Cats. Do they have trouble distinguishing out & in?

[tallulah]

We have 4 cats who hate eachother

They like to be outdoors most of the time, esp at night. Usually indoors they are all curled up asleep in different rooms.

We have been having an ongoing problem with "spraying" & can't work out who the culprit(s) is. We've tried just about everything & it still continues. One of the little dears has taken to spraying the microwave, which is totally disgusting.

Last week I watched the eldest cat- who doesn't usually cause us any trouble- wake up from her snooze on the dirty laundry, walk to the far end of the pile (on the kitchen floor waiting to go in the machine) & calmly settle down for a pee. (she was most surprised to find herself flung outdoors midstream!)

Having seen that, what I'm wondering is do they get confused between being outdoors & being inside? Being out a lot, are they just used to "going" where they feel like it? How do I solve this? (we've tried the pheremone diffuser- far too expensive & doesn't seem to make any difference)

[Frieda]

Buballoo ? Thanks for replying and so sorry to hear about you cat. I'll try the silver foil trick, anyway ? thanks for that.

[bubbaloo]

we also had this problem with one of our cats a few years ago.he was actually spraying in the same place all the time and we got that pheromone(sp?)spray from the vets which also didnt work and was very expensive.
we were also told by the vet to put down silver foil as cats hate it and wont go near the spot(also useful if youve got a kitten stratching wallpaper etc...)which we did and it did seem to work but as soon as we removed it he did it again.
turned out after having lots of tests that he actually had diabetes and quite badly too.he was only 9 years old,our favourite cat and we still miss him,even now.

[Frieda]

Hi Tallulah ? just found this thread while doing a search for this very subject (arriving home following bank holiday w/e to find three rather smelly indoor puddles) and wondered how you're getting on with the pepper?
I'm getting a bit desperate to find a swift solution to this problem, as we're trying to sell our house at the mo and spending a lot of time scrubbing and trying vainly to eradicate the lingering smell.
Any similar (successful) experiences would be very gratefully received.

[tallulah]

Our eldest cat is only 7, so I don't think it's alzheimers!!

All of them are neutered. There is no cat flap (they glare at the door when they want to go out- & they aren't left in alone)

I will try the pepper & the Cat Whisperer- thanks.

The younger male is a bully & I think he is either doing a lot of the spraying, or causing the others to. I'm loathe to get rid of him though in case once we have the problem still carries on.

[colditzmum]

Elderly cats are prone to alziemers!

[Fran1]

I had this prob with my cat, after she had been house trained for sometime.

She took to weeing in our toilet, or sink or bath plug holes and i have been tol they like a bit of fresh air up their bums when they are going!!!
She also used to wee in certain corners of our house, in the bathroom and in the lounge. I cleaned the areas with watered down ammonia, and then once dry, sprinkled masses of pepper down. It did the trick.
I think the reason for her doing this was that she was getting attacked by lots of cats so afraid to go out sometimes.

But i wouldn't buy any expensive stuff from the vets, just sprinkle loads of pepper. I left it their for a week or two, just hoovered around it.

[lilsmum]

have you had all the cats neutered?

[Amanda3266]

Try and get a copy of "The Cat Whisperer" (can't remember the author but will find out. There is a whole chapter on this subject. She says it's mainly a stress thing but it can be sorted out.

And I think your elder cat may have just got confused

[noddyholder]

is there another local moggy coming in the catflap at night?We had this and it nearly drove us mad we had to catch the culprit and throw water on him Cats are usually really clean and only pee/spray when anxious or to mark territory