Male cat spraying inside- I am at the end of my rope.

Mermaid02

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Apr 1, 2002
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I adopted a stray about 15 months ago, got him neutered. The Vet estimated his age between 1-3 years. About 2 months after I got him he started peeing on the beds. I decided to keep the bedroom doors shut. A month or so later, he started peeing on the fabric sofa (but not the faux leather sofa). I took him to the vet, nothing physically wrong with him. He continued to pee on the sofa. We threw that sofa away. Still keeping bedroom doors shut. We moved into a new home. For a few days I tried keeping our bedroom door opened and all was well.... then he peed on the bed. Door shut once again. About a month ago he started peeing on our new leather sofa. Oh, I also found spray on the wall in the room where the litter boxes are kept. I have tried the Feliway diffusers, no help. I have tried every spray out there. Nothing helps. We are headed to the vet this afternoon. I was literally crying on the phone when I spoke to the Veterinarian's office. I just don't know what to do. Has anyone had luck getting a male cat who was neutered later in life to stop this behavior?
 
How many litter boxes do you have? You might want to literally start putting them all over the house so he has options. Do you know the cat’s history? Was he feral or an outdoor cat before? Not me fortunately, but I’ve also had friends whose cats dealt with displeasure (moving, deployment, bringing a new pet home etc.) by peeing in their closets or on their beds. There’s a few possibilities of what could be going on. You could also try restricting him to just one room with a giant litter box until he shows he can use it, then expand out into other rooms.
 
How many litter boxes do you have? You might want to literally start putting them all over the house so he has options. Do you know the cat’s history? Was he feral or an outdoor cat before? Not me fortunately, but I’ve also had friends whose cats dealt with displeasure (moving, deployment, bringing a new pet home etc.) by peeing in their closets or on their beds. There’s a few possibilities of what could be going on. You could also try restricting him to just one room with a giant litter box until he shows he can use it, then expand out into other rooms.
I have 3 cats and 4 litter boxes. I clean them daily. He was a stray so we don't know his history, but definitely was not feral. He is very friendly. I am afraid it is behavioral and we won't be able to change it. We are headed to the vet at 3:30 this afternoon.
 
I have 3 cats and 4 litter boxes. I clean them daily. He was a stray so we don't know his history, but definitely was not feral. He is very friendly. I am afraid it is behavioral and we won't be able to change it. We are headed to the vet at 3:30 this afternoon.

Oh man. Didn’t realize you had multiple other cats. That is a factor that will make it more challenging. There’s a lot of dynamics there that could lead to him wanting to spray. Also, since you got him as a stray, I’m assuming he was used to going outside (since I’m assuming also that you found him outside). It’s not his fault, but there may be some group dynamics among the other cats that are playing into this. How do they interact? What are the ages and sexes of your other two?
 
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Oh man. Didn’t realize you had multiple other cats. That is a factor that will make it more challenging. There’s a lot of dynamics there that could lead to him wanting to spray. Also, since you got him as a stray, I’m assuming he was used to going outside (since I’m assuming also that you found him outside). It’s not his fault, but there may be some group dynamics among the other cats that are playing into this. How do they interact? What are the ages and sexes of your other two?
Two females (spayed) who are litter mates. We had him first and got the girls last summer as small kittens. Everyone gets along quite well. He started the spraying or peeing when he was the only cat in the house so I don't really think it has anything to do with the girls. He actually is a nicer cat since we got them- he enjoys having someone to play with.

I am hoping medication might be a help!
 
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I feel your pain. My male (neutered) cat and his sister (spayed) have given us some trouble. The boy is my worst offender but his is usually related to something physical. When the girl does it it is always behavioral. The last rental we had before buying our house we completely replaced the carpets after we moved out. I could have just let the landlord do it with our security deposit but I didn't want him to have to deal with it.

What are you using to clean after an incident? The only thing I've found to work is Nature's Miracle. We also medicate the male cat now and he had surgery to deal with kidney stones and they basically altered his physical structure so that he has more female like anatomy. I forget what that surgery was called but all in that e-vet trip and surgery ate our Disney fund in 2016.

The one thing I found that works - and this was an absolute last resort after losing my mind and saying I was having him put down (I did not do so) - was to buy wee wee pads. Basically they are cloth pee pads for puppy training. I use those as liner in a liter box (sits next to another liter box) and my cats mostly just pee in there. I have enough pads that I just spray them and then launder with some Nature's Miracle laundry stuff. It's not optimal but it keeps the pee in one place.
 
I can relate to your problem. We have the same with our cat, whom we've had since he was a week of (Mom abandoned him, or left him intending to come back, but something happened to her). I know that Petsmart sells some stuff that helps a little, sometimes. Another help is to spray perfume around the areas where he typically pees. That may give him the idea that you're there and he shouldn't.
 
It could be an anxiety issue, talk to your vet and see if he will try medication.
 
You can try some Cat Attract litter.

Late-neutered males may take a while to learn in general, though.
 
Spraying is typically behavioral. If your vet is not a cat specialist, see if he/she knows of either a vet that specializes in cats or knows of a feline behaviorist. The cat shelter where I volunteer has a few males who spray, 100% are behavioral. Prozac helps 95% of them, if it doesn't there are other meds that can help. Feel free to message me and I can see if we have any contacts in your area that might help.

One thing about Prozac, if you need to stop using it, please, please, please wean him off and don't stop cold turkey.
 
If you go the fluoxetine route, do yourself a favor and get the transdermal formulation... it's so much easier for everyone. Just a little dab in the ear, and not forcing a pill down the throat.
 
I don't think that's spraying, but I feel your pain. I have a cat that's always peed outside the box. I had to replace a carpet as a renter, and when I bought my house, I had carpets removed before we even moved in. We never figured out what the problem was or how to fix it when he was younger. Now, he has kidney failure so he does it even more.

We have puppy pads under the litter boxes as he often sits on the edge of the box and pees outside. That has helped immensely.
 
He’s not spraying. Spraying is on vertical surfaces and not horizontal.

Transdermal fluoxetine is not effective. The molecule is too large to pass transdermally and effective blood levels are not achieved.
 
a last try resoultion, make him an out side cat , get him some shelter, if he leaves, oh well
 
Our cat peed on the bed twice. First time I became alert and two days later he did it again. Turns out he had just passed a bladder stone when we gave him a bath (because of the pee and we noticed a bit of blood). We got him to the vet and that's what she had diagnosed him with.

Switched one of his feedings to wet food and hasn't happened since. Feliway is like cat nip--it doesn't work on every cat. My vet's office has them in each room though just in case. We use the diffuser too at home though that came later.

To keep our only cat happy though we have 3 litter boxes--2 covered that roll to get the clumps out and 1 opened one. Over time our cat got picky and annoyed and started peeing outside the litter but next to it. We cleaned the first one regularly but he didn't think it was good enough lol. So we got the bigger size rolling covered litter box. And then we added a third uncovered for good measure. FTR our cat never minded the rolling covered litter boxes. Now he actually reserves the covered for mostly #2 funny enough and the uncovered/opened one for #1 and hasn't really peed outside the litterbox since.

That said spraying can be a different or at least more complicated issue than simply peeing outside the litterbox and multiple cat households as a PP mentioned also complicate it.

Hope the meds help your kitty though!
 

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