Hi all, have read lots of threads on here, but am seriously considering whether to have our boy re-homed.
History is - have a female cat, aged 9 (she came as a pair as a kitten with her brother from CPL but turned out brother had a serious illness and had to be put down at 9 months). Decided 2 years ago that we had always wanted 2 cats, and was advised that it would be best to get 2 kittens rather than just 1, as we had an older cat already.
So got 2 kittens, boy and girl. Boy was very nervous from day 1, very clingy to me, follows me up the street, very vocal, uses the cat flap but prefers the front door. New girl very naughty and wee'd in son's school bag, etc. but she has grown out of that and is now lovely, they are nearly 3. Had litter trays when they were small but all 3 go to the toilet outside.
Not sure when it started but one day picked up a black bag of clothes that were going to the charity shop and could see clearly wee on it. Thought it was the girl. More wee on cupboard under stairs, on bookcase, then saw new boy backing up, wiggling tail and spraying.
Lots of clearing up. DH getting annoyed. It seemed to be in similar places, but never near the catflap (I have never seen any local cats in my house). We went on holiday for a week, cats at home with regular visits from my Mum. Boy had sprayed on first day, up table leg, then on returning I found many places where he had sprayed that he hadn't done before. I assumed he was stressed that we had been away. Still clearing up, then he sprayed right in front of me in the living room on the wallpaper under the window! I thought he wouldn't do it in that room as he curls up there in the corner on a beanbag. Did the same on the wallpaper in my bedroom - DH livid.
Haven't taken him to the vet as I really don't think he has a UTI, it's spray, marking. Researched on net and saw that Zylkene had worked in lots of cases where Feliway hadn't, so ordered the Zylkene. Boy has been on it for a week and I was really thinking it had worked, hadn't seen any spray (did see some but I thought it was historical, from over a week), then found today he had sprayed this afternoon on my knee length coat that I had put around the back of a chair in the dining room!!!
HELP! Does the Zylkene take a while to work? I am seriously wondering whether he would be better off in a house without any other cats, as our 9 year old tolerates the younger 2 but hisses a lot at them.
Wishing we had stuck with one cat ... had boys in the past when I was a teenager and none of the sprayed.
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The litter tray
Spraying boy cat, at wits end!
jodee · 28/10/2013 19:15
Please take him to the vet. I am actually quite 
that you are at the point of rehoming him and you haven't ruled out a physical problem like FLUTD or bladder stones. It is immensely frustrating that the vet is the last port of call rather than the first, usually by the time we see a cat with this sort of problem it has been going on for months and often the self help measures have made things worse rather than better.
Once you have actually checked, rather than assuming, that he doesn't have a physical problem, then you can try the following.
You need to secure his core territory. If you have a cat flap then you may well have had an invader at some point which can trigger off this type of problem. A Sureflap is a good idea.
He may also be being bullied or intimidated by another cat in the surrounding gardens, so you need to provide at least one, and preferably several, tray(s) indoors so he has a valid option for toileting without going outside.
How does he get on with the other cats in your household? Even if there is no overt aggro there may be tensions there. Giving more access to resources (litter trays, food and water, hidey holes) can avoid conflict.
How you clean any spray marks is very important. Any cleaners containing bleach or ammonia contain similar chemical compounds to urine and will tend to encourage the cat to over-mark. If you leave behind the organic molecules that the cat's sensitive nose can detect, same thing happens. The best thing to use is a 10% solution of biological washing powder, followed by surgical spirit.
The pheromone/calming products can be very useful in cases where stress is the underlying problem and I'd probably use both together since you seem to be at breaking point with the problem. A feliway pheromone diffuser will calm all the cats down and help you establish his core terrritory as a happy place again, and I'd use either Zylkene or Calmex diet supplements for the boy only.
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