Cat help please

[Horse with no Name]

I have a young male cat that is about 2 years old.
All of the sudden he has started spraying.
Anyone know what to do with a cat that does this?
He has never been outside and would hate to do this, but I can't let him continue to pee all over everything. I need a solution.:shrug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Is he fixed?

[Horse with no Name]

3. He has an appointment Friday

snip snip

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Yeah, the Lopitoffamee will greatly help things :^D

[friesianrider]

18. Oy...you really need to neuter/spay by 4-6 months at the latest.

Once they start spraying it is harder to get them to stop. However, neutering will GREATLY increase the likelihood that he will stop (and it will certainly cut down on the smell of unneutered cat urine :puke:)

But in the future, the best way to prevent a cat from ever even learning how to spray is to get any cat neutered or spayed by the time they are 4-6 months old. That is the time they start to learn how to spray and also the time they start to be able to reproduce...so it's a win-win situation to get them fixed by 4 or 5 months old :)

Good luck!

[LisaL]

24. Well, there is your answer. Un-neutered male cats spray.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. Neuter him

I don't know for sure if this works after they start spraying but it helps prevent it.

[Horse with no Name]

5. I sure hope so

I thought he might want to go outside one day, so I took him out to the back yard.
I've never seen a cat crawl on their belly to the backdoor so fast.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Poor fellow

Mine are not into the great outdoors either. It's a big scary wold out there in their eyes.

I just remembered that I had a tom when I was a kid who I didn't get fixed right away. As a result he sprayed and I had to use my lawn mowing money to get him to the vet ASAP. In his case it did end the problem and mom didn't evict my kitty. I hope it works for yours too.

[benburch]

4. You have to get him fixed.

This is totally normal and expected behavior for an unfixed male cat.

[kestrel91316]

8. Correct. You get the gold star tonight.

[rox63]

6. Sometimes it's a territorial thing

If there are other new animals in the household, sometimes they will spray as a way to mark their territory.

Has he been neutered? If he hasn't, that will sometimes stop the spraying. Or he may have a urinary tract infection. Take him to a vet to get checked out for any possible health problems.

[orpupilofnature57]

It's always a Territorial thing, it's also innate.Neutering will work.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Could be a urinary tract infection.

Take him to the vet ASAP, before doing anything else. Some other things that can help: If something in his environment has changed that has upset him, try Feliway (can get it at pet shops). I had a cat who started ignoring his litter box, and the vet suggested I shut him up in a small room (like the bathroom) with his litter box, his bed, his food and some toys. Keep him in there (visiting frequently, of course) for about a week, until he "remembers" the litter box, which he eventually will because cats don't like to soil an area where they sleep or eat. This worked well for my cat. But the first thing to do is get him to the vet to be sure there's no physical problem.

[MaggieSwanson]

23. Please do have the vet look for UTI

when you take your cat in on Friday.

Our little guy started spraying at about a year and a half old. When I took him in to get neutered, it was discovered that he had a urinary tract infection. After the neuter (and 10 days of antiobiotics) he was much, much happier. And he hasn't sprayed since.

Best of luck, hope it works out as well for you as it did for us!

(by the way, we had our older cat neutered when he was 5 months old and never had a problem with him.)

[Mz Pip]

9. Fixing should help

if that doesn't work you have to go through this total behavior modification thing which is a real pain in the ass.

Hopefuly, it's all about getting laid and once he can't he won't spray.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Pam-Moby]

11. I used to have a cat that done that.

I took him to the vet and got him fixed. Then he still sprayed and then started pooping on the floor. I got a new home for him at that point. Good luck.

[afdip]

12. even after you have him neutered

he'll probably keep spraying for a while. habits are hard to break and that one is hard-wired in male cats w/cojones. then, after you've had his balls cut off, check out this website: www.mycathatesyou.com

[Bjornsdotter]

14. My cat did the same thing

He was a young cat, about 2 years old when he started spraying for no apparent reason. My vet offered up various excuses...feeling threatened by the babies, smelling the cat downstairs from us etc.

The bottom line was that we never really found out why he sprayed and we could never get him to stop. Finally we had to restrict him to his own room in the basement, I couldn't put him to sleep and he died at eleven years old. He was neutered long before he started spraying.

My heart goes out to you, it's a tough problem that we were never able to solve.

Hopefully someone here will have a solution for you....just make sure it's not a medical problem.

Cheers

[mike_c]

15. neuter him, but he's gone long enough that neutering alone...

...might not solve the problem, and in any event it will take some time for his hormone levels to drop and his behavior to change. My cats sometimes start spraying if they're stressed, particularly by a new cat in their environment.

[carolinalady]

16. There might be a female in heat nearby. n/t

[IndyOp]

17. Is it spraying or urinating? A little or a lot?

If it is a lot, then have the vet check for a urinary tract infection when you take him in to be neutered.

Whether it is a little or a lot -- try Feliway -- you spray it in the air and it helps kitties feel calmer, less need to spray, less anxious so they are less likely to urinate outside the box.

This is long thread in the DU Pet Forum - with a ton of information - conversation got hot - there is a ton of good information:
<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=243&topic_id=10126>

[petronius]

19. Spray him back?

:shrug:

[friesianrider]

20. Cats should really be fixed by 6 months at the latest...

I'll repost my other post here and add that also be sure the other cats in your house are fixed. If you have another unneutered female or male cat nearby, that can increase the spraying. If you have an unfixed cat in the house besides him, please get them fixed ASAP. Once he is fixed, it should help a lot, but you'll have to be patient for the hormones to drop in a few weeks after the surgery.

When we found our kittens along a busy highway, I had their little behinds in for neutering at 4 months old. Noe only did I not want them spraying but also I'm a huge advocate of decreasing the animal population and even though these were indoor cats - they could always get out or whatever. Plus its healthier for the cat to be fixed, the urine smells less, etc etc.

OK, my other post:

Once they start spraying it is harder to get them to stop. However, neutering will GREATLY increase the likelihood that he will stop (and it will certainly cut down on the smell of unneutered cat urine)

But in the future, the best way to prevent a cat from ever even learning how to spray is to get any cat neutered or spayed by the time they are 4-6 months old. That is the time they start to learn how to spray and also the time they start to be able to reproduce...so it's a win-win situation to get them fixed by 4 or 5 months old

Good luck! :)

[raysr]

21. My cat is 14 years

old, never been out because of coyotes, owls and eagles. He's always sprayed everywhere we've lived. 5 years ago I bought my own house so the spraying had to stop. Everyone, even the vet said neutering him would not stop him from spraying. Then there was the personality question, would it make him different? Anyway, he got neutered, quit spraying and it didn't change his personality at all. But no guarantees.

[Mikimouse]

22. I had a mature tom neutered and it worked well for me...

Pooky was estimated to be two years old when we trapped him and decided to keep him. He still sometimes thinks that he is spraying, but nothing happens. You can tell when they think they are spraying, because they back up and their hindquarters and tail start to quiver. He does that to me periodically, as if to mark me as his property.

[Maat]

25. And, don't let anyone tell you that you can't get the smell out of carpet

Try 'Capture' that you can purchase at Lowe's.

And I did have success stopping the behavior 1) by neutering the kitty in question, and 2) by using the kitty-box behavioral modification strategy that someone mentioned above (making sure he emptied himself out). Now, I'm sad. That guy lived a healthy life, but is now deceased.

But we have three great ones now, each with their own little idiosyncracies. And on it goes ...