Help for my spraying male

Hello to all and thanks for being here. I have four cats now. Each cat was adopted one at a time. I adopted the latest about two months ago. His name is ChaChaCharlie or ChaCha. He was abandoned at the apartment complex that I manage. He's very docile and loving, and I could tell that he must have been owned by people and not feral. I took him to the vet first. He's healthy and now has all his shots (he hasn't been neutered yet). When I brought him home, I kept him separate from my other three cats for about 4 days. My other cats, Montgomery, Pretty Boy and Katy(2 boys and a girl)did not accept ChaCha at first, they hiss at him when he tries to play with them (which is all the time) (The background on my first 3 cats: Montgomery or Monty was adopted when he was less than 6 weeks old because he was found alone on the side of highway in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was just a couple weeks old. PB and Katy were adopted from the Humane Society. All were spayed/neutered.) The situation between all 4 cats has become much better, as the others tolerate ChaCha even tho they won't play with him. My problem is with Monty, who sprayed some before ChaCha came to live with us, is now spraying out the cazoo....everywhere & on everything, & it's not just a little misting, he actually has alot of pee shooting out of him. I think it's because Monty's stressed by ChaCha. What can I do to get Monty to stop spraying? And how can I help them feel more comfortable together?

Two things you can do for them . # 1 get them all fixed right away , or it may get worse . # 2 you can get some feliway plug in and it calms them down a bit , you can buy over the internet or in pet stores . It is a little pricy but it is worth it . But neuter/spaying is # 1 right now . That don't mean they stop spraying , some cats may never stop spraying after they start to spray . I have one great sprayer in my house , but the feliway has helped a lot and I mean a lot .

I would take Monty to the vet to be checked for a UTI just to be safe. Changing the routine of a cat is very stressful for that cat and can cause sickness. One of the most common manifestations of stress in cats is UTI.

Other than that, getting ChaCha neutered, and investing in a feliway comfort zone room diffuser will help. Monty is marking his territory and telling ChaCha to stay clear. Also buy a good enzyme cleaner to use to get rid of the urine smell sot hat Monty isn't inclined to keep refreshing the smell when it fades.

Thanks for your advise

I had to resort to medication when all else failed. I have 2 on amitriptylin (kitty prozac). It has stopped the unwanted behavior, but it is not the answer all people want to use. Ask your vet and then decide if it is right for your situation.

First...Bravo to you for rescuing these cats! You are doing a wonderful thing.

If the cat is spraying...he is marking his territory. Basically, he's saying this is my place, not yours!

This can be a difficult habit to break but it is absolutely possible to do so.

This is what I did to stop spraying in the neutered adult male I rescued.

1. Use Feliway to help him not want to spray. Feliway mimics the friendly marking that cats do when they rub their faces on things. When a cat smells a friendly scent, they are unlikely to mark with urine. The Feliway box will give detailed instructions on how to use it....follow the instructions carefully. The Feliway plug-in (Comfort Zone) works wonders with helping to curb spraying.

2. Hang aluminum foil on the places the cat likes to spray. Cats usually will not spray on foil because it makes an unpleasant sound when hit with the urine and it makes the urine splash back on the cat. Each day that the cat does not spray, tear about an inch off the bottom of the foil until the foil is completely gone. Don't remove the whole strip all at once because the cat may interpret this as you saying it is okay to spray here again.

3. If you see the cat getting into the spray position, yell "No!" and then grab him and put him in time-out (in the bathroom for example) for only 2-3 minutes. Do the same if you caught him in the act.

4. Check to see if there are stray cats hanging out outside your house. A cat will often spray in response to strange cats around the house. Make sure you don't walk through outside cat spray and track that smell into the house. This was what was happening in my house. I put a Comfort Zone plug-in at the back door where the outside cats were hanging out and made sure I avoided anything that might bring in their smells. This made a huge difference in controlling Chester's spraying.

5. Be patient and persistent. Breaking the spraying habit can take a while, but it should work.


Good luck!