he's going to be a big boy when he's all grown up!

I think so too. Big long lanky legs, and a tail that goes on forever..... If he grows into those legs he'll be a monster kitty.

oooh, pretty! he's going to grow up to be a seriously handsome mancat.