We adopted 2 rescue cats about 8 years ago, neutered males who lived seemingly happily together and with us for about 3 yrs. We moved house a few years ago, and have since had 2DCs. One of the cats has been spraying on and off since we moved, so we now don't let either of them upstairs. He doesn't seem in any way distressed, in fact he went from being the sort that just lazed around in our other house, to a very cocky and confident cat, who goes through other peoples cat flaps to steal food and terrorise their moggies (whole other thread there!). But everything I have read says that a cat who sprays is feeling insecure and unhappy, so I take this on board, but it really isn't how he seems.
Recently, may be linked to birth of DC2(?), he is at it even more. When a door has been left open, he's upstairs and has sprayed the cot, he did the pushchair wheels, inside the Wendy house, the curtains in every room, the list goes on. He's also spraying so much in the garden that you can really smell it when you sit on the lawn. We have spent a small fortune on Feliway already.
Basically we cannot go on like this. From his perspective, something must be upsetting him and I don't like to think that. From our perspective I cant cope with this smell in my house with 2 very young children, and I can't keep all the doors closed all the time. We are moving house again in a few months, and of course that will be another trauma for him. I am thinking that the best thing may be to rehome, somewhere with no other cats or DCs, but who is going to want a 10yr old cat with a spraying problem, who is also not very cuddly?
I need your advice, please no flaming.