Hello,
We have 3 MC, a 6 year old girl, a 1 year old boy, and a 10 month old girl. The girls have been spayed whereas the boy has not been neutered as we've been waiting as long as possible to do so. They are all indoor cats and live in a very clean environment; and since we want minimal intervention on them we had wanted to delay the neutering. We did spay the younger girl since we do want to avoid any pregnancy issues inside the MC household.
However, in the last week or so we've noticed the non-neutered male urinate outside his box, typically in different corners of the house. We have a huge sandbox (largest storage-type container) which is cleaned very often so it's not the box that is dirty. The other two MCs go to the box regularly as does he, but half of his #1 I would say is now done in different corners of the house.
Is this an indication of sexual maturity and would neutering help with it? Is there any way to avoid neutering -- basically we do not need it for population control/etc.
Finally, even though I personally doubt it - could this be due to a change in the diet or a UTI? We've recently gone from Royal Canine MC + Fancy Feast Beef to a River Ranch dry + raw chicken + fish oil supplements for all the MCs.
Thank you.
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Maine Coon male cat marking his territory or something else?
- Thread starter dantm
- Start Date
I think the marking is a sign of sexual maturity and neutering will be necessary to stop it. The longer it goes on the more the habit will become ingrained and difficult to stop. I know some breeders have had males that they ended up keeping instead of adopting out as pets because of this. Some of their studs never stopped spraying after being neutering.
I don't know the reasons why you don't want him to be neutered. I know we have had some people here that thought that the reasons for not neutering or delaying neutering of dogs, particularly the large dogs, also applies to kitties. There is no evidence that those valid reasons for dogs also applies to kitties.
I don't know the reasons why you don't want him to be neutered. I know we have had some people here that thought that the reasons for not neutering or delaying neutering of dogs, particularly the large dogs, also applies to kitties. There is no evidence that those valid reasons for dogs also applies to kitties.
Do you have a strays/ferals near your house?
My oldest boy was neutered as an older cat because I was uneducated about the benefits. He was an only cat, he did not do any marking, and he was indoor only. We had a female stray show up in the woods behind our house. He started marking and behaving badly even though we did not know she was even there until we seen kittens show up. (Long story, but we used to have an Australian Cattle Dog that past away prior to this so there were never cats in our area, at least they would not come inside the fence)
We took him to the vet because of his unusual behavior. He was neutered a week later. He ended up having to have an exploratory laparotomy due to a bleed after surgery. My new additions were neutered/spayed at 9 weeks. I had the feral and her kittens spayed/eartipped.
I was amazed when he came home. He never sprayed again. I also never realized how strong smelling his urine was until we had him neutered. The urine does not smell at all now.
I have been educated now on all the benefits and I will always spay/neuter as soon as possible.
My oldest boy was neutered as an older cat because I was uneducated about the benefits. He was an only cat, he did not do any marking, and he was indoor only. We had a female stray show up in the woods behind our house. He started marking and behaving badly even though we did not know she was even there until we seen kittens show up. (Long story, but we used to have an Australian Cattle Dog that past away prior to this so there were never cats in our area, at least they would not come inside the fence)
We took him to the vet because of his unusual behavior. He was neutered a week later. He ended up having to have an exploratory laparotomy due to a bleed after surgery. My new additions were neutered/spayed at 9 weeks. I had the feral and her kittens spayed/eartipped.
I was amazed when he came home. He never sprayed again. I also never realized how strong smelling his urine was until we had him neutered. The urine does not smell at all now.
I have been educated now on all the benefits and I will always spay/neuter as soon as possible.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #4
Hello,
We do not have any stray cats in the neighborhood as we are on the top floor of a multi-story building and none of our floor neighbors have cats either. So I'd say it'd be hard to think that the male cat scents another cat.
On another note, the urine that he's been leaving in the corners of the house does smell differently and pretty strong; I don't think that was the case in earlier months.
With regards to spraying -- to me he's just urinating in that location, not really spraying in the true sense? Is this the first step of the sexual maturity?
Can you also educate me on the benefits of neutering? I can search for this online but my understanding is that it's reduced chance of infection? Where would these cats get infections if they are fully indoor and the house is clean, sandbox is clean, etc., etc.
Finally -- one more note that I forgot to mention -- this boy does behave 'badly' but in a masculine sense; he beats up a little bit on the younger female and also tries to paw at the older one but she'll have none of it and gives it right back. To my wife and I this is just part of his personality and we'd hate for it to change with neutering?
We do not have any stray cats in the neighborhood as we are on the top floor of a multi-story building and none of our floor neighbors have cats either. So I'd say it'd be hard to think that the male cat scents another cat.
On another note, the urine that he's been leaving in the corners of the house does smell differently and pretty strong; I don't think that was the case in earlier months.
With regards to spraying -- to me he's just urinating in that location, not really spraying in the true sense? Is this the first step of the sexual maturity?
Can you also educate me on the benefits of neutering? I can search for this online but my understanding is that it's reduced chance of infection? Where would these cats get infections if they are fully indoor and the house is clean, sandbox is clean, etc., etc.
Finally -- one more note that I forgot to mention -- this boy does behave 'badly' but in a masculine sense; he beats up a little bit on the younger female and also tries to paw at the older one but she'll have none of it and gives it right back. To my wife and I this is just part of his personality and we'd hate for it to change with neutering?
http://valleycatrescue.org/spay-and-neuter-news/how-neutering-benefits-your-male-cat-you/ explains some of the benefits of neutering. The main medical benefits for male kitties is no testicular cancer. I don't know how common that cancer is but neutering removes all risks.
Your kitty is just beginning to show the signs of sexual maturity. Maine Coon kitties tend to be slow maturing so he hasn't shown all the signs yet. He may start howling at night especially in early spring when kitties are in heat. Even though you live where you think he isn't affected by a cat in heat, if there is one anywhere close he will smell her and want to mate with her. Along with the howling he will start trying to get out and kitties are great escape artists and quick, a door opened he wants out to mate and he is out. If he does get outside then he will get into fights and come home with abscesses and be exposed to disease. The spraying and the strong odor will also probably get worse as he matures more. He is marking territory now, he just isn't fully mature yet and hasn't started doing what we think of as spraying. As he matures he will begin physically doing what we think of as spraying.
Kitties aren't attached to their 'manhood' the way humans are, there will be no negative effects from neutering.
Your kitty is just beginning to show the signs of sexual maturity. Maine Coon kitties tend to be slow maturing so he hasn't shown all the signs yet. He may start howling at night especially in early spring when kitties are in heat. Even though you live where you think he isn't affected by a cat in heat, if there is one anywhere close he will smell her and want to mate with her. Along with the howling he will start trying to get out and kitties are great escape artists and quick, a door opened he wants out to mate and he is out. If he does get outside then he will get into fights and come home with abscesses and be exposed to disease. The spraying and the strong odor will also probably get worse as he matures more. He is marking territory now, he just isn't fully mature yet and hasn't started doing what we think of as spraying. As he matures he will begin physically doing what we think of as spraying.
Kitties aren't attached to their 'manhood' the way humans are, there will be no negative effects from neutering.
My benefits were:
Urinating in places other than the litter box stopped. (mine was urinated on his favorite person stuff, my husband)
Smell of the urine changed.
No risk of testicular cancer.
His personality did not change at all. He went right back to his personality he had before he started being naughty. I think once it starts and the longer it goes on the harder it is to break those habits.
My cat is a not a pure bred and I had no intentions of breeding.
He could also have something else going on medically that is making him urinate in other places.
I would have him checked by the vet. If nothing is medically wrong that is causing it maybe you could discuss risk/benefit of neutering.
I was really scared of putting him under anesthetic. I stayed in the office while they were doing surgery and the vet let me come in the operating room as soon as he was done. He was still on the table on the machines. They let us be with him to recover.
Urinating in places other than the litter box stopped. (mine was urinated on his favorite person stuff, my husband)
Smell of the urine changed.
No risk of testicular cancer.
His personality did not change at all. He went right back to his personality he had before he started being naughty. I think once it starts and the longer it goes on the harder it is to break those habits.
My cat is a not a pure bred and I had no intentions of breeding.
He could also have something else going on medically that is making him urinate in other places.
I would have him checked by the vet. If nothing is medically wrong that is causing it maybe you could discuss risk/benefit of neutering.
I was really scared of putting him under anesthetic. I stayed in the office while they were doing surgery and the vet let me come in the operating room as soon as he was done. He was still on the table on the machines. They let us be with him to recover.
Tomcats naturally display some very difficult behaviors to tolerate indoors. That's why cat shows allow neutered cats 
. Unlike dog shows, because leaving a well-trained male dog intact usually isn't a problem. Even breeders frequently keep their toms in outdoor enclosures and have them neutered as soon as their breeding is done. It's just how cats are. He's old enough now that any growth concerns should be moot (not that it's really a concern in cats) so I don't see any reason not to neuter at this point. If you do choose to keep him intact, keep in mind that you've chosen the tomcat behavior as well---so many people get rid of their tomcats for "bad behavior" .
. Unlike dog shows, because leaving a well-trained male dog intact usually isn't a problem. Even breeders frequently keep their toms in outdoor enclosures and have them neutered as soon as their breeding is done. It's just how cats are. He's old enough now that any growth concerns should be moot (not that it's really a concern in cats) so I don't see any reason not to neuter at this point. If you do choose to keep him intact, keep in mind that you've chosen the tomcat behavior as well---so many people get rid of their tomcats for "bad behavior" .
