A Question for the Experts

[ginava]

I have a really interesting situation here, and would like some input from the experts here at The Cat Site. Years ago I used to allow my cats outside, but we live in an urban neighborhood and I decided to keep my cats inside for their safety. We had one cat, Charlie, who was the last of my ouside cats,and as he got older he mostly stayed in our yard or on the porch, he loved to nap out there. We lost him last year at 16 years of age. He was a happy cat and we miss him so much. Now I have 4 indoor only cats. One of them, I have posted about him before, is a wonderful stray named Kitto, I found him when he was 12 weeks old, and I adore him. Kitto has recently developed a habit of spraying around the windows, it is no big deal, its just a small amount of urine and I clean it up easily. But when it happens, Kitto seems agitated. Then I realized, since we lost our "yard cat", the important service Charlie was performing for us! He was marking the perimeter of the yard, to keep all the other neighborhood cats away. Now that Charlie is gone, we have every cat in the area coming thru. And when Kitto sees them, he wants to "mark" his turf, but he can't do it outside, so he does it in the window areas.
I was wondering if anyone thinks I can do anything about this? I don't want Kitto to get so upset all the time, I was thinking of possibly putting some litter from his box (dirty, I know, gross but I dont really mind) around the bushes, where I used to see Charlie spray.. Does that sound crazy? Could it work? Any other ideas? I also thought about adopting a cat that is accustomed to being outdoor/indoor. Thoughts? As I said, it isnt really a terrible situation, I just don't want Kitto to be so upset all the time. He is a fabulous cat and I was soooo lucky to find him. THis is Kitto:

 

[goldenkitty45]

I"m assuming the Kitto is neutered. If not, get him done now. Maybe consider training him to a harness/leash and take him in the yard part and let him "mark" if he wants.

 

[kluchetta]

I think there is something you can purchase that you can spray around the yard that does that very thing. For some reason I can't think of what it is.

 

[ginava]

Yes Kitto is neutered. I am not sure he would take to the harness, he doesn't even like to wear his collar. But that would be a great solution, I will try. And I will definately look for that product!

 

[howtoholdacat]

I have heard from my vet, but have not tried it myself, that if you put moth balls outside around the windows/doors that it will keep the yard strays away. We had the same spraying problem at my house last year and I thought I'd try it if it happened again this year but there weren't as many strays and the Feliway indoors prevented any problems this spring.

I would think that putting out the litter could backfire if the outside kitties try to mark over it but who knows?

 

[ginava]

You know what, the more I think about it, I think I will just stick with the feliway spray I have been using. Here's why:I am very much involved in rescue, and if I try to keep strays away, I won't be able to help them. Everyone around here knows I will take in strays to foster. Does that sound crazy? It really isn't a big deal, it is just a little bit of pee, no big deal to clean up. And overall Kitto is a very happy cat. He gets along very well with my 3 other cats. He is just the sweetest guy.
I just didnt realize how many cats there are in my neighborhood. Sometimes when i am gardening I play with the cats that come around. I just need to find out which ones have homes and who the real strays are!