I have just caught one of my cats spraying in one of the children's bedrooms...

[DumbledoresGirl]

I am so mad about this. I have had experience of cats all my life and have never known one do this. When we first got our 2 cats at 13 weeks old, they had a terrible soiling habit - weed and pooed where they liked for weeks and I nearly wanted to give them away, they annoyed me so much. But that problem eventually was solved. We have now had them 2 years and since the initial problem was solved, I have only known one of them to once soil (on a child's bed ) but he might have been scared into doing it.

Then, just now, I was in children's room making beds, when one of the cats came in and almost immediately started spraying in a marking territory sort of way on the side of an open drawer. I shooed him out of the house and sort of growled at him to make it clear I was not happy about this.

Now, I have just been looking on the internet to see if I can find out why he did that. From what I can gather it is supposed to be only unneutered male cats that spray to mark territory and the suggestion also was made that cats mark territory indoors if they don't get out much. Well, none of that fits my cats. They are both neutered males and they live almost the entire time outside. They have a cat flap for free access and I hardly see them from one day to the next. So why on earth did this one decide to mark his territory indoors just now? I am sure he can't have been doing it regularly because cat wee smells appallingly and I would have smelt it, wouldn't I?

I am feeling so about this. I have never known neutered males be like this before.

I don't know why they do this, so not much help I'm afraid. But might be able to make you smile with this. When I was young & lived with my parents we had a neutered male cat and when my dad used to come home from work he would be waiting for him. He would then proceed to spray every wheel of his car and then would go and sit on the car bonnet (because it was warm).

Ah yes, we had cats when I was a child who sat on the car bonnet because it was warm.

I think there might be something psychologically wrong with my cats. They have been quite a disappointment since I got them (I don't think they were handled as kittens before we got them and now they don't really interact much with us, just eat huge amounts of food!)

I don't know anything about cats I'm afraid. Although our dog did start doing this, weeing everywhere and it turned out she had an infection. is it possible with your cat?

No I don't think so Saltire. He weed in a spraying way, ie turned his back to object to be weed on, lifted tail and squirted wee out. I see him marking territory in this way out in the garden (always the same places which I know is what unneutered males do - this is what worries me, that he will see the bedroom as one of his regular marking places)

They are going to the vets though next week for their annual jabs so I will mention this and in the meantime keep an eye out for him in case you are right and he has something wrong with him.

my mums female cats used to do this. then when two died and there was just the one left she stopped. they didnt get on very well even tho they were mother/daughters. maybe your cats dont like each other much and they are doing it to warn each other off?

Don't clean it with bleach cos it smells like cat wee and he may go back for more.

If it's any consolation one of my female cats learned to spray and did it everywhere for a while for no reason we could think of!

Orange peel where they wee'd is meant to discourage them.

Could another cat have moved in on their territory outside making them a bit nervous?

My neutered male cat used to do this. ALOT. Even more after we had DD. It is a territory marking thing and although everyone says they shouldn't do it inside the house, that they shouldn't do it when they have been neutered, etc., THEY DO! Finally cracked it with Felispray - it is a hormone mimic that you can buy on the internet or at your vet. There is a plug in diffuser and/or a spray. The spray is IIRC to spray where the cat has marked & the diffuser fills the house with fake catty hormones & calms them down so they no longer spray. You can't smell it yourself. Was expensive at £18ish but you should only need the one pack. I got anotherto top up if I saw him lifting his tail again. Hope it helps!

Male Neutered cats will spray indoors. One of mine does it and it drives me round the twist! They tend to do it when they are feeling threatened by something like a change in their routine or a new cat about the neighbourhood, something like that. Or is there another local cat coming into your house through the catflap maybe?
Like Bootsmonkey says, you could try the feliway spray or diffuser to help.

hi my cat done it when he got sistitis the best way to get rid of it is to sprinkle bicarbonate soda on it and leave it for half an hour then hover it up the smell just disaprers this works on baby sick as well just dont do it when the spot is wet

Decant your own wee into one of those spray bottles and next time he does it spray the bugger in the face.He will be terrified and realise who is top dog banana in your house.

Sorry- just wanted to make you smile.

Ah thanks for all this information. I will definitely mention it to the vet next week and see if he can sell me the Felispray. He wasn't much help when I complained when they were soiling the house as kittens but this is different, definite marking behaviour so the vet might be more help this time.

In the meantime, I have cleaned the area with a special cat/dog soil cleaner which I think was what did the trick in the end when they were soiling as kittens.

My 2 cats don't get on that well despite being brothers but the cat that sprayed today, although smaller than his brother, is definitely the aggressor out of the two of them. Why he should spray in the house though remains a mystery as the other one comes in even more rarely than he does (I worked out why at the w/e: obviously the more aggressive one is keeping him out) and certainly never goes in that particular bedroom.

Ha! Spraying cat has just come in, all meek miaous and "butter wouldn't melt in his mouth" demeanour.