bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) I hope this is the right place for this post. This problem is definitely affecting my well-being. I have two cats - both males. One is about 13 and the other is about 11 yrs old. I have never had problems with them spraying in the house but they have started doing this a lot lately. It has gotten very bad and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it. This is not a health problem as I have seen them deliberately spray. It's not an accident. I know of a couple of things that have probably caused this. My sister moved in with me about 8 mos ago and she has a female cat (her cat is fixed). The cats seem to get along for the most part but not always. We have blocked off the upstairs so that my cats can't go up there. This has probably made them angry. But that's where the spraying started so we had to do something. The other thing is that there's a stray cat that keeps trying to get into the house at night. My cats have a pet door so that they can go in and out as they please. I've started closing the pet door at night and I thought they would make a fuss about it but they didn't. They seem to feel safer. Does anyone know how to stop them from doing this? I've read about a couple of things - Feliway and Cats Spraying No More. Any suggestions? I simply cannot stand what they're doing. Edited February 9, 2016 by bathtub-row Link to post Share on other sites
dreamingoftigers Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I hope this is the right place for this post. This problem is definitely affecting my well-being. I have two cats - both males. One is about 13 and the other is about 11 yrs old. I have never had problems with them spraying in the house but they have started doing this a lot lately. It has gotten very bad and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it. This is not a health problem as I have seen them deliberately spray. It's not an accident. I know of a couple of things that have probably caused this. My sister moved in with me about 8 mos ago and she has a female cat (her cat is fixed). The cats seem to get along for the most part but not always. We have blocked off the upstairs so that my cats can't go up there. This has probably made them angry. But that's where the spraying started so we had to do something. The other thing is that there's a stray cat that keeps trying to get into the house at night. My cats have a pet door so that they can go in and out as they please. I've started closing the pet door at night and I thought they would make a fuss about it but they didn't. They seem to feel safer. Does anyone know how to stop them from doing this? I've read about a couple of things - Feliway and Cats Spraying No More. Any suggestions? I simply cannot stand what they're doing. I watched a "cat whisperer" show like this a few months ago. I have no idea why we watched it as we don't have cats and aren't planning on getting one soon.... Anyhow. There were all of these nighttime critters coming into the yard, including other cats driving this poor cat nuts. So Mr Cat Whisperer said very simply, make the yard like Fort Knox so they can't get in. As for the female cat, I pretty much always let animals work their crap out themselves. Trying to barricade them after shrinking their territory just pisses all of them off and makes the rivalry last longer. They'll fight it out and then tolerate each other. Might take a few weeks. My boss' dogs are scrapping it out and they keep trying to kennel one or separate them or tell at them. **** I hate working in the downstairs office! They are always waiting for 'just that moment' to clamp onto each other. And one of the dogs is a real jerk. I swear I want to use that dog as a football. (Not really). He's really annoying because his dominance is under constant threat, and he can't just fight it out with the other one. If they just got it out of the way, it would be 50x better. Animals have their own hierarchies that they have sorted for centuries. Usually they are much less stressed when they sort them out. I used to have four dogs. Once they sort their stuff out and figure out their own little spaces and corners, they chill out. Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 That's good info. Thanks! We shut off the upstairs because my cats were spraying everything up there. It was ridiculous. This is after my sister had been here for about six mos. I'm not trying to keep the cats from fighting. They get along for the most part. It's the spraying that I can't take. I'm going to keep shutting the pet door at night. I think my kitties feel that they have to stand guard and it may be getting to them. I'd like to know if there are any reliable products out there to make this stop. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
lollipopspot Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Get the plug-in diffuser of Feliway (it comes in spray and plug-in). It a pheromone that is supposed to calm them and reduce some of their territorialness. I have used it with moderate success for stressed cats and cats who didn't get along; for some people it works great. My vet uses it. Also, can you help out that poor stray cat? It's winter and the cat is probably cold, hungry, and thirsty. Either take to a shelter or take care of yourself. If the cat is unneutered or unspayed you're going to have feral kittens in the neighborhood soon too - more generations of suffering. Edited February 9, 2016 by lollipopspot 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Arieswoman Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 bath-tub row, In UK you can buy a special catflap that is activated by your cat's microchip and stops unwelcome visitors. It's called "Sureflap". For random spraying "Feliway should help. Also, you could catch that stray and get them neutered so they can be re-homed. HTH 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Z Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Get the plug-in diffuser of Feliway (it comes in spray and plug-in). It a pheromone that is supposed to calm them and reduce some of their territorialness. I have used it with moderate success for stressed cats and cats who didn't get along; for some people it works great. My vet uses it. A fantastic product but I think the pheromone collars work better. Can't say enough good about this stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 If all the cats are neutered, this would not happen, I don't think. My sister always has a gazillion cats but they're all neutered and nothing like that happens. It's marking. Takes a couple months after neutering for hormones to die down. Link to post Share on other sites
truthtripper Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 My female cat began to spray around the house a few months after I got a cat flap installed. Although they give cats freedom, it becomes a real problem when other cats trespass. I've also tried feliway but it seems to exacerbate the problem by attracting trespassers back onto the house, so I can't even keep the flap open when I'm home. I live near a forest reserve and the feral population has been increasing over the years. I've been using an enzyme cleaner which breaks down urine. All you have to do is spray it on and leave it and it will digest the urine, no wiping off. The longer the surfaces are kept wet with enzyme the better the product can work, so it's best to do this on a rainy/humid day. Urine doesn't disintigrate on it's own and traditional cleaners will not break it down. Even if you close the cat flap, the cats will keep spraying in the areas they have already marked and may begin to spray in new areas while the urine is still in your house, so it's important to get rid of it. Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 If all the cats are neutered, this would not happen, I don't think. My sister always has a gazillion cats but they're all neutered and nothing like that happens. It's marking. Takes a couple months after neutering for hormones to die down. Male cats can still spray even when neutered! I know this for fact!! Cats, both male and female, spray for 1)stress, anger, major changes, marking territory 2)health issues 3)back to anger, but to make a point and get attention. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
truthtripper Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 If all the cats are neutered, this would not happen, I don't think. My sister always has a gazillion cats but they're all neutered and nothing like that happens. It's marking. Takes a couple months after neutering for hormones to die down. Even cats that have been neutered for years can spray, both male and female. It's usually due to territorial threats, but can also be triggered by other stressful events like moving house or after making changes to a house/room eg. renovations or even after changing the position of furniture. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Get the plug-in diffuser of Feliway (it comes in spray and plug-in). It a pheromone that is supposed to calm them and reduce some of their territorialness. I have used it with moderate success for stressed cats and cats who didn't get along; for some people it works great. My vet uses it. Also, can you help out that poor stray cat? It's winter and the cat is probably cold, hungry, and thirsty. Either take to a shelter or take care of yourself. If the cat is unneutered or unspayed you're going to have feral kittens in the neighborhood soon too - more generations of suffering. I haven't been able to get anywhere near the stray cat. I wouldn't keep him but I would bring him somewhere where he'd be taken care of. Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 bath-tub row, In UK you can buy a special catflap that is activated by your cat's microchip and stops unwelcome visitors. It's called "Sureflap". For random spraying "Feliway should help. Also, you could catch that stray and get them neutered so they can be re-homed. HTH We have those types of pet doors here, too, but I have one cat who absolutely will not wear a collar. He'll get it off every time. Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 A fantastic product but I think the pheromone collars work better. Can't say enough good about this stuff. This sounds very interesting. I haven't heard of these. Even if I can't get it on one of my cats, the others can wear them and that would probably help. Thank you! Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 If all the cats are neutered, this would not happen, I don't think. My sister always has a gazillion cats but they're all neutered and nothing like that happens. It's marking. Takes a couple months after neutering for hormones to die down. All of the cats are fixed. Except for the stray - I don't know about him. Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 My female cat began to spray around the house a few months after I got a cat flap installed. Although they give cats freedom, it becomes a real problem when other cats trespass. I've also tried feliway but it seems to exacerbate the problem by attracting trespassers back onto the house, so I can't even keep the flap open when I'm home. I live near a forest reserve and the feral population has been increasing over the years. I've been using an enzyme cleaner which breaks down urine. All you have to do is spray it on and leave it and it will digest the urine, no wiping off. The longer the surfaces are kept wet with enzyme the better the product can work, so it's best to do this on a rainy/humid day. Urine doesn't disintigrate on it's own and traditional cleaners will not break it down. Even if you close the cat flap, the cats will keep spraying in the areas they have already marked and may begin to spray in new areas while the urine is still in your house, so it's important to get rid of it. Thanks! Can you tell me the name of the cleaner? Link to post Share on other sites
truthtripper Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Thanks! Can you tell me the name of the cleaner? The brand is PetSafe. Product is Liquid Ate Stain and Odor Eliminator. It's about $5 for 475ml on Amazon. You can also check out the PetSafe website. The instructions say to leave the solution on for 10 minutes, then rinse but it's more effective to leave it on till it dries and as I mentioned before apply it on a rainy day. I don't bother to rinse as it quickly biodegrades anyway. I have bought this product a few times but it's very expensive in Australia. So I started making my own enzyme cleaner-half cup cut citrus peel, quarter cup brown sugar and 500 ml water in a one litre bottle. Let stand and ferment for 3 months with the lid opened(to let the fermentation gas out). Shake bottle once everyday. After 3 months strain out residue and transfer remaining liquid to a clean bottle. You can use it full strength or diluted to suit your needs. It will clean anything, any kind of stain, urine ,faeces, vomit, oil and grease stains etc. The downside to this is that you have to use peel from organic fruit. All other fruit has that waxy substance sprayed onto it to increase shelf life. I have a lemon tree in my garden so this suits me. Otherwise I buy a urine cleaning product from Enzyme Wizard which is an Australian based company and is much cheaper for me than PetSafe. Just a note, when using enzyme cleaners on urine, the odor will temporarily worsen as the cleaner starts breaking down the urine. Once if has been fully digested, the odor will dissipate. Link to post Share on other sites
truthtripper Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Cats will also spray on things that smell like their urine. For example, I have seen my cat spray on my lavender bush and also on my jasmine climber. These plants don't smell anything like urine to us, but cats pick up on certain chemicals in the plant odors which mimic the odor of their urine. There's also something in the smell of new leather which attracts some cats. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author bathtub-row Posted February 11, 2016 Author Share Posted February 11, 2016 The brand is PetSafe. Product is Liquid Ate Stain and Odor Eliminator. It's about $5 for 475ml on Amazon. You can also check out the PetSafe website. The instructions say to leave the solution on for 10 minutes, then rinse but it's more effective to leave it on till it dries and as I mentioned before apply it on a rainy day. I don't bother to rinse as it quickly biodegrades anyway. I have bought this product a few times but it's very expensive in Australia. So I started making my own enzyme cleaner-half cup cut citrus peel, quarter cup brown sugar and 500 ml water in a one litre bottle. Let stand and ferment for 3 months with the lid opened(to let the fermentation gas out). Shake bottle once everyday. After 3 months strain out residue and transfer remaining liquid to a clean bottle. You can use it full strength or diluted to suit your needs. It will clean anything, any kind of stain, urine ,faeces, vomit, oil and grease stains etc. The downside to this is that you have to use peel from organic fruit. All other fruit has that waxy substance sprayed onto it to increase shelf life. I have a lemon tree in my garden so this suits me. Otherwise I buy a urine cleaning product from Enzyme Wizard which is an Australian based company and is much cheaper for me than PetSafe. Just a note, when using enzyme cleaners on urine, the odor will temporarily worsen as the cleaner starts breaking down the urine. Once if has been fully digested, the odor will dissipate. Understood. I have a lemon tree in my backyard too! Thanks so much for the info. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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