Cats "Marking Their Territory"

it might help to take the cat in... but I know that there are also products out there that remove the pet smell. There are tons of products that remove smells but these products will say they get rid of pet oder/smell and might prevent the animal from making a mess in that area again.

I have 2 male cats, what was I thinking, and we have one that likes to poop all round the cat box but never in it. I just throw out the bottle I had (used it up)... and I can't remember if the brand is Shout, Resolve or Out. It works for awhile but I have to reapply it every month or so to reinforce the no peeing/pooping here message.

Hope this helps!

first, get him checked by a vet. lots of cats at the animal shelter where I used to volunteer ended up peeing everywhere but in their box because of an infection or crystals in their urine. This is easily treated, and can be serious if ignored.

2nd, my sister's cat marks all the time, until she got this plug-in thing that keeps him from doing it. I think it's pheremones or something, and marketed as a "calming aid". It works good for them. Here's a link to one place that sells them. You may be able to get them elsewhere too, maybe cheaper. My sister says it's totally worth it though.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pet_supplies.cfm?c=...

3rd, I use OUT brand to deodorize at my house (we have 3 cats and 2 dogs- if one isn't making some sort of mess another of them is...) and it works pretty good at keeping them from marking repeatedly in the same spot. I get mine at the wal-mart in the pet section. Avoid using cleaning products with amonia in them- amonia smells just like animal urine to animals and they will mark anywhere you clean to cover up that "other animal's smell".

oh, one last thing, too. my cats wouldn't use the litter box until I got rid of the scented cat litter, and started using the cheapest special kitty brand at wal-mart, no scent, no nothing extra.

and, as weird as this sounds, when someone who no longer needed it for their cats, gave me a much larger box, that reduced "accidents" too. i don't know if it's because the box is bigger, or because it smells like the cats who had used it before and my cats are trying to cover their scent! You could try a deeper, larger litter box, and see if that helps. If it's covered, uncover it, and if it's uncovered, cover it. Sometimes making a small change like that helps too. They say to keep the litter box in a quiet area where the cat feels safe too. I've only ever had one cat where that was an issue, but moving the box to a quiet area really helped that one cat. He's a nervous fella.

Typically after you neuter a male they'll stop marking. Does this come and go? When my female cat started marking and marking in the same places I took her in and she had a bladdre infection. You might want to consider bringing your cat in if you think this might be the case.

sadly, i dont know that there is a fix for this.

i had a cat for 3 years that sprayed every year in the spring. sadly, a week ago monday, he disappeared (because of the spraying we didnt allow him in the house, but did keep track of him outdoors - he stayed with our outdoor dog - we live in the country)....

anyhow, i had supposedly had him neutered, and there was an undecended testicle, and they supposedly went in (like a spay) and looked for it. now, the vet never told me if they found anything.. so... i was suspicious when he continued to spray..

finally earlier this spring i had taken him in to figure out what was going on. this new vet looked at him and was pretty sure he was not completely neutered. she could also smell it on his fur. they took blood and gave him something and took blood again and sent the samples in to be tested for testosterone. he tested positive, so they wanted to go back in again and find the tissue that was there and remove it.

however, she did tell me that even if they did, because he was older when he was neutered, there was a chance he would never stop spraying.

i am also told that they can be jealous of both other pets in general, and kids.... and you said he was spraying before he was neutered... so.. you might have the same issue as me.

it may cost a lot, (it cost me 80$) but maybe having him checked for testosterone would be worth it. however, like my vet told me, there is a chance that he will never stop spraying. there are sprays you can buy to discourage spraying but i dont know if they are safe indoors with kids.. we used some outdoors, and it helped, but we cant afford to keep buying a can of something - every time it rained it just got washed away.

im sorry to say that he may never stop... :( and a spraying cat is the NUMBER ONE reason cats get killed, put in shelters, and 'set free' outdoors. we had our cat for 3 years here, and he never once disappeared, so of course we think he is gone for good. he was here every day, and always waited for his food in the morning... and always came when he was called ! :(

we are currently in the process of looking for a female cat to keep indoors exclusivly. after all, females dont spray. this is one of the reasons that cats should always be immediatly neutered as soon as they are old enough. spread the word in your community so that someone else doesnt have to go through what you are going through.

im so sorry that there is really no stop to this :(

I think your cat is doing this because you are not showing all of your attention. I think cats are worse than dogs and they get very jealous and ruin things. What I would do would just give the cat away or sell the cat. You do not need those problems with 3 little kids at home. Good luck with whatever you decide.

C.

Hi J.

My sister had a problem with her cat peeing everywhere. What finally broke the camels back was when her cat peed on my niece’s bed, with my niece in it (luckily no pee got on her). She took her cat to the doctor and found out that the cat has crystals in her urine. It might be something you want to look into.

Hi J.
I have heard that cats and dogs will mark in the same spot if the can still smell there urine we had a dog that did this it drove me nuts. a friend told me about a product called OUT Stain & oder remover you spray this where the pee and it takes the stink away and stoped our dog from marking everything you can buy it at walmart in the pet section it is a white bottle with a pink and yellow lable. Good Luck I hope this helps him to stop marking :)T.

Ohhhh MYYY ...

I've loved my cats and some adolescent, one morning started walking all over me asking to go 'out' ... cuz I have never had a litter box in my house ... sprayed my head ...

well THAT woke me up... I took that cat and threw him out of the house as far as I could. And it took me days to get that smell out of my hair.

Male cats have a stink worse than skunks HA... and we let them live in our houses ... YIKES !

I kept that cat and we moved several times after that but he NEVER did THAT again or anywhere in OUR space.

Can't remember what I did ... but after that, I moved in with a friend and had to travel 30 miles in Canadian Winters to do laundry, and had 'their' male cat nestle in my 3 bags of clean clothes and 'spray' ... I moved out the next day.

Hmmm... I think 'male' cats are a risk ... won't live with one of 'em' again ... sorry not to have better news ...

Won't get sprayed again is ALL I can say

we have had this problem in our house & unfortunately it has lead to kitty living in the basement. I wish there was another option, but I am not willing to let her ruin my nice furniture and rugs...it's horrible!

Cats usually mark there territorys for a reason. When they feel insecure by the addition of another pet, even another family member, changing houses, etc. they revert tot heir old ways of spraying.

Make your cat as secure as you can with lots of reassurance. Melaleuca has some products that make up a solution that you can spray the area with.

If all else fails, put the solutuo=ion in a spray bottle and when (and only when) you actually catch him spraying inside the house, give him - short bursts of water solution to his tail (always avoid spraying head & eyes) and put him outside.

Within a few days he should get the message and stop spraying indoors.

Good luck,

J.