Help??

I have four cats 2 male and 2 female. Well both of the males spray everywere and I was just wondering if there was anything that we could do here to stop that from happening??? I've been cleaning out the litter boxes everyday but I dont know if thats helping. I know they spray to mark there territory but if theres anythign I can do please let me know...

THanks

Have they been neutered?

You may want to check out this link from our Main Page

http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/5...Territory.html

Yes all 4 cats are neutered. And they have been since they were about 6 months...

You should have at least 5 litterboxes for one, but I don't know how much that would effect spraying, but they might be unhappy all having to go in just a few boxes. If you have 5 or more then great, another thing you can try is a Feliway Plug ins. Perhaps multiple plug ins, they are rather expensive but they are for this kind of problem and I have heard they work miracles sometimes.

I also had a problem with a spraying female, but the plug ins didn't work for me, I had to get the diffuser, and within 3 days I have had no other markings from her. We cleaned every spot with an enzyme cleaner, (twice for good measure ) Then we used the Feliway spray and used it on her favorite marking spots, and then we went to using it just once a week. It has been about 2-3 months now. She loved our couch, our bed, and one spot on our carpet. You might try the spray, it seemed to work a lot better for me than the plug in.

Thanks for all of the advice. I am going to try a bunch of this stuff adn see how it works.

Originally Posted by Jen

You should have at least 5 litterboxes for one, but I don't know how much that would effect spraying, but they might be unhappy all having to go in just a few boxes. If you have 5 or more then great, another thing you can try is a Feliway Plug ins. Perhaps multiple plug ins, they are rather expensive but they are for this kind of problem and I have heard they work miracles sometimes.

Click to expand...

I, personally, think 5 litterboxes is a little excessive. I would say to have two. I have two cats, and one litterbox is just fine. I would say the ratio of cat to litterbox should be two cats for every one litterbox. It sounds like you keep them VERY clean, so I wouldn't worry about two cats in one box.

Some things that should help...

Sometimes kitties get very finicky about exactly how their litterbox is set up, and where. Sounds like that's the problem here.

Our boy, Hobbes, did the same thing, and it turned out he wanted one litterbox to poop in and one to pee in, he didn't like hooded litterboxes, and he liked it pristinely clean. I found a couple websites that helped me understand exactly what it was that I could try that would help, and it really did. One good thing is the fact that he's now outgrown his pickiness about wanting two and wanting them in such perfect condition, now that he's about a year old! Hopefully yours will do the same!

Here are a couple websites that should help:

http://www.larimerhumane.org/services/litterboxinfo.cfm

http://www.thepetprofessor.com/secA...es_and_cats.asp

http://www.heartlandhumane.org/pub/petcare_litterbox

A couple tips:

Cats don't usually like the plastic liners some people use in litterboxes.

Some cats don't like the hooded boxes.

Cats at times don't like the box to be anywhere that they also have to eat and drink.

Sometimes the problem is just that the box isn't somewhere private enough. They only like to "go" somewhere that is low-traffic, quiet, and very private.

If you try these things, as well as the Feliway spray, and you find that they're still going elsewhere other than the litterbox, I would consider getting them checked out by the vet. I would also say to clean the spots with an enzyme-based cleaner (kinds you find in a pet store, so you know it's ok for cats), so you rid each place of bacterial trace...this should help prevent them from continuing to go there.

Hope all that helps!

Let us know how it goes!