A question for those with 10 or more cats.....

Who here has experienced spraying most likely cause by the addition of too many cats into the household? Until recently I have had no problems with peeing outside the litter boxes. (the only exception was a medical one about 2 years ago). I am up to 14 cats and have recently come into this problem. I am controlling it with amitriptylin (kitty prozac) but feel I have done an injustice to the "family" by causing this stress. I certainly cannot simply reduce the number of cats, how could I send them away after I promised them a forever home? But it seems so unfair to medicate the ones who were here first when I more than liekly caused their unhappinss by adopting/fostering too many.

So I ask:
Has this happened to you?
And
Has it been cured or are you living with it?
Thanks

I have twelve and knock on wood everyone is living in peaceful harmony.

Are you sure you have enough litter boxes and are you scooping enough? I have noticed if I slack on scooping then accidents happen.

Also are all the males fixed? If not that could be part of them problem.

I am not looking for REASONS, I just wonder IF anyone else has this problem.

I have 17 litter boxes. they are scooped twice daily. ALL pets are neutered. ALL tests were done for UTI, crystals.....etc.etc. I KNOW what the problem is, I just wonder if others have encountered this also.

I agree with princess...sounds like they dont have enough boxes...you are supposed to have one per kitty...I have one kitty that will not use the box if anyone else has...she will go else where-whatever corner is free!

Seventeen boxes are more than adequate. I have a problem with a sprayer as well- I have 12 cats. I only notice it in the wintertime when the majority of the cats are indoor and they get up close and personal with each other. I try to distribute them throughout the house both upstairs and down, and that helps a bit. In the summertime, they don't spray, because most of them spend the better part of the day outdoors and well away from each other.

I don't know if it is feasible for you, but perhaps an outdoor enclosure might work? Someplace they can escape the crowd and get their own space for awhile?

Originally posted by JenLuckenbach
I am not looking for REASONS, I just wonder IF anyone else has this problem.

I have 17 litter boxes. they are scooped twice daily. ALL pets are neutered. ALL tests were done for UTI, crystals.....etc.etc. I KNOW what the problem is, I just wonder if others have encountered this also.

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WELL EXCUSE ME FOR TRYING TO HELP I was just trying to give you ideas incase you didn't KNOW.
You asked "Has it been cured or are you living with it?" Well I only having peeing problems when i don't clean the litter boxes to their liking so I thought that might be an option.

An indoor version of the cat enclosure is a big cat tree, with lots of cubbies and platforms for the cats so no one is in another's face. We were starting to have a spraying problem (with a neutered male!) and got a big cat tree from eBay. It has 9 different places for cats to go. The spraying problem went away just about the same time. We also use Feliway plug ins and have 15 boxes in the basement, 2 in the attic and 1 in the computer room (the kitten's box). The boxes get scooped twice a day and changed weekly.

Good luck, Jen, and let me know how it goes! Hey, you're not far from me! I'm in Montgomery County, by Willow Grove.

I also have a problem with that . I got feliway plug-in and it was great and has stop the problem with the spraying . I have 18 cats in the house . But about 2 - 3 weeks now it started again , no need to say I was anoid about that . Till I found out my neighbours to the left gotten 2 kittens and they come to my house and feed on my outsite cats food . So the hole thing started again spraying by the door sight . Right now I don't know what to do at this point .

WELL EXCUSE ME FOR TRYING TO HELP

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I know and I apologize. What you could not have know was I have been through all the questions, all the options, the opinions, the tests and the only thing we've been able to come up with is that when I started fostering I pushed the envelope a little too far. Many of the volunteers from my rescue are also experiencing this problem.
My house is 3 stories tall and there are no less than 2 boxes in each and every room including 2 in the hallway (so there is no great distance to walk to find a potty). But the spraying was a deliberate show of dominance (once even on ME). Now the fosters have the 3rd floor and the residents have the 1st and 2nd. With the separation and the pills things are dry but it seems that there can be no mingling nor any additions to the family.

oops....my post is outta line...i thought i was posting after purrefect...bump
yea 17 is plenty!!

While I was picking up my son from a football game tonight I also noticed that my neighbours 2 houses away to the right let their cat out now too . The moved here 4 month ago with a black and white cat . I guess now they have their 2nd child the cat is to much insite . No wonder all my cats are acting up lately .

We also ran into this problem once we hit about 18. Once I went through all the "reasons" I found that the more timid cats were being bullied by some of the others. That's what caused them to start going outside the box. Of course, we wouldn't ever think of finding them another home. Our solution, and it's worked very well is to seperate the one's who were being bullied. They live downstairs, and the others live upstairs. They are all back to being happy again

I have that problem whenever there are new additions or major changes to the household. Using all the tips previously mentioned (cat trees, multiple litter boxes, cleaning daily+, lots of private areas), the cats settle back to normal within a month or two. The spraying always happens around questions of dominance - even when a kitten comes in and shows allegiance to a lesser cat in the pecking order, the dominant ones make a show of it for a while.