Tips on how to deal with stray cat before neutering

newbiecatmom

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Hello,

For the past couple of weeks, my family has been feeding a male stray cat that started visiting our home.  During that period he has warmed up to us and gets pretty close to our screen door and asks to be petted, which we do.  We've decided to take him in for neutering, vaccination, and deworming.  Due to his friendly demeanor, we think he's adoptable; after he is fixed and checked to make sure he is ok, we will put him in an adoption center.  I am pretty sure we won't need a trap, since he always tries to enter our house (and actually did once), so our plan is to let him in and keep him in one of our bathrooms.  We have 3 cats and they will be kept away from him.  

Still, we never done this before and we have several questions:

1.  Is there any product we can use to discourage him from spraying the bathroom?

2.  Our main concern is, since we live in an apartment, that he will meow and howl a lot, is this likely?

3.  Our other fear is that he will become aggressive, again, is this something we should expect?

Sorry if the questions are a bit silly, we've never done this before. 2 of our cats are strays but they were kittens when we rescued them.  The cat in question is a young adult. 

Thanks in advance, we really want to help the little guy and find him a nice home. 
 

StefanZ

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Semiferale toms are not seldom friendly to humans whom are friendly. But you are wise to keep it away from your residents.  Its not only the quarantine, but there IS some risk he may beat them up.  Territorial toms may do it.

I think your plan is both nice and good.

There is of course some risk for howling and or loud meowing.  So for example, that is why we whom were owner of working stud, moved from a flat to own house...   No risk of irritated neigbours.   The only cure is neutering yes.    :)

But to lessen the risk he gets nervous or stressed:  Have calming relaxing music on. Classical harp music is best, but almost any may do.

A Feliway adapter, or feliway spray, may help too...   Get him a hole to hide in, for exampel a sideturned cardboard box.  Scratching post... etc.

Tx for caring!
 

piano cat

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Hello,

For the past couple of weeks, my family has been feeding a male stray cat that started visiting our home.  During that period he has warmed up to us and gets pretty close to our screen door and asks to be petted, which we do.  We've decided to take him in for neutering, vaccination, and deworming.  Due to his friendly demeanor, we think he's adoptable; after he is fixed and checked to make sure he is ok, we will put him in an adoption center.  I am pretty sure we won't need a trap, since he always tries to enter our house (and actually did once), so our plan is to let him in and keep him in one of our bathrooms.  We have 3 cats and they will be kept away from him.  

Still, we never done this before and we have several questions:

1.  Is there any product we can use to discourage him from spraying the bathroom?

2.  Our main concern is, since we live in an apartment, that he will meow and howl a lot, is this likely?

3.  Our other fear is that he will become aggressive, again, is this something we should expect?

Sorry if the questions are a bit silly, we've never done this before. 2 of our cats are strays but they were kittens when we rescued them.  The cat in question is a young adult. 

Thanks in advance, we really want to help the little guy and find him a nice home. 
1.  I don't know of a product but I have never had a male cat, neutered or not, feral or not, spray in my house.  All mine have used the litter tray I put with them.  

2.  Mine who were ferals huddled out of sight for about a week, quiet.  Meowing and calling tends to draw attention to themselves so I think they are likely to be silent.  I put mine in a large cage with room for litter, food away from litter and a cardboard box so they can hide if they want to.  Most hide in the box for about the first week.

3.  Guessing but if he just came from the Vet and you try to handle him he might get scared and seem aggressive.  He might do some defensive hissing and swatting.  My protocol is to ignore them till they come to me of their own accord, again for about that first week.

As he is a young adult you might find he only ever warms up to you and is not adoptable, or only to those familiar with ferals.  But, you may find, as I have, that once you get him inside it turns out he was someone's pet before and completely changes his demeanour.  I have one like that right now, she was wild as the dickens in our yard for a year and a half.   Five minutes after we trapped her (and got her 9 day old kittens) it was obvious she had been a pet.  Good luck.
 

ondine

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Feliway will help - it is cat pheromones that help keep them calm.  You use it in a plug-in and the scent permeates the air.  I am using three throughout my house right now and I noticed a big difference when I ran out recently.  (Humans actually can't smell anything - just the cats)

He does not sound feral - more likely a stray.  A true feral would not allow pets and would not try to come inside.  In fact, if he was a true feral, you'd seldom see him in the day time.

So a room of his own is good - to keep him away from the residents but also to give him his own territory where he can feel safe.

Kudos to you for helping him.
 

suzanneaz

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So awesome that you are going to be able to help this guy!  Definitely keep him away from your cats until you take him to the vet and and have him tested for FELV (feline leukemia) and FIV (feline AIDS).   But if he comes in your house he is probably a stray who was once owned and some jerk dumped him after the cute kitten wore off and he started spraying and yowling because they didn't get him neutered. 
 
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newbiecatmom

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Thank you all for your comments / suggestions! The lil guy was neutered, vaccinated, and dewormed last Friday. We're keeping him in one of our bathrooms for the time being. I must say, it hasn't been easy. He's still marking and wants to go outside. We do have a foster lined up for him, but I'm a bit scared that she won't accept him because of the marking. Will he stop doing this eventually? On the other hand he loves to be petted and he hasn't tried to attack us. All we want is to find a nice home for him. I wish he could understand! Lol
 

ondine

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Wonderful news!

The spraying will likely stop  as soon as his testosterone levels go down.   Right now, he's also in a new situation and needing security.  If there were other cats in the bathroom before him, he may still smell them and want to make sure everyone knows this is his territory.

You can clean his sprays up with a good enzyme cleaner (Nature's Miracle is one).  It really eliminates the smell - so neither humans nor cats can smell it.
 
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newbiecatmom

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The spraying is driving us crazy. I think we're over our heads. We're seriously considering releasing him; no one will want to adopt a spraying cat.
 

ondine

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Even if you release him, he will have a better life - but what's critical is that you still provide him with food and shelter.  He will need that support if he's living outside.

Did you talk to the foster about the issue?  She may have some suggestions.
 

dahlia

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There was an extensive thread on a spraying cat about a year ago in the cat behavior forum.  The owner got a cat behaviorist in and eventually they got the cat to stop spraying.  You might see if you can find that thread.  The show "My cat from hell" has also dealt with spraying issues a lot.  I can't remember any of the advice off the top of my head but maybe you can find something to help you out.  Good luck!
 
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