Why is my [neutered] 3 year old male cat suddenly starting to scent mark?

[RGPargy]

My 3 year old neutered male has, over the last couple of days, started to try and mark his scent in the house. I'm not sure why he's doing it or if in fact he has done it before (if a cat has been done, their spray does not smell) but yesterday was the first i'd noticed it. He started out by sitting on the door mat inside the front door, as if going for a wee, but nothing was coming out. so i chased him off and he shot upstairs. i followed him up there and there he was trying to the same thing ON MY BED!!! Again, nothing came out (thankfully) but i chased him off the bed and kicked him out and locked the cat flap for a bit. In the end, i let him back in and he was very sorry for himself and was all loving with me, like he knew he'd done wrong.

Tonight i saw him spraying up the inside of the front door!! I've never seen him do this before so wondered if anything had come out or whether he was just going through the motions. When i had a closer inspection the door was damp so i cleaned it with some Cillit Bang.

So what on earth has got into him?

I can only think of a couple of reasons for this:

1. DP has been working away for a few days each week this week and last week. Maybe kitty is trying to re-establish the house as his, seeing as DP isn't there being all male etc lol.

2. I am 33 weeks pg and perhaps he is only just picking up on my pg hormones or summat and it's making him feel uncomfortable.

3. A little cat with 3 legs was hanging round the house at the weekend - literally just sitting outside the back door wanting to come in etc but obviously we shoo-ed it away etc.

How do i put an end to this change in behaviour?

TIA!

i think it sounds like he just upset about something and feeling insecure or threatened! my neutered goes through the same thing everytime i go away on holiday! it is probably the other cat thats bothered him especially if he is not a dominant cat?

when i spoke to my vet he said there are special hormone plugs you can buy (from vets) and if you rub a damp tea towel onto the cat and onto then low level furniture and places the cat likes to sit it leaves a scent that the cat can smell but not strong enough for you to smell and helps him feel more secure! its like you are scenting his turf for him! in a more hygeneic way!

sounds like he's upset about something, and it might be the fact that you are pregnant.

My mum's cat did this to my sister the first time she brought her new baby to visit. he sprayed all over her head.

When I moved in with them for a short while he christened quite a lot of my stuff. And although he was neutered, it certainly used to smell...just not as bad.

I'm not sure how to get around it tbh....mum ended up having to get her cat re-homed to a house with only an elderely couple with no big family/children tooing and froing.

From a cleaning point of view, don't using anything ammonia based as this doesn't mask the smell and he will go there again.

I would take him to vet for medical to rule out any health probs as well.

Interesting stuff, thanx micci! I think it's my female cat who is the more dominant cat in the home (as females tend to be) but i do think that he is the more territorial of the two when outside the house so perhaps the little 3 legged moggy has made him feel a bit insecure. He does get stressed out pretty easily so maybe that is the case. I will deffo try the tea towel trick tho - that's a really handy thing to know!

Okay, neutered males only spray for three reasons:

(1) they are upset about something - sometimes it's that you have introduced a new smell (have you started cleaning a lot with chemicals?)

(2) Another cat has sprayed and they have caught a whiff and are attempted to obliterate it. BTW Cillit Bang and cat spray are chemically not that far apart so watch you don't make it worse.

(3) He has sprayed previously, you've just put your heating on, so it's started to smell and so he's going round dutifully reinforcing it.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, biological washing powder, dissolve in boiling water, let it cool, then sponge it whereever he has sprayed. The enzymes will eat the pheremones and oils and stop him revisiting that spot because it still smells. If it's another cat's spray it'll get rid of that too.

Other than that, try and cuddle your cat a bit more, they are sensitive wee things and they don't get a look in when you have a newborn

Daisy - i had this problem with another male cat i had years ago with DS (17) was a baby. he used to spray EVERYWHERE and it drove me nuts! I had to rehome him in the end too for hygiene reasons. I dont want to rehome my little fella because he would be seriously lost without me!

Armadillo - My god, getting him in the cat basket is one hell of a job, but i'll keep an eye on him first.

Blazing Saddles - thanx for your reply. In response:

1. Nope, nothing new on that front.

2. This could possibly be the cause.

3. We have only been here 3 months and previously the owners had a big alsation. Maybe he is smelling dog as the heating is on and is trying to obliterate that?!

Will deffo stop using the Cillit Bang and get some biological washing powder (or will biological liqui-tabs do the trick?).

He has loads of cuddles and kisses from me all the time. he's my little shadow and we have a very close relationship!

try getting 3 into a cage at once - oh god that was not fun. Used to take over an hour.

Probably behavioural - especially as your pregnant. But could be uti, do cats have prostates?

Blimey Armadillo, i bet that was a feckin' nightmare!!!

I would consider it being a UTI or similar if he didn't spray today, but that's what makes me think it's more likely to be behaviour with him.